Joshua Michael Tillman, a.k.a. sentient-thinking emoji Father John Misty, performed two songs on Saturday Night Live this weekend that questioned two of the bedrocks of Western civilization: entertainment and religion.
“Total Entertainment Forever” and “Pure Comedy,” both from his upcoming album Pure Comedy (due out April 7 on Sub Pop), are thought-provoking, tongue-in-cheek criticisms of societal opiates. Given the state of American political discourse right now, Tillman’s booking on late night’s premier stage — which typically hosts musicians much more popular than the Los Angeles-based songwriter — was a clear message from the SNL staff bookers.
Watch the videos of each performance below, and read the accompanying lyrics.
“Total Entertainment Forever”
Bedding Taylor SwiftEvery night inside the Oculus RiftAfter mister and the missus finish dinner and the dishesAnd now the future's definition is so much higher than it was last yearIt's like the images have all become realAnd someone's living my life for me out in the mirrorNo, can you believe how far we've comeIn the New Age?Freedom to have what you wantIn the New Age we'll all be entertainedRich or poor, the channels are all the sameYou're a star now, baby, so dry your tearsYou're just like themWake on up from the nightmareCome onOh ho ohOhOh ho ohNo gods to rule usNo drugs to soothe usNo myths to prove stuffNo love to confuse usNot bad for a race of demented monkeysFrom a cave to a city to a permanent partyCome onOh ho ohOhOh ho ohWhen the historians find us we'll be in our homesPlugged into our hubsSkin and bonesA frozen smile on every faceAs the stories replayThis must have been a wonderful place
“Pure Comedy”
The comedy of man starts like thisOur brains are way too big for our mothers' hipsAnd so Nature, she divines this alternativeWe emerged half-formed and hope that whoever greets us on the other endIs kind enough to fill us inAnd, babies, that's pretty much how it's been ever sinceNow the miracle of birth leaves a few issues to addressLike, say, that half of us are periodically iron-deficientSo somebody's got to go kill something while I look after the kidsI'd do it myself, but what, are you going to get this thing its milk?He says as soon as he gets back from the hunt, we can switchIt's hard not to fall in love with something so helplessLadies, I hope we don't end up regretting thisComedy, now that's what I call pure comedyJust waiting until the part where they start to believeThey're at the center of everythingAnd some all-powerful being endowed this horror show with meaningOh, their religions are the bestThey worship themselves yet they're totally obsessedWith risen zombies, celestial virgins, magic tricks, these unbelievable outfitsAnd they get terribly upsetWhen you question their sacred textsWritten by woman-hating epilepticsTheir languages just serve to confuse themTheir confusion somehow makes them more sureThey build fortunes poisoning their offspringAnd hand out prizes when someone patents the cureWhere did they find these goons they elected to rule them?What makes these clowns they idolize so remarkable?These mammals are hell-bent on fashioning new godsSo they can go on being godless animalsOh comedy, their illusions they have no choice but to believeTheir horizons that just forever recedeAnd how's this for irony, their idea of being free is a prison of beliefsThat they never ever have to leaveOh comedy, oh it's like something that a madman would conceive!The only thing that seems to make them feel alive is the struggle to surviveBut the only thing that they request is something to numb the pain withUntil there's nothing human leftJust random matter suspended in the darkI hate to say it, but each other's all we gotCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
