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.
Netherlands
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the leaves had scattered
One horseman left him then
All along this valley
Find the answer
To the Netherlands
If you don't find the answer
If you don't find the answer
To the Netherlands
If you don't find the answer to this better place
If you don't find the answers
Wow, hey!
You can call my name
But I will always hear a silence
You can call my name
Perhaps I shan't see my Netherlands
At last
The ... then
Forgot nobody
As I stood looking now
Your pony had left my gaze
Find the answer to the Netherlands
And if you don't find the answers to the better days
If you don't find the answers to the Netherlands
Find the answer...wow, yeah!
You can call my name
But I will only hear a silence
You can call my name, trust
Perhaps I shan't see my Netherlands (x3)
(Instrumental)
Don't hear my confession
I left without despair
Not even one wish can take ...
Not one wish that I would share
Find the answer to the Netherlands
If you don't find the answer to a better day
The lyrics of "Netherlands" by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti are cryptic and abstract, but they seem to tell a story about a soldier who is stranded in a foreign land during wartime. The soldier is alone and searching for a way to return home to his homeland, which is symbolized by the Netherlands. The lyrics suggest that the soldier is haunted by the memory of his home and is struggling to find a way back to it. The chorus repeats the phrase "Find the answer to the Netherlands" as a plea for help or guidance in his quest to return home.
The verses are fragmented and disjointed, suggesting a sense of disorientation and confusion for the soldier. The image of a horseman who leaves him alone in a valley adds to the sense of abandonment and isolation. The final verse suggests a sense of resignation, as the soldier admits that he may never find his way back to the Netherlands, even if his name is called out.
Overall, the lyrics of "Netherlands" seem to touch on themes of displacement, loss, and yearning for home. The song is open to interpretation, but it seems to speak to the universality of these emotions and experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
The war had tossed him there
He was a victim of war and ended up in a certain place
And the leaves had scattered
The scenery around him was desolate and scattered
One horseman left him then
He was abandoned by his companions
All along this valley
He was left to wander aimlessly in a valley
Find the answer
He seeks the solution to his problems
To the Netherlands
To a better place, possibly a metaphorical utopia
If you don't find the answer
Failure to discover the solution will result in negative consequences
To the rhyme
To the rhythm of life or to a specific order
You can call my name
He is willing to be contacted
But I will always hear a silence
He feels alone and disheartened
Perhaps I shan't see my Netherlands
He may never reach his desired utopia
At last
He is approaching the end of his journey
The ... then
A missing word, unclear meaning
Forgot nobody
No one was left behind or overlooked
As I stood looking now
He reflects on his current situation
Your pony had left my gaze
His mode of transportation has disappeared, leaving him stranded
Find the answer to the Netherlands
He reiterates the importance of finding a solution
And if you don't find the answers to the better days
If he does not discover a solution, things will not improve
Find the answer...wow, yeah!
He expresses the urgency of finding a solution
You can call my name, trust
He wants to establish trust between him and the listener
Don't hear my confession
He does not want to reveal his innermost thoughts
I left without despair
He may have given up, but remains optimistic
Not even one wish can take ...
A missing word, unclear meaning
Not one wish that I would share
He has no desires that he is willing to reveal
Contributed by Nora L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Andrew G
>no sequencers were used
Weird flex but ok
Viewbob
Or Melody Maker for that matter!
78deathface
I’ve been to Netherlands, it’s a nice place, very clean, lots of bicycles, attractive people, I ate an apple donut there that haunts me still…
pobberson
God this song is gonna cry rn
Silence Blue
The whole album is strong... this song is awesome !!
comicmischief97
love me some Netherlands
Matt Myers
Cool!
WinnieTheSquirrel
ending is great
Drunken Belafonte Maine
Yess, brilliant again.