FAWM: "Dora Maar"

Dora Maar

Liner Notes

An acoustic guitar? Shakers?? A glockenspiel??? Wikipedia research???? What is this, FAWM 2013?!?!?!

*trigger warning - contains handclaps*

I wrote the lyric off the back of a chapter in Claire Dederer's Monsters: What Do We Do with Great Art by Bad People?, about Pablo Picasso and how he was mentally and physically abusive to his girlfriend Dora Maar. She was his 'muse' which gave him a free pass to do as he pleased as long as it made good art. She's quoted as saying "All portraits of me are lies. They're Picassos. Not one is Dora Maar".

#absoluteladwithaguitar #handclaps #acoustic

Lyrics

“paint me, i’m your girl,
am I not the colour of your pain?”
he’s a genius
so of course he’s no saint
and everybody says
she’s the weeping woman
who just so happens to paint too

you need her there, i know
“c’est la vie, mon beau”

black cat on her shoulder
black dog on the other
pulling this way and that
pablo, where’s your heart?
the weeping woman is dora maar

you need her there, i know
“c’est la vie, mon beau”

Comments

@stephenwordsmith 18h

That glockenspiel is a healing kiss to the soul. And a striking (lol) contrast to the simmering darkness coming through in the other instrumentation - a hint of the blackness beneath the facade.

The lyric so so tight and poetic, each line a careful brushstroke in itself, a part of a broader narrative but so rich in its own colour and texture.

Edit: The lulluhlahs are my favourite part.

@andrewthewood 23h

Another morcel of excellence here, Ad. I'm going to listen again straight away! I think having such a summery vibe is a perfect counterpoint to the subject. The lyrics are very economical - squeezing a lot of meaning out of a few lines.

@zecoopMod 1d

Oh wow, hard hitting topic and a wonderfully sweet and lovely song to carry it. That guitar just grabs you and won't let go (in a very gentle way), but all the other touches add shine and sparkles to the turd of the story origin. Wonderful song that captured me completely. It's a really tough thing to balance and keep straight in your head. Art vs artist is often very complex. I played on a song by a NYC artist a few years back about people like Bowie, Lennon and many others. (Nathan Leigh - 'Most of my heroes are pretty damn problematic' if you feel like hearing more on the subject) This was fantastic from top to bottom but now I'm wondering about you as an artist.... Hmmmmmmmm 😜

@thelowestbitter 2d

This is so lovely, one of your best vocals this year. Love that shaker percussion, and the claps when they come in are great. I like all the bell-sounding keys augmenting that acoustic (which is great by the way), sounds very full despite having a (by your standards) relatively small number of different musical elements

@karlsburg25 3d

Ok working backwards now i back ;-) And what a lush surprise to go straight into an acoustic ditty of such flowing beauty from your good self. how can this come out of chesy was my first thought ;-) Those chords and the production are simply stunning matey. ooo blissful is all i need say

@oddbod 3d

Why do you need a warning for handclaps you silly sausage?
I’ve always thought Picasso was a cunt but he knew how to paint and he did buy Dora Marr a house in Menerbes in the south of France which I visited a few years back. It’s rather nice.
I love this song. It’s just brilliant.

@owl 4d

Just gorgeous, this is so slinky and jazzy and I love the smooth slide in your vocals on those long notes. The inspiration behind the lyric is great. Makes me think of the Modern Lovers song… “Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole, not like me” except I guess you’re proving him wrong.

@jackdawfactories 4d

I never know what genre I'm going to get when I click on one of your songs. This one is a summer breeze carrying a dark omen behind it. Delightful.

@tan482 4d

Wow! The liner note got me interested straight away and the song is just amazing! Very clever lyrics. Production is next level! Love the glockenspiel. Your vocals are fantastic.

@hbusse 4d

You are so superbly creative; I always know I will get something interesting and fresh when I hit play on one of your tracks. Love the line “He’s a genius / So of course he’s not saint.” That modulation into the chorus grabbed me by the ear. This is truly great stuff.

@circle 5d

Lovely song. very bell-y and verb-y and clappy, sure. But it all works wonderfully. you've got a superb knack for melody and killer production chops, it's always a pleasure

@what 5d

The problem with Picasso is he was always the best - it puts him in the realm of monumental history. I guess that always makes him a great subject - and so expertly critiqued here! The song is total class - laid back holiday sound - thought provoking narrative - nice contrast. love the flow - the groove - gentle but assured/confident - i agree sounds a bit french and jazzy. Great!

@atam94 5d

oh man, I am so very glad I clicked on this one. The story behind this song is heavy but the way you brought it to life in your style is really fascinating to me. Very nice!!

@jimdgreen 5d

oh this had a real Mathew Jay (RIP) vibe and I will always go out my way for that.

Top bit of work here, if this is what handclaps bring, please more handclaps!

@vomvorton 5d

Breezy instrumentation and a light touch for a heavy topic. Keeping my eye carefully on the jazz leanings in the guitar here but for the moment you get a pass 😀 love the handclaps!

@frenchcricket 5d

Thank you for the trigger warning 🙏 Like others, I enjoyed the unusually Gallic progression. The music swells and recedes in such an easy way. You make it sound effortless. Assume you’ve seen Hannah Gadsby’s rant/set about Picasso?

@coolparadisoMod 5d

Deep question! Is it a good enough excuse, nope! Really good lyrics. Very matter of fact delivery , quite pretty.

@sph 5d

The almost carefree sound together with the topic make a brilliant song. Wonderful

@skylermf 5d

This is so beautiful, I love this arrangement. It’s such an interesting way of tackling this, it doesn’t sound sad like you might expect given the subject, it has more personality than that while still telling a dark story. The harmonies are gorgeous!

@hyssop 5d

Oh I love this! Such a deep topic to dive into and you do it wonderfully. The disconnect between the upbeat music and the darker lyrics really showcases how the abuse of popular artists gets so glossed over. The harmonies are beautiful! Really thought-provoking work!

@judypie 5d

Love this. Especially the Thom Yorke direct lifts 😀
The lyrics have an almost French quality to them (to my ears).
😂
Anyway, it’s intricate and wonderful like your beard ❤️

@afterschoolclub 5d

This is fabulous. The progression (which I love) has an almost French quality to it (to my ears) with all those extended chords. Anyway, that guitar and all the other instrumentation sound superb. Vocals are particularly strong here too. I appreciate I'm listening to everything in the wrong order but this is hands down my fave of yours so far this year! It's so good in fact that I'm going to waste valuable commenting time by playing it again.

@communitykickabout 5d

The descending glockenspiel/vocal openings are so great. The music builds up in a way that you barely notice until suddenly the 'you need her there, I know' chorus comes in and it's all bouncy and cloud-like levels of airiness. Love the lalala's at the end too!