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Motherless Bastard Lyrics
Child: "Mommy! Daddy...Mommy! Daddy!... Mom? Dad?"
Man: "You have no mother or father."
Child: "Yeah I do!"
Man: "No, they left; they went somewhere else."
Child: "No, you're right here! I do!"
Man: "I'm not; I don't know you."
Child: "Daddy … "
Man: "Don't touch me; don't call me that in public."
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Did anyone else find that opening dialogue a bit disturbing? The distress in the child's voice makes me feel awful. The rest of the song isn't at all, but that first part...
Yeah that first part really bothered me. It reminded me of my own father who I barely know despite living in the same town and seeing each other in the same restaurant occasionally. I have this feeling that if I said, "hey, dad, wanna talk?" He'd tell me not to call him that in public and to never speak to him again.
@Aquarius121 appreciate the honest comment
@Aquarius121 appreciate the honest comment
Turns out the sample was a legit conversation o.O Here's an excerpt from an interview The Books did with Pitchfork (http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/5920-the-books/)
NICK: [...] What's a good example… like, "Motherless Bastard"-- that sample is one I recorded myself when I was in the Aquarium of the Pacific in Los Angeles.
PITCHFORK: Wow, that's an actual person? NICK: Yeah, they had this great jellyfish exhibit, these Portuguese Man-of-Wars just floating, and next to me was that conversation. I didn't pay much attention to it but then I heard it at home later, and it was just…it kind of sets a tone.
PITCHFORK: That's amazing that that’s a real conversation. It's laid out in such a way that I always figured it was from a movie. NICK: It's funny, stuff like that happens all the time. The more you have your recording equipment on, the more stuff like that you're going to get.
@tgbrow Looks like the URL for that interview was deprecated. Here's the current one: http://pitchfork.com/features/interview/5920-the-books/
@tgbrow Looks like the URL for that interview was deprecated. Here's the current one: http://pitchfork.com/features/interview/5920-the-books/
Shit, messed it up again lol. This is the real deal: http://pitchfork.com/features/interview/5920-the-books/
Shit, messed it up again lol. This is the real deal: http://pitchfork.com/features/interview/5920-the-books/
@tgbrow Ahh, nevermind. Turns out SongMeanings' hyperlink generation is busted. It leaves out the colon after "http". Anyhow, copy and paste the link manually to get to the interview.
@tgbrow Ahh, nevermind. Turns out SongMeanings' hyperlink generation is busted. It leaves out the colon after "http". Anyhow, copy and paste the link manually to get to the interview.
it's just kind of terribly amusing. and i mean terrible.
This song starts with a child being rejected by his father (maybe the father is teasing him). Then it progresses into a slow and melodic piece like in a traditional folk dance.
I'm humbled by their unique sense of music.
I'm glad other people feel the same way I do... the beginning is really disturbing to me too. I really hope that guy isn't the kid's real dad. that's such a cruel joke to play on a small child. at the same time I'd be SO interested to know where they found these vocals... I wish there was some place where they documented the origins of all their samples
In this interview, Nick says he recorded it at an aquarium in LA. It was just a conversation he happened to overhear i guess.
In this interview, Nick says he recorded it at an aquarium in LA. It was just a conversation he happened to overhear i guess.
http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/5920-the-books/
http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/5920-the-books/