[ cigarettes and chocolate milk | greek song | poses | shadows | california | tower of learning | grey gardens | rebel prince | the consort | one man guy | evil angel | in a graveyard | cigarettes and chocolate milk reprise ]

"cigarettes and chocolate milk"

Rufus says: It's about addiction in general, and how essentially, whether it's cigarettes or chocolate milk or heroin or sex, it really all [relates] to deeper issues in people's lives. It's a deeper sense of longing and loss. You can't really blame someone for being an addict or for eating too many jellybeans. That's at the end of the song: Please be kind. We're all going through a lot.

This song contains some seriously obscure lyrics--"surfing your high hopes," "a lesson in tightropes," "adios, kansas." Sorry to tease you, but we have no idea what these mean. People have looked and looked and looked and we've found nothing. If you have any idea, please let us know!

"greek song"

Rufus says: This song is about an affair I never had.
It's a love duet between a white guy and a Greek guy.

According to various introductions Rufus has given this song live, it was inspired by a trip he took with Cherry Vanilla (an Andy Warhol cohort, who is significantly older than him) to Greece. They sat on the beach and oggled the beautiful boys. She had quite a bit of luck with the boys; however, Rufus only got one kiss.

This song also contains some of Rufus' more obscure lyrics. Folks on the Raising the Rufus list have determined that a "volta" is a kind of motorbike, while a frequent poster on the message board says that "pearls of China" refers to a sexual practice. The line "where angels fear to tread" is thought (by Shazwan from the message board) to refer to E. M. Forster's debut novel, Where Angels Fear To Tread, which is "about an English widower going to Italy and [falling] in love and [marrying] a local Tuscany boy, much to the dismay of both families." (For the record, Forster was also gay.)

"poses"

Rufus says: I was living in the Chelsea Hotel, and going out a lot, and sort of taking advantage of the modicum of fame that I'd gotten from my first record, and really trying to gather up experiences for the second. And this song sort of arrived at one point. It was about a combination--it was about certain people and certain--and about myself. It sort of became this character of a young guy who comes to the city, bright and fresh and young and smelling like roses, and leaves completely destroyed. I don't think that happened to me, but I saw it happen to a lot of people.

"shadows"

This song was co-written with Alex Gifford of the British dance group the Propellerheads. Rufus says he was glad to work with people who could put him in touch with a more 'pop' audience, and this song adds a more modern touch to the record.

"california"

Rufus says: I was at Marylin Manson's house--or, no, his lawyer's house, sorry--but he was there and they were throwing this big party. I was kinda hungry and I said "oooh, it's a mansion," there were a lot of lawyers and rock stars and stuff, and I went up to the food area--the dining room, I guess that would be--and they had peanut butter sandwiches and chips and sparkling wine. It was a real eye-opener.
Anyway, the 'streaker' line--at the party, some guy took off all his clothes just to make it a little more interesting, because, needless to say, it was Marylin Manson's party and everyone was a little overdressed. So he took off all his clothes and I fell for him and went after him immediately. Whatever, I'm the one who fell for the naked guy.

Rufus recorded both his first record and "Poses" in Los Angeles, California--a city he initially hated. He wrote this song while he was living there as a sort of "talisman" to keep him aware of the madness of the lifestyle around him, and to protect him from getting too comfortable in an environment he found so detestable.

This song contains another obscure reference--"my new grandma Bea Arthur." According to the song's introduction at the Park West show, Rufus used watch "Golden Girls" with his grandmother as a bonding experience. Sadly, she died, but whenever he watched the show he felt close to her, and Bea Arthur became his second grandmother of sorts. He got to meet her at a festival in Texas (I think) and related his story, to which she replied: "I'm not your fucking grandmother!"

"tower of learning"

Rufus says: It actually has a bit to do with Baz Luhrman, who asked me to write some songs for the movie Moulin Rouge. I began the song and then put it on the shelf, and then I just saw this guy whose eyes were very beautiful, and all of a sudden the whole subject of falling into someone’s eyes and how electrifying that can be kind of resurrected the song. It was gonna be used right at the end of Moulin Rouge, so I sort of wrote it like that, and then I never heard back from him. But Lenny just creamed over it.

"grey gardens"

Rufus says: Well, it’s based on that*, but it’s also based on Death In Venice a little bit: it’s like Tadzio is in Grey Gardens, and I’m kind of Edie [the daughter]. At the time, I think I was on acid or something like that, and it was a very psychedelic time--in Montreal in the winter. I had this great melody that originally I’d written slow, and I couldn’t sort of figure it out. So I went out and partied, and I went home and played it fast, and there was all this pressure to write a hit single ... If I had my way about it, of course it would be the single.

*"That" is the documentary film "Grey Gardens," which I have yet to see. If anyone can explain it for me, I will be forever grateful.

"rebel prince"

"the consort"

Rufus says: It was influenced by seeing the Elizabeth movie, and the scene, where they're cutting off her hair and making her into this doll at the end. [more]

Before playing this song live in DC, he told the audience to imagine a field covered in bodies, and a big creepy moon in the sky--and that he was responsible for it all, guiding a beautiful young girl through the carnage.

"one man guy"

Rufus says: "[That song] is so my father. My father is a very proud and independent man."

This song was written by Rufus' dad, Loudon Wainwright III. Rufus calls it an "unknown classic" and decided to record it after playing it on tour with his sister and Teddy Thompson. When playing it live, the three trade verses, then sing harmony on the chorus--a real show-stopping moment.

"evil angel"

Rufus says:'Evil Angel' is an interesting song. It’s actually to do with a journalist who, uh... I was in France at the time and quite delicate... and this guy basically seduced me in Strasbourg... he gave me a tour of the town and it was very romantic, and we did actually make out in the middle of this town square... and then I went and did the show and I never heard from him again. And I just felt incredibly used.

"in a graveyard"

According to La Kesha, "I was at the Rufus show in Portland this past weekend, and he gave a brief explanation of "In a Graveyard" from "Poses". He said he wrote this 'depressing' song while sitting on a hill overlooking graveyard in Montreal at night, thinking about how we'll all end up there some day."

"cigarettes and chocolate milk reprise"

Know something I don't? E-mail it to me! ddcraig@blazenet.net

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