The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apartment

Album: I Love You, Honeybear (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is a true story about a threesome Josh Tillman had in Los Angeles. Under his pseudonym of Father John Misty, he tears into one of the women. He takes issue with many of her faults that annoy him, including her self-obsession, misuse of the word "literally" and hoovering his drugs. "The a--hole in that song is me," Tillman admitted to Q magazine. "I left that experience feeling like a f--king worthless human being. It's a destructive song and it's definitely one that I will not perform after this album cycle."
  • In the song's Drew Pearce directed music clip Tillman is the subject of his own criticisms, as he hooks up with himself before leaving the following morning.

    Tillman explained: "This video is partially inspired by the LeBron James quote, 'It is precisely the superficial differences between people who are otherwise alike that inform the hostilities between them.' Special thanks to my body double Tyler, who I had to kiss no fewer than two dozen times and whose breath I can still smell in my mind's eye."
  • Tillman expanded on the song to Uncut magazine. He said: "It's your male impotent rage. It's a portrait of wounded narcissism. It's not so much about this girl or this episode so much as it is about my self- hatred. It's like this is the only place you end up singing 'Silent Night' in three-part harmony in a bathroom with two naked women.

    The episode itself was fairly singular. I can't say that I'm totally sure what it was exactly about that incident that may be rush home and write a song about it. But it is the darker aspects of my experience that inspire me to write. I think it's sort of a bait and switch, because maybe at first listen it just appears to be this indignant, self-righteous dressing down of this girl. But on repeated listens, you realize it's a narrator here who is this total asshole. I was in the low place, trying to bolster my esteem. It's a despicable song!"

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