Q: Best "pop" song of 2007 (so far)?
A: Speaking of ancient myth, here's my pick for best "pop" (can there really be a such thing as indie pop? isn't that an oxymoron?) song of 2007, so far.
Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate like a Promethean Curse
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, 2007 [buy it
]
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, 2007 [buy it
]It's already been blogged to death, but whatever. Great song! And here's the video:
Q: What does the song "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" mean?
Pitchfork suggests it's a tribute to dualistic inspiring/degenerative powers of drugs, such as they relate to the creative process. I see it in a more innocent light: artist Kevin Barnes' appeal to his own brain chemicals as he struggled with depression while composing the album. But I'll leave it to the SongMeanings community to settle the issue (that link also has the lyrics).
Prometheus: Lit a fire under mankind's ass.
The acquisition of fire in ancient Greek myth is comparable to Eve's noshing on the fruit of the tree of good and evil in Genesis. Both really pissed off the jerk upstairs (Zeus/God). As punishment, the Old Testament God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden, into a cold, cruel, confusing, naked world, where they were forced them to buy new outfits from Banana Republic at full retail; and he made it so women would have to shoot babies out of their vagina. Zeus' punishment was Pandora's box (not a vaginal reference), and led to the same sort of woe and agony and whining.
But does anyone know what "Heimdalsgate" is? "Heimdalsgade" seems to mean something in Dansk -- which would make sense, since Barnes was in Norway when he made the album (as mentioned specifically in "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger," which begins, I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway). Is it a town? A neighborhood? Where are my Scandanavian readers? Do I have Scandanavian readers?
Heimdal: Like Prometheus, bound.
This is part two in my new series on explaining the significance and meaning of notable songs, by which I mean linking repeatedly to Wikipedia, and rambling. The previous entry was Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth."
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6 comments:
Even if I was captured by a band of X-addled latchkey Park Slope tweens, I doubt my own office mates would raise half as much for my ransom as they did for the office Super Bowl pool. That Scott Heimdal must be quite a guy. Do you think he has a MySpace page?
Promeatheus was punished by being chained to a rock for all eternity. Plus a giant eagle would fly over everymorning and feast on his liver. It would regrow every night. Eventually he was rescued by Hercules who was on his way to find a golden fleece. Old navy was sold out.
+that song blows. Like Klaus Nomi without the style....or ability.
A very delayed reply here - "Heimdalsgate" means "Heimdal's Street" in Norwegian, and there are several streets called "Heimdalsgate" in Norway, specifically in the city of Oslo and the towns Moss, Fredrikstad, Gjøvik, Horten, Porsgrunn and Kristiansand.
Knock yourself out:
http://www.finn.no/kart/?street=heimdalsgate
Heimdalsgate is the street in Oslo where Barnes lived while he was in Norway. It's in the district of Grønland, which is another Of Montreal song reference, Gronlandic Edit.
Well, Scott Heimdal is quite a guy (I oughtta know), but there really was a "Heimdalsgate" surrounding the disposition of his ransom money after he got home. There was even a derisive song, set to the tune of the "Beverly Hillbillies" theme.
As far as I know, the family was on the up and up, and started a charity fund with the balance of the ransom.
I know this reply is terribly late, but I think this is the best place I can say this without signing up for something. It's pretty sad how no one on the internet knows anything about Norse mythology... It's much more interesting and exciting than Greek mythology, just more overlooked. Ah, well. Heimdall is the Norse God who stands watch at the entrance to Asgard, more or less the Norse equivalent of Mount Olympus. So, "Heimdalsgate" would be "Heimdall's street" in English.
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