Moaning Lisa Smile

Album: Creature Songs (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This track from Wolf Alice's Creature Songs EP was inspired by the band's favorite 8-year-old girl, Lisa Simpson. Singer Ellie Rowsell explained: "We wanted to create a Lisa-type character and follow her in a pursuit to happiness. Although faced with obstacles in the shape of some nasty bitches, Lisa soon finds the group who make her feel like she belongs."
  • The video features the three male band members playing girls. "We're not trying to be funny. It's more that we make stories about girls sometimes but we don't have enough girls in the band to show that," Ellie Rowsell shrugged to Digital Spy.

    "It's like when you see a primary school play and there aren't enough girls so a boy plays Rapunzel," bassist Theo Ellis added.
  • This was played during the "Solace for Tired Feet" episode of HBO's television series The Leftovers.
  • Wolf Alice made their American TV debut on June 16, 2015, when they performed this song on Conan.
  • The song is a nod to a first season episode of The Simpsons. "Everyone knows a Homer and a Bart, " Ellie Rowsell pointed out to NME. "We've grown up with them; they're like our second family, I've learned half my life morals from The Simpsons."
  • "Moaning Lisa" was the title of the sixth episode of The Simpsons' first season, and originally aired on February 11, 1990. The episode deals with Lisa's depression and her attempts to sublimate it by playing her saxophone.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Prince

PrinceFact or Fiction

Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go'sSongwriter Interviews

Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Artis the Spoonman

Artis the SpoonmanSong Writing

Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's Songs

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's SongsSong Writing

"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.