Rufus Wainwright
Canadian-American singer-songwriter.
Cigarettes and chocolate milk
These are just a couple of my cravings
Everything it seems I like's a little bit stronger
A little bit thicker
A little bit harmful for me.
His songs are obviously drawn from his own experience, but he's mastered the art of making them emotionally universal.
Mowing your lawn is against nature.
Rufus is one of those singular musical talents who both transcends and makes a mockery of fashion. It would not matter in which musical era he chose to materialise, but that his voice and his sensibility would be recognised as unique, timeless and without peer.
And I am left behind
Corrupted crushed and blind
All for a dream
That in truth was never really mine.
He's got a phenomenal voice.
Who will be at Sanssouci tonight?
It's only when you're outside that you notice
Only through the window you can see them
Once the door is open, all will vanish.
Guess the world needs both sun
And the moon too
Sad with what I have except for you.
Rufus might sing with that beautiful voice, and the entire world seems to melt and stop; but it's his hair, after all, that I'm jealous of.
When I first came up with the lines, I don't know what it is, but you got to do it/ I don't know where to go but you got to be there, I was at this party for The Strokes in New York. There was this prevailing sense of, 'We're not quite sure what's happening or what is cool, but we know that it's somewhere around here, in this room.' It was this vague confusion, with everybody kind of sniffing for blood. It wasn't that it was a bad party, or that I don't like The Strokes; I just think there's a lot of confusion right now in the music business. Then, later on, I realized the song was really personal. I didn't know where I was, and I didn't know I was actually lost. It wasn't about the party at all; it's about searching but not knowing what you're searching for. There's the train motif, being on this train heading for either oblivion or salvation – and just holding on for dear life. That song came down from some mountain somewhere, because it was right after I wrote it that I sort of packed it in.