The opening lyrics to the song "Cousins" are only coherent when the rest of the song is taken into account, so I'll get to those last and start with a general overview. I believe this song was about the criticism Vampire Weekend got after their first album for coming from an upper-middle class background and having an Ivy League education, or in other words, having everything going for them. There are many cues in this song that let the listener infer that Koenig is the subject and not the voice of this song. I'll proceed to demonstrate how this view of the song works with different lyrics:
"Dad was a risk taker, His was a shoe maker, You greatest hits 2006, Little list-maker." This means in a basic sense that his grandfather had a low-paying and humble job, his father took a chance in his financial endeavors and obviously succeeded, and the focus of this song is a musician (not only a musician but a 2006 list-maker similar to Koenig). Quality of life obviously increased for this family as generations passed and the current generation is reaping the benefits. Simply born into privilege.
"Heard codes in the melodies, You heeded the call, You were born with 10 fingers and you're gonna use them all." This is referring to the youngest generation becoming involved in the music business. I see the the last section of this part as having a literal and a more metaphorical meaning. The literal meaning being that he became interested in learning to play instruments and the more figurative meaning being that he is naturally going to use all the privilege he was given to succeed. Once again, that may be nonsense and sorry for using the word privilege so frequently.
"When your birth right is interest, You could just accrue it all." Nuff' said. Except if you, like me, did/do not know what accrue means, in which case Ac-crue: (v) to accumulate or receive.
K, so back to the opening lyrics: "You found a sweater on the ocean floor, They're gonna find it if you didn't close the door, You and the smart ones sit outside of their sight, In a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night."This may very well be a stretch but here's how I see it: "You found a sweater on the ocean floor, They're gonna find it if you didn't close the door" Is again commenting on how if one generation of a family manages to do surprisingly well financially or just in general (Dad was a risk-taker) these benefits will be passed down through generations unless someone fucks up or closes the door. "You and the smart ones sit outside of their sight, In a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night." I think this is talking about not accepting this privilege and finding your own path much like the song Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.
I like this, but I had always thought of it being more directed towards their critics, with ezra questioning their validity, esp through the "dad was risk taker...2006 little list maker" part, like asking where their qualifications came from, and almost mocking their jobs.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't see it that way at first but I can understand how the word "little" makes you believe it's a statement against their critics. I feel like critics are definitely part of the equation but it seems more probable to me that it's from a critic's perspective because the tone seems kind of condescending and it appears that whomever is speaking has much more of an artsy-rebel personality that is conservative to the notion that more fortunate musicians are as capable. I see this especially with the lines, "You and the smart ones sit outside of their sight, In a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night" because like I said above, whoever's perpective this is from seems to be in favor of rebelling against fortune. I really hope that made sense. Thanks so much for commenting!
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