The Ideal Husband

Album: I Love You, Honeybear (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds FJM listing all the bad things that he's done in his life, before concluding that despite his weaknesses, he's ready to settle down and be the "ideal husband." Asked by The Independent what he deems the worst thing on the list, FJM replied: "The big one in the song is telling people jokes to shut them up. That is my biggest and most misleading antisocial behavior. I struggle with contempt for people and I can keep them at arm's length by making them laugh."

    "I find the happier I become, the less funny I get. But at those Fleet Foxes shows you could not get me to shut up. I was talking between every song just because I was so unhappy."
  • Josh Tillman (aka Father John Misty) reveals the worst of himself in his songs. Here he's a self-hating wreck who confesses to "telling people jokes to shut them up" and "bringing on unearned attention."

    Tillman told Q magazine that he was inspired by the fearless honesty of the novelist Henry Miller. "There's a line in Tropic of Cancer, 'We're like two insane people trying to f--k through an iron gate.'" he said. "And I thought, 'That's my album.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Joan Armatrading

Joan ArmatradingSongwriter Interviews

The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Oliver Leiber

Oliver LeiberSongwriter Interviews

Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.