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Michael Myers Resplendent Lyrics
I am ready for my close up today
Too long I’ve let my self-respect stand in my way
Well the prom queen's caught in the high beams
And the strings keen it’s a big scene
But when the house goes up in flames
No one emerges triumphantly from it
When the scum begins to circle the drain
Everybody loves a winner
I spent eight hours in my make-up chair
Waxed my chest and shaved off all my hair
Well the fire's bright and the frame's tight
Try to get right while we’ve still got light
But when the house goes up in flames
No one emerges triumphantly from it
When the scum begins to circle the drain
Everybody loves a winner
Too long I’ve let my self-respect stand in my way
Well the prom queen's caught in the high beams
And the strings keen it’s a big scene
No one emerges triumphantly from it
When the scum begins to circle the drain
Everybody loves a winner
Waxed my chest and shaved off all my hair
Well the fire's bright and the frame's tight
Try to get right while we’ve still got light
No one emerges triumphantly from it
When the scum begins to circle the drain
Everybody loves a winner
Song Info
Submitted by
mdon06 On Jan 11, 2007
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From the comic: "This song is like Sax Rohmer #1 if the narrator had given up on actually getting home."
Michael Myers Resplendent is all of the resolve and hopeful defiance of Sax Rohmer #1 transformed into resignation and a calm sense of defeat. The narrator of Sax Rohmer is determined to make his triumphant return home in the midst of inevitable failure - referencing the inescapable fates of all things. Here, the narrator goes willingly to his own demise - patiently waiting for his moment. Suddenly, this mythic villain is so humanized and vulnerable.
Given the song title, the imagery is fairly obvious. At the end of Halloween II, Michael Myers is (supposedly) killed in a burning hospital. The lines about shaving and waxing are likely referencing stunt procedures for "body burn" effects - hair is incredibly flammable and harder to protect with flame retardant gel. On a side note, the metaphor also reminded me of the end of the Alpha couple in their burning house (Alpha Rat's Nest).
The title is so fitting. Engulfed in flames, Michael takes his final faltering steps and collapses without a fight.
to the forgotten pits of the internet, I say: I totally meant to upvote this, not downvote. (I'm also reminded a bit of Talhassee, though more the line from 'Have to Explode': "The stage is set, someone's gonna do something someone else will regret.")
to the forgotten pits of the internet, I say: I totally meant to upvote this, not downvote. (I'm also reminded a bit of Talhassee, though more the line from 'Have to Explode': "The stage is set, someone's gonna do something someone else will regret.")
It's about giving up and realizing you're not the hero of the story anymore (as in Sax Rohmer, fighting with utter determination through a world of monsters trying to get back home). After an album filled with monsters, it's the narrator that's become the monster. All the preparations have been made---strings keen, hours spent getting the make-up just right. and now all that's left for them (and their house) to go up in flames.
I figure you can take it two ways. Either it's all just a movie, or else it's about a murder and arson.
john darnielle and jeffery lewis made a comic explaining each song on the new album, you can look at it here:
http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/Mt-Goats-Press-Kit-08.html
I was so sure this was about filming a porno for money.
The comic really doesn't explain the meaning of this song.
Personally I think it's about changing yourself for populariity/acceptance.
this song is a narrative on the slasher film halloween, i believe. the main psycho guy is called michael myers, has very stylized movie-disfigurement and ends up getting burned in a housefire. he kills teenagers, which deals with the "prom queen, caught in the high beams" line. the interesting angle is that darnielle deals with the song not through the character michael's perspective but the actor who plays him. he talks about the horror in the film with a kind of impartial, buisinesslike air, and the self respect line i think is about having to dress up in the crazy...
this song is a narrative on the slasher film halloween, i believe. the main psycho guy is called michael myers, has very stylized movie-disfigurement and ends up getting burned in a housefire. he kills teenagers, which deals with the "prom queen, caught in the high beams" line. the interesting angle is that darnielle deals with the song not through the character michael's perspective but the actor who plays him. he talks about the horror in the film with a kind of impartial, buisinesslike air, and the self respect line i think is about having to dress up in the crazy outfit, as is the line about the make up chair, chest, hair bit. the thing i am not sure on is the "everybody loves a winner" line. i don't know who the winner is referring to: the people, rid of the threat, michael, in satire, because he didnt win at all, or the actor himself's triumphant performance. any one got any thoughts?
I'm guessing the "Everybody loves a winner" line is meant to imply that nobody loves the protagonist and he knows it.
I'm guessing the "Everybody loves a winner" line is meant to imply that nobody loves the protagonist and he knows it.