Tomboy

Album: Tomboy (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Noah Lennox, who records under the name of Panda Bear, is an experimental musician and a founding member of Animal Collective. This is the title track and first single from his fourth solo album. He explained its meaning in an interview with UK's Sun newspaper: "The song is about me wanting to appreciate what I've got despite the fact that parts of my life work against each other and counterbalance each other.

    I've thought a lot about why I make music and who I make music for and my relationship with music over the past couple of years. I've also thought a lot about my life as a father and as a member of a family and of a circle of friends. The dots that connect all of these things are the subjects of the Tomboy songs."
  • Panda Bear explained the Tomboy album title to Spinner UK: "A lot of the songs touch on the relationship of my life as a musician and my life as a person," he said. "The way those two things are constantly working with each other, or how I'm constantly juggling those two things. Lyrically, that was big. After I'd written maybe four sets of lyrics for the songs, I had this image of a tomboy as representing that whole juxtaposition of forces."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot

Jon Foreman of SwitchfootSongwriter Interviews

Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

Cheerleaders In Music Videos

Cheerleaders In Music VideosSong Writing

It started with a bouncy MTV classic. Nirvana and MCR made them scary, then Gwen, Avril and Madonna put on the pom poms.

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up Musicians

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up MusiciansSong Writing

Eddie (played by Johnny Depp in the video) found fame fleeting, but Chuck Berry's made-up musician fared better.