Vogue

Album: Violet Street (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Guitarist Ryan Hahn explained in a Consequence of Sound track by track that "Vogue" originated as "a minimal, delicate song on a nylon string guitar." Previously, Local Natives had been working with Arcade Fire violinist Sarah Neufeld to create a unique piece of music for the Okeechobee festival. When the band decided they wanted to add strings, they remembered the solo violin piece she had sent over which ended up being re-arranged for "Vogue."

    Violet Street producer Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves) then got the band running "around this binaural microphone shaped like a human head screaming at the top of our lungs and banging on trash can lids. Pure cacophony. He took that chaos and digitally tuned it until sounded like an angelic choir."
  • Lyrically, the song is a collection of "strange phrases" which the band pulled from the comment sections of some YouTube videos and collaged them together. "Even before the violins, we knew we wanted the song to be about the human desire to feel a connection to god or a spiritual world," Hahn said. "Unexpectedly the random phrases began to paint that picture and with some minor tweaks we felt like it achieved that ascendant, heavenly quality."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin Popoff

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin PopoffSong Writing

A talk with Martin Popoff about his latest book on Rush and how he assessed the thousands of albums he reviewed.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Jethro Tull

Jethro TullFact or Fiction

Stage urinals, flute devices, and the real Aqualung in this Fact or Fiction.

Country Song Titles

Country Song TitlesFact or Fiction

Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?

Def Leppard Quiz

Def Leppard QuizMusic Quiz

Can you name Def Leppard's only #1 hit in America? Get rocked with this adrenalized quiz.