Ariel Pink (born Ariel Marcus Rosenberg on June 24, 1978) is a Los Angeles … Read Full Bio ↴Ariel Pink (born Ariel Marcus Rosenberg on June 24, 1978) is a Los Angeles based experimental/pop musician. Pink boasts a cult following and endorsements from more widely known artists such as fellow founding Paw Tracks group Animal Collective.

After years of recording in relative seclusion in the hills of Los Angeles, Ariel Pink (the first non-Animal Collective member on the Paw Tracks roster) made his official Paw Tracks debut with The Doldrums. Recording at home with a guitar, bass, keyboard, and 8-track (the drum sounds were created with his mouth).

Ariel Pink blends Lite FM and warped lo-fi pop into something by turns beautiful and confusing. Some may find his personal yet detached approach highly addictive, while others may be instantly turned off by the obvious lo-fi production and the vocal drumtracks.

In the summer of 2003, Pink passed a CD-R on to New York based band Animal Collective after being introduced by mutual friend Jimi Hey (of All Night Radio and Beachwood Sparks) at one of their shows. Unbeknownst to Pink, Animal Collective had recently started their own record label, Paw Tracks, and several weeks later they contacted him expressing an interest in releasing his music. Pink became the first musician on the label aside from the members of Animal Collective. The next year, the label reissued The Doldrums, an album which had been originally recorded in 1999. Since then, Paw Tracks (now co-owned by Carpark Records) has released two other reissues of Pink's previous recordings, Worn Copy and House Arrest.

Pink has gradually caught the attention of media sources around the United States as well as internationally. As most of his albums are self-made, many of them have never been heard by fans. Almost all of Pink's albums which have been commercially released come from his yet-unfinished "Haunted Graffiti" series and are thus the best known.

Pink's tours have generally been met with much negativity, primarily because his music was never intended to be performed live for commercial audiences. As he explained to LA Weekly:
“People boo me everywhere...They don't even hide their contempt. I'm used to it now...Hey, I'm giving audiences the real thing...For better or worse, I'm out there, and those are the circumstances. People don't like it when it seems like you don't know what's happening, or I'm getting bummed out with certain aspects and I can't hide it. I think people feel that pain and just think it's bad.”

Initially playing shows alone with pre-recorded music, Pink has since employed the efforts of keyboardist Kenny Gilmore, bassist Tim Koh (White Magic), drummer Jimi Hey, and guitarist Cole M. Greif-Neill (Ethnik Klensr) as Haunted Graffiti. However, even with a backing band unfamiliar audiences are generally hostile towards the unrehearsed nature of the live compositions.

In July, the band embarked on Pink's "Thanks Mom, I'm Dead" tour.

One genre that may interestingly define Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti is one known as Hauntology.

Jules Lost His Jewels
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I named him Jules, he stole my baby then he stole my heart
Knew that he was a tiger right from the start
She plays rough with him cause he's her ragamuffin oh yeah
She played hard and then he got harder
She kicked his head that's when he got on her

I said to Jules, "just cause you're a cat don't mean you ain't a man."
"just cause you're a man don't mean that every pussy need a dad."

"can't have you cream on my girl. find another dealer to pawn off your pearls"

Jules lost his jewels when he came up pearls, they took his manhood
Jules lost his jewels when he turned 18 went down to West Hollywood

C'est la vie, C'est la vie, comme ci, comme ca

Jules made a mess of my baby's dress late last night
Pumpin' up n' down with every whimpering pound, well oh my!
she shook her knee and woke me up, said "that sick little brat's
got my leg in a hump, well alright"

I pulled on his socks pinned him down on his back said, "How does that feel?"
then he sprayed on my lap, no!

Overall Meaning

The song "Jules Lost His Jewels" is a story of love-triangle between three individuals: the singer, Jules, and the singer's girlfriend. The singer names Jules and admits that Jules stole both his girlfriend and his heart. The singer ultimately accepts that Jules is indeed a man, even if he behaves like a cat. The singer communicates his displeasure towards Jules' advances towards his girlfriend and warns Jules against harming her. Jules later suffers the consequences of his actions when he loses his manhood due to a disease he contracts. The song ends with the French phrase "C'est la vie, C'est la vie, comme ci, comme ca", which essentially translates to "such is life".

The song handles themes of love, lust, jealousy, and ultimately acceptance of the choices one makes. The singer, albeit unhappy with Jules' actions, accepts that he cannot control his girlfriend's actions and does not blame her for falling in love with someone else. The reference to "Jules Lost His Jewels" is both a metaphor and a literal reference to his manhood loss. It highlights the negative consequences of his actions while ultimately accepting that life moves on.

Line by Line Meaning

I named him Jules, he stole my baby then he stole my heart
Jules was the one who stole my girlfriend and my heart

Knew that he was a tiger right from the start
I always knew he was a player

She plays rough with him cause he's her ragamuffin oh yeah
She likes to play rough with him because he is like her play toy

She played hard and then he got harder
Their intimacy grew more intense over time

She kicked his head that's when he got on her
She was tough with him, but that only made him more attracted to her

I said to Jules, "just cause you're a cat don't mean you ain't a man."
I told Jules that even though he's a player, he has to take responsibility for his actions

"just cause you're a man don't mean that every pussy need a dad."
I warned Jules that not every woman wants a man in their life

"can't have you cream on my girl. find another dealer to pawn off your pearls"
I told Jules that he can't have his way with my girlfriend and he needs to find someone else to mess with

Jules lost his jewels when he came up pearls, they took his manhood
Jules lost his masculinity when he got caught and exposed

Jules lost his jewels when he turned 18 went down to West Hollywood
Jules lost his innocence when he went to West Hollywood and had some kind of experience

C'est la vie, C'est la vie, comme ci, comme ca
That's life, that's life, so-so

Jules made a mess of my baby's dress late last night
Jules was intimate with my girlfriend and messed up her dress

Pumpin' up n' down with every whimpering pound, well oh my!
He was having sex with her and making all kinds of noises

she shook her knee and woke me up, said "that sick little brat's
My girlfriend woke me up and told me that Jules was sick and she was not happy

got my leg in a hump, well alright"
She complained that he made her leg sore, but found it amusing

I pulled on his socks pinned him down on his back said, "How does that feel?"
I overpowered Jules and brought him down and asked him how it felt

then he sprayed on my lap, no!
He ejaculated on me, which was not good

Contributed by Camilla E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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