Gavin Friday: subtle and considered poet and theologian. No, really.
It’s tough to say whether the priority (or lack thereof) given to lyrics in Our Thing differs from that given in other niche genres. Whatever the answer, there are plenty of wordsmiths at the darker end of things who’ve won us over with considered and layered lyrics…most of the time. In this week’s episode of the podcast, we’re each picking five songs with lyrics we just don’t get. Mixed metaphors? Vague wording? Density on our part? All possibilities are considered. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play Music, download directly or stream from the widget down below.
I have no clue if this is ever going to be seen, but this was always one of my favorite episodes for sheer food for thought. The Interlace track in particular intrigued me; I’m a Rhetoric/Composition grad student and given Interlace’s unique take on lyrics, I always wondered if they were playing with Quintillion being a homophone for Quintilian, and also because given my field, I can read a literary reference into anything. That said, I was sort of right? It seems like it is a play on a line from Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 1. Specifically, Act 5, Scene 3 contains the line:
“To be a queen in bondage is more vile
Than is a slave in base servility;
For princes should be free.”
What does it mean in the context of the song? No clue. Is it a dead end? Probably. But it was a brief eureka moment while procrastinating on my portfolio that seemed worth sharing and I don’t recall it being mentioned in the podcast.
This comment right here is the reason we do this. Thanks Mark!