Birth In Reverse by St. Vincent

Album: St. Vincent (2014)

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

This song is sung from the perspective of a curtain-twitching shut-in. It starts with the line, "Oh what an ordinary day. Take out the garbage, masturbate." St. Vincent's Annie Clark recalled to NME: "I played that for my best friend and he just laughed at me, like 'The only thing you wouldn't do is take out the garbage,'" she recalled. "That's true. I probably wouldn't."
The song title is taken from a Lorrie Moore short story, Which Is More Than I Can Say About Some People, from her 1998 collection Birds of America. It comes from a description of the floor plan of a Celtic passage grave, which Moore called a "birth in reverse."

The final track on the St. Vincent album, "Severed Crossed Fingers," also takes inspiration from one of Lorrie Moore's short stories.
The video was directed by Willo Perron, whose company created the artwork for the album, which was the basis for the look. The concept is St. Vincent as a "near future cult leader."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

RehabAmy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse really did refuse "Rehab." She said she drank because she was lovesick, and "you can't go into rehab for that."

I Got You BabeSonny & Cher

"I Got You Babe" made Sonny Bono the only person to perform on a #1 hit and also get elected to congress.

Jessie's GirlRick Springfield

"Jessie's Girl" tells the true story of a girl Rick Springfield was crushing on, but her boyfriend's name was really Gary and he was more of an acquaintance than a friend.

TeardropMassive Attack

"Teardrop" by Massive Attack has vocals by Elizabeth Fraser of The Cocteau Twins, who wrote the lyric after learning that Jeff Buckley had died.

Dance Hall DaysWang Chung

Wang Chung's '80s classic "Dance Hall Days" is about how things can start simple but end up complex. First you "take your baby by the hand," but by the end she has an amethyst in her mouth.

There aren't many songs with a scientist as the main character, but Coldplay's "The Scientist" is one of their biggest hits. The guy in the song is brilliant, but despondent because he's lost his girl after neglecting her for his work.