Reply To: Artificial Heart discussion
I haven’t had time to really think through my opinions on Artificial Heart, but I wanted to weigh in on Alone At Home. Nobody else seems to have noted that he’s been playing the faster version in concert since at least February–I’ve seen him in concert four times since the cruise and that’s always what he plays with the band. To be honest it’s one of my least favourite of the new songs and I found it kind of dull at the original slower tempo. Mark down another in favour of the album version.
@jodythebad – I always interpret “Artificial Heart” as metaphorical, but if I’m feeling literal I imagine the story to have close ties to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
@dantes – The lyrics to “Je Suis Rick Springfield” are on the wiki. There’s even a serviceable English translation!
Isn’t “Still Alive” the longest track on the album because of that intro? It’s a solid minute of pure theramin. If your questioning was instead directed at why all the other songs tend to be short, I’d point to the Flansburgh influence. Jonathan mentioned in some interview or blog post that this was the first time he allowed himself to write short songs–he admits in Thing A Week Redux that some songs didn’t have enough meat to them to sustain a full three minutes but he’d drag out an extra verse anyways, because that’s how songs are “supposed” to be. TMBG aren’t afraid to write short songs, and I think that influence really shows here.