Song Exploder - The Magnetic Fields - Andrew in Drag

Episode Date: September 24, 2015

Stephin Merritt has fronted the band The Magnetic Fields for over twenty-five years. In this episode, he breaks down the song "Andrew in Drag" from the band’s latest album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, even though he doesn't actually remember writing it. After releasing his triple-album 69 Love Songs to huge acclaim in 1999, Stephin stopped using synthesizers for the next three Magnetic Fields albums. He talks about why he stopped, and why started using them again, and why he doesn’t write down his melodies. This episode is sponsored by Spire Recorder by iZotope; Merge Records (use code SONGEXPLODER at checkout for 20% off); and Audible.com (go to audiblepodcast.com/exploder for a free audiobook of your choice, and a 30-day free trial).

You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece tell the story of how they were made. I'm Rishi Kesh Hirwe. This episode contains explicit language. I'm Stephen Merritt, and I am the main member of the Magnetic Fields. I don't actually remember writing this song, because I write songs in bars. Generally, these are gay bars patronized by men of a certain advanced age who prefer. to listen to disco music in the background while they drink cocktails. So it was in one such bar that I was hanging out.

And I don't remember what happened next, but when I woke up the next morning, I was at home, looked in my songwriting notebook, and in fact I had written a song. And it was Andrew in Drag. Stephen Merritt has fronted the band The Magnetic Fields for over 25 years. In this episode, he'll break down the song Andrew in Drag from the 2012 album Love at the Bottom of the Sea, even though he doesn't actually remember writing it. After releasing his triple album 69 love songs in 1999, to huge acclaim, Stephen stopped using synthesizers for the next three magnetic fields albums.

Coming up, he talks about why he stopped and why he started using them again, and why he doesn't write down his melodies. I'll never see that girl again, he did it as a gag. I'll pine away forevermore for Andrew and drag. My home life is so busy that I can only make myself work in a bar or in a cafe. I find it very difficult to write music without other music playing because there's generally music playing in my head like a schizophrenic. I have voices in my head and they're singing. And they're generally singing commercial jingles or songs that I don't particularly like.

Often it's the bumblebee tuna jingle from the early 70s Yum yum bumblebee bumblebee bumblebee tuna I love bumblebee bumblebee tuna I wish it were a little less in my head since I heard it in 1972 but I guess it turned me into the sort of songwriter I am which is somebody who almost entirely write songs in cafes and bars getting good and drunk, essentially. Not really. I can't do anything after three cocktails. It's not like

I'm a fiendish alcoholic. I wish I were so that I could get a lot more work done, but I'm kind of actually a lightweight at this point. I have to say that it tends to be the good ones that I don't remember writing because I guess I spent a lot of time on them and felt that I was on a roll, so I would rather spend the money on a cab home than go home without finishing. the song. I don't remember thinking about the plot of the song. The straight guy whose best friend does a drag show on a lark and the straight guy falls madly in love with his best friend's drag character. I don't remember thinking about that, but fortunately I remembered the melody. I don't know why I even went. It's really not my bag. Just thought it might be funny

to see Andrew in drag. The moment he walked on the stage, my tail began to wag, wag like a little winter dog for Andrew and drag. Andrew and drag, Andrew and drag. It's not really clear to me how I remember the melodies. I deliberately don't write it down because I want it to be memorable just from looking at the words. And if I don't remember it from looking at the words, then other people won't either. I was bored with the expectations.

the expectations of being a synthesizer band. So I put away the synthesizers for a few records. After the No Synths trilogy of the previous Magnetic Fields records, I wanted love at the bottom of the sea to be a triumphant return to electronics because there were new instruments that could make sounds that had not been heard before and in patterns that had not been heard before.

This in particular was the Duwana-Tron Keyed Melody Gin invented by Brian DeWan and his cousin Ivan. It makes melodies without you playing it because it has 12 little wooden keys you can depress, but you're not making suggestions of what the notes will be. You're just making suggestions of what the algorithm will be. I'm increasingly into adding chaos into the mix. We've heard all the notes, and I'm interested in... the textures that will come from sounds that are not necessarily musically traditional

sequences of notes. There's no live drums on the record except for tambourine. Real drums were verbotent. I have a lot of drum machines and that rhythm unit sound actually went through a kind of walkie-talkie plug-in. I like things that sound different every time. I wanted this particular record to sound like a kind of demented party and I knew that all of the songs were going to heavily feature electronics. What I didn't know was that I was going to keep piling hand-played instruments on top of the electronics. When we go to Germany I always have to make clear to German journalists that we're not a lo-fi band. I don't record the guitar really really badly. It's a ukulele.

