What were your most played songs for June? And as an aside, what do you think your most played song will be for July, since Powerlines is dropping tomorrow?
Mine:
And my Powerlines prediction is I Ain't Got None of My Friends Left.
Right so, the renamed Won't You Come Out Tonight was originally A Pirate Looks at Oblivion, which is most likely a play on Jimmy Buffett's A Pirate Looks at Forty. But I'm kind of curious why it was named like that. There are a few overlapping ideas between the songs, but nothing so specific I would name a whole song after the original.
Here are my thoughts and if you have better ones, pleeeease share with me; I'd love to know.
Oblivion:
>they closed up the block
and the souvenir shops
and the street is starting to glow
you'd better get past the past
and do it fast
if you wanna take the future slow
Forty:
>Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late
Both carry the idea of being in a place already past its prime. Jesse's lyrics talk about getting over that to enjoy the future where Jimmy's do not, but they don't conflict at all.
Oblivion:
>it's Friday night and
you can hear em fightin
in the stadium
cross town
I gotta work in the mornin
but if the game gets boring
well I guess I can stick around
Forty:
>And I have been drunk now for over two weeks
I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks
But I got to stop wishin', got to go fishin'
Down to rock bottom again
Just a few friends, just a few friends
Similar sentiments again: Both recognize the banality of what's going on, both have a serious sense of melancholy about it but are willing to appreciate those times as time spent with friends, even if the world around them is sort of stale.
BUT. The chorus' to both songs don't really match to me at all. Jimmy's singing to the "mother mother ocean" about his dreams intermingled with those who came before him--sailors and merchants and pirates who lived boldly and whose lives were and are embellished to inspire the generation to come after them, and how those dreams have sort of fizzled into nothing because those professions don't exist in the way they used to anymore.
And Jesse's is about (to me) someone who wants to see their friends and have fun, but is sort of over the party lifestyle, is getting older maybe or has a job, or responsibilities that keep them from staying out past midnight and wants to appreciate those slow times anyway.
I guess my question is: Is this a song made in response to Forty, or is it just something that goes hand in hand a little tiny bit, because the vibe of floating along in a world you don't quite fit in was strong enough to name one after the other?
Hello everyone! Happy Pride. About a year ago, I posted two tiny essays on queer themes and gender nonconformity in Jesse’s music. I had been planning on reposting my essays to the new FB group anyway, so I’ve combined the two to keep things tidy. And, as mentioned, it's Pride. Jesse's really blown up in popularity since these were posted originally too, so hello new fans, you are being forced to read my thoughts.
I’ve had a lot of discussions about these topics with folks in regards to Jesse’s music, and a lot of people have given me even more great examples. I’m sure I will miss some, and I am only posting examples that seem really obvious to me so I don’t get locked in endless debates with people who love to argue.
That being said, please share your own if you have any. And if you get mad about queer things and want to tell me how mad you are, consider this: Don’t! If Jesse saying the word ‘transgender’ makes you mad, that is simply not my problem or something I am interested in. Thanks in advance.
Anyway. I’m just going to drop some examples from songs that I think fit with little blurbs about them. Jesse’s older music is a lot more radical than his current era in this regard, so many of these examples are likewise old.
>"There's something endearing
About the fear of anything queer here
I've seen a lotta folks fold into a mold
Of something that they couldn’t steer clear of"
This is not a condemnation of being queer or even support of being afraid of anything queer; it's a patronizing affection for the small town or Bible Belt rejection of anything different. It notes that people who are afraid of queer stuff aren't doing so necessarily because they want to and certainly not because it's right, but because life has beaten them into submission in that way and they just aren't able to break away from that.
It's a compassionate look at people who are trapped in a box they may not belong to, some of whom may be queer themselves. It also really easily fits into Jesse's modern messaging, which often encourages folks to look beyond the things that bother them to reach out to one another.
>Christine will your voice ever show
How you are in your soul?
Christine, hormones and dreams, Christine
Trans women, especially when they start their transition as adults, often go through voice training to make their voices more feminine. This song starts strong by asking when Christine’s voice will match what she knows it should be in her soul.
>Christine you left nature to die
Can you teach us to hide?
Leaving nature to die in this case refers to someone taking their biology into their own hands, abandoning the incorrect shit nature gave them in favour of how they know they were meant to be.
In the opposite direction, hiding is something LGBT people in oppressive areas have to do all the time to keep themselves safe.
