Fun Stuff > BAND

Will Sheff writes real good

<< < (8/8)

pilsner:

--- Quote from: Inlander on 04 Dec 2007, 18:16 ---Perhaps "violence" is too strong a word, but there seems to be a visceral dislike of or anger towards women that comes through again and again in Okkervil River's work.

--- End quote ---

One of the interesting points of Westfall is that the focus is not so much on a vicarious thrill of killing a young woman, as it is on the finale line "They’re looking for evil, thinking they can trace it, but evil don’t look like anything."  The killing is Will Sheff's conception of an ultimate evil, and the song can be seen as a vehicle to get you to that punchline.  Evil lurks under normality and often isn't revealed until it manifests, Sheff seems to be saying.  It had to be a woman (or a child, in this case more or less both) who was killed because in poetical terms (and I emphasize that I'm talking traditional symbolism here)  a woman might represent an innocent in need of protection, whereas a man might represent a competitor and an adversary.  All of which is to say, seeing this as a basis to disqualify Sheff from calling someone else on misogyny (whether real or imagined) seems to me to be missing the point.

As for "Oh, Dana", calling "I'd rather shoot a girl than a man" a sample lyric gives a pretty skewed version of the song to someone who hasn't heard it.  I've always interpreted the lyrics to mean that the narrator, to the extent there is one, would sooner have his lady love hurt than himself.  Given that the song ends with "She's got a magic wand/that says play with yourself before other ones", I'm just not seeing the lady hating.

And ditto for "Love to a Monster".  Sheff's singing about heartbreak from a guy's point of view -- the songs wouldn't be authentic if the narrators didn't express some sort of anger (however misplaced) for the ladies that broke their hearts.  I wouldn't expect anything less from a female songwriter's (or narrator's) point of view for the lady's ex-fella and I definitely wouldn't expect someone to jump the gun and call it misandry.  Anyhow, I've got to run but interesting conversation.

Ishotdanieljohnston:
I agree with everything you just said.

KharBevNor:
If this guy is a Misogynist, Nick Cave must be Josef Mengeles.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page