They don't have ukuleles in Germany so they think I think it's a horribly out of tune, very badly recorded guitar. Eucolalee is my default instrument. Eucolololets have an enormous variety, partly because so many of them are not all that well made. Basically, the idea was ukulele sounding intentionally dinky on the verses, and then 12-string guitar comes in sounding full, ecstatic and authoritative on the choruses.

There's a lot of instruments that come in on the chorus. In each of the three choruses, everybody plays something different, which is why each chorus is a soaring explosion of joy, and each one is different from the others. What mystifies me about the song is why I have all the lines have the same rhyme. Every single rhyme in the song is ag. Why did I think that was a good idea? I don't know. It is unusual. It's called a mono rhyme.

It's not that unusual. It's not unusual enough to not have a name. The unusual decisions for Andrew and Drag are the fact that I'm singing as a straight person when ordinarily I leave the sexual preference and even the gender of the protagonist to the listener's imagination. I don't know that I have very many songs in which I'm explicitly a straight character. A pity she does not exist to shame he's not a fag. The only girl I ever loved was Andrew and drag. I hear the word fag a lot. I hear a lot of gay men saying fag.

I don't hear it from straight men very often anymore. But I think it was a good way of showing that this is not necessarily a person who doesn't care much about what the gender is anyway. This is an upsetting situation for our protagonist. If Andrew were susceptible, then the protagonist would... happily have some sort of intercourse slash romance with Andrew's drag character. But Andrew being straight also would not be amenable to that. I was worried that it would be seen as antagonistic, but in fact it seems to have struck a chord with straight men in a way that I didn't expect it to.

It's been covered by a few different singers, as far as I can tell. are straight men who find the song to be about forbidden love, I guess. And now here's Andrew and Drag by the Magnetic Fields in its entirety. If she does not exist to shame, he's not a fag. The only girl I ever loved was Andrew and drag. There is no hope of Lossack. The only girl I'll ever love is Andrew and drag. Funny to see Andrew began to whack.

is Andrew and drag I'll never see that girl again He did it as a gag I'll pine away forever more For Andrew and drag Visit SongExploder.net For more info on this song And on the magnetic fields

Including a picture of Stevens Dewanatron And a picture of his studio I have a new album of my own Coming out on April 24th It's been about 15 years Since I last put out a full length And this is the first one That'll be out under my own name

Rishie Kesh Her Way I started making Song Exploder when I was feeling lost in my own music career. And then for over a decade, I've gotten to have these incredible conversations about the process of making music, talking to other artists. And it made me completely rethink my relationship to music and my way of writing songs. And this album is the product of all of that. It features contributions from some of my favorite artists, including some folks that you may have heard on this podcast, like Iron and Wine, Kevin Morby, Vagabond, Fenlily, and the producer Phil Wine, rope. I'm going to be on tour playing in cities across the U.S. starting in April, and I'm trying to bring the spirit of the podcast with me. So every show that I'm playing will begin with a conversation

about the album with a different amazing guest moderator in each city, like Adam Scott, Samin Nasrat, Jason Manzuchas, Josh Molina, Minjin Lee, Ken Jennings, John Roderick, Austin Cleon, and more. They're all going to be my conversation partners on stage, and then I'll play with my band. The album is called In the Last Hour of Light, and the first couple songs are out now. You can listen to the music and get tickets for the shows on my website, rishikash.co. Or just go to songexploder.net slash live. That's songexploder.net slash live. Thanks.

You can find all the past and future episodes of SongExploder at songexplor.net or on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you download podcasts. Find the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Song Exploder. Next time on Song Exploder. Song Exploder is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a curated network of extraordinary, story-driven shows. Learn more at Radiotopia.fm. My name is Rishi Kesh Hereway. Thanks for listening.