Agnus Dei

Album: Want Two (2004)
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Songfacts®:

  • The song's title and all of its lyrics are Latin. "Agnus Dei" is a movement from a mass (older composers write many of these) and literally means:

    (Agnus Dei) Lamb of God

    (qui tollis peccata mundi) who takes away the sins of the world

    (dona nobis pachem) grant us peace. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Chris - Philadelphia, PA
  • In this song, Wainwright is asking for clemency from people who attack him and his music.
  • This is essentially a classical song. It is a setting of the text of one movement from a mass done by Wainwright.
  • The song is in Bb minor, which is a very rare key.
  • Wainwright did the string arrangement himself.
  • The creaking at the beginning is actually a violin (though Wainwright agrees that it sounds like a fart). It was created by pressing down about a quarter of the way up a string and rubbing the string along the fingerboard while damping the string with the pinky. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Davis - Montreal, Canada, for all above

Comments: 1

  • Edward Pearce from Ashford, Kent, EnglandThanks for the info, Davis and Chris. I've just heard the song for the first time and it's certainly a very original (in a good way) song and makes me want to check out more of his work.
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