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.
Strange Fires
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's the window in my mind
You came runnin' back behind
The red of your face
Is just as red as my fingers
Because I came
When they run from home?
Love me! I tell it to my heartbreak!
Aunt Caroline is just another pretty face
Strange fires
Strange
(x3)
Strange fires of the mind
That devours all the time
And this time
I'm a killer inside
Strange fires of the mind
That devours all the time
And this time
I find
Caught with the crosses
We begun to sleep
Love me! Tell it to my heartbreak!
An evil sin worth crawling in my guilty hands
Strange fires
Strange
(x3)
Who knocks at the door?
It's the window in my mind
You came runnin' back behind
The red of your face
Is just as red as my fingers
Because I came
Where do little girls go
When they run from home?
Love me! Or tell it to my heartbreak!
Old Caroline is just another pretty face
Strange fires
Strange
(x3)
(Look to me
On the way home)
The lyrics of the song Strange Fires by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti seems to be dealing with the internal battle that a person faces in their mind, as if the mind is on fire. The song appears to be narrated by the singer speaking to a woman who appears to have returned to him after running away from home. The lyrics suggest that the singer is struggling with his own inner turmoil and that he is slowly becoming a killer because of it. The lyrics "Strange fires of the mind that devours all the time" indicates that the singer is being consumed by his own internal struggles and describes the situation as if his mind is on fire. The line "Where do little girls go when they run from home?" continues to build on the theme of internal turmoil and suggests that the singer himself may be running away from his own struggles.
The repeated line "Love me! Tell it to my heartbreak!" appears to be the singer's plea for someone to understand his internal struggles and to love him even though he is consumed by them. While the line "Aunt Caroline is just another pretty face" could be interpreted as the singer's disinterest in the world around him, indicating that he is struggling to find meaning in his life as he becomes more and more consumed by his own internal battles.
Overall, the song Strange Fires is a reflection of internal turmoil and how it can consume a person's mind and lead to self-destruction.
Line by Line Meaning
Who knocks at the door?
I am not sure who is knocking at my door.
It's the window in my mind
It is my imagination or thought that is causing a knocking sound in my head.
You came runnin' back behind
Someone has returned from their past experience.
The red of your face
Your face looks flushed because of something I have done.
Is just as red as my fingers
My fingers feel burning hot, just like the embarrassment or guilt that I feel.
Because I came
I came, and now you feel embarrassed or guilty about it.
Where do little girls go When they run from home?
When little girls are running away from home, where do they usually go?
Love me! I tell it to my heartbreak!
I love someone so much, it hurts me deep down.
Aunt Caroline is just another pretty face
Caroline is good-looking but doesn't have any other qualities worth mentioning.
Strange fires
Unusual or bizarre things are happening.
Strange
Something is not as it should be.
(x3)
This occurrence has happened three times.
Strange fires of the mind
Strange things that the mind is creating.
That devours all the time
Something that takes up all of one's time and attention.
And this time I'm a killer inside
This time, it's as though something inside me is killing me or causing me to feel guilty.
I find
I discover something about myself or the situation in question.
Caught with the crosses
Unable to escape the problems or responsibilities that come with a particular situation.
We begun to sleep
We begin to let our guard down and become less aware of what is happening around us.
An evil sin worth crawling in my guilty hands
I have done something so wrong, it is like an unforgivable sin that I cannot let go of.
Love me! Or tell it to my heartbreak!
Please love me, even if it causes me heartache.
Old Caroline is just another pretty face
Caroline is still good-looking but has become irrelevant due to her age.
(Look to me On the way home)
Pay attention to me as you are leaving.
Contributed by Scarlett H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.