Father John Misty I'm Writing A Novel

father john misty Album: Fear Fun
Year: 2012

Because everything he does feels like it's coated in five layers of irony and then dipped into a vat of insincerity, it's hard for me to get a read on Father John Misty, who has now released two albums of otherwise relatively conventional Laurel Canyon rock.

But anyone who can cover the Ryan Adams cover of Taylor Swift's "Blank Slate" with a drop-dead Lou Reed impersonation is going get extra attention from me.

Luckily, it helps that he can an incredibly funny and observant lyricist, as on "I'm Writing a Novel,' which starts with:

I ran down the road, pants down to my knees
Screaming 'please come help me,
That Canadian shaman gave a little too much to me!'
And I'm writing a novel because it's never been done before

It's that last line that kills me: he nails the arrogance of every single writer ever — including your humble servant — who rationalizes their own need to write by pretending they have something new and different to say.

As the song moves on, it falls into a groove that could have come directly from Willy and The Poor Boys, while Misty piles on absurdity after absurdity.

I rode to Malibu on a dune buggy with Neil
He said 'you're gonna have to drown me down on the beach
If you ever want to write the real'
And I said 'I'm sorry, young man what is your name again?'

Of course, I've lived in California my whole life, so I have no idea how much this type of stuff plays anywhere else — it's incredibly L.A. heavy, and after nearly 15 years of living in L.A., I've come to love songs that make fun of it probably a bit to much.

So it's impossible for me to resist a song that sounds like it coulda come out in 1970, but ends with an ace couplet like:

I'll never leave the canyon 'cause I'm surrounded on all sides
By people writing novels and living on amusement rides

Official Video for "I'm Writing a Novel"