Severed Crossed Fingers

Album: St. Vincent (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • St. Vincent's Annie Clark told Uncut magazine she got the idea for this song from a phrase in a short story by a novelist she loves, Lorrie Moore. She added: "It was such a perfect image of some hope you have that ends up, for one reason or another, in a pile of rubble on the floor."

    Lorrie Moore is an American fiction writer known mainly for her humorous and poignant short stories, which have long had a cult following. Her tale of a young child falling sick, People Like That Are the Only People Here, won the 1998 O. Henry Award, which is given to short stories of exceptional merit.
  • Annie Clark elaborated on the song to Mojo magazine: "Severed Crossed Fingers is a Lorrie Moore reference, from a short story about a woman who reads a story in the newspaper – they're sifting through a plane crash and find somebody's severed hand, but the fingers are still crossed, and I thought that was such a great, hilarious, bleak metaphor for life."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The Remasters

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The RemastersSong Writing

Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.

Vanessa Carlton

Vanessa CarltonSongwriter Interviews

The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Boy Bands

Boy BandsFact or Fiction

From NKOTB to 1D, how well do you know your boy bands?

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

Who Did It First?

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?