>Christine, you keep god up at night
Or maybe he's sleeping just fine
A lot of people, especially fundamentalists, consider transitioning a fight against God’s plan. Jesse here questions whether that’s the case, suggesting God actually has no issue with it at all.
>This damn world is so mean, Christine
Most folks talk, they can't see, Christine
Being trans is adding a layer of difficulty to your life, especially since people can be cruel. Jesse here is commenting on how “most folks” struggle to see the real person they’re talking to, rather than just what’s easily visible. This is something he brings up a few times in other songs as well.
>All the boys are all left handed, and they're tall and skinny
Everyone's kind of ugly in a way that looks pretty
Don't know what's down the front of their jeans, you don't know what to expect
Keep one hand on the bottle, and another on a cigarette
This whole song is highlighting unique differences in people, and how those differences draw similar people together. He puts being left-handed in the same category as being gender ambiguous, and both are portrayed in a melancholic but positive light.
>It's any port in the storm, so don't be so goddamn uptight
Continuing on that thought: People find solace in each other, and it’s easier to do so when you’re more accepting of the kinds of people you’re willing to talk to and relate to. The tone remains sullen, but the advice to just not worry about whether you’re talking to the “right” kind of person is still positive. This stands on its own, but we’re relating it back to gender here because of the earlier line.
>And I don't feel like much a queen, or a king
I don’t think this one needs much of an explanation. There it is. Carl Jung wrote about anima and animus, the subconscious feminine and masculine respectively, but what happens when you don’t feel like you stick to either of those very strongly? A lot of nonbinary, genderfluid, and agender (and others, I’m sure) people are open with their experiences in this regard.
>Unsteady, real heavy
Living in a white house on the corner
She's hard to employ
She's my kind of boy
No one particular part of this song is more about the topic than any other, so I’ve just put the beginning of it for those who haven’t heard the song. This could be taken literally, in reference to a person who is GNC in some way, whether it’s because they’re non-binary, or gender ambiguous, or just a tomboy, or it could just be someone who’s a girl but acts in such a traditionally masculine way that her behaviour could be best described as shit boys do. This leans pretty heavily into the anima/animus comment I made above, where a person’s subconscious could inhabit more vape juice of one gender over another.
Anyway, the whole song is like this. It’s got broad (haha) appeal.
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I took this more as a statement of fluidity than an assertion of being a trans woman, but if you want to tailor it to your own situation that’s cool with me dude.
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I feel like I don’t have to explain this one.
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The individual in question is likely dressed as and socially “out” as their gender assigned at birth (dude mode), with Jesse saying he can see beyond that to the girl within and does not care that the two conflict with one another.
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I’m going to be honest, I’m not sure what he’s talking about here. But there was an orphan using he/him who turns into a goddess, so on the list it goes.
I do not have a transcription of these lyrics, so if I've misheard them feel free to correct me. That being said, the song starts with the line
>Jesus is queer, he don't know it yet
Not much guesswork there. My assumption with the latter part is in regards to the institution of Christianity, which is still pretty anti-LGBT despite the last two popes being really progressive (for popes). This is pretty in line with the rest of Jesse's music, especially his current era, where he seems to have a lot of hope that Jesus can be used for good but is often abused by those who claim to believe in his teachings.
>I'm in a beautiful dress, you've got an okay face
This could easily be in the Iggy Pop way, where he's wearing a man's dress because he's a man and wearing it, but I personally lean more toward the crossdressing angle because the start of the song puts forth such a radical idea. Jesse's also worn a dress on stage before, if you are really confused or concerned about the idea.
And that's it! Again, feel free to share your own examples if you have any, or if you disagree with any of this stuff in a non-bigoted way you can argue with me about it if you want to. Also, since these two essays were written 1 year and 9 months ago respectively, if he's got examples in new-new music I can't think of right now, I would love to know about them.
If Jesse gets down on the ground and scrunches up his knees, is he roughly the size of a beaver? Like a large beaver. Tail included to be fair to the beavers. Would two beavers be able to destroy Jesse Welles? Obviously he would not be able to defeat the beavers in hand to hand combat.
Really dig this one. Not at all what I expected.
I'm a little late (lol), but what Jesse songs did you have on repeat last month? Did you have any surprise tunes that stuck out to you for mystery reasons?
Mine!!
Spotify:
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