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.
Until the Night Dies
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You don't forget
What you just said
Scared of every breath
and sigh
Hides the truth behind a lie
I see you with my eyes
(x3)
Hiding in a room
Eyes
...
Hiding in a room
I see you with my eyes
(x3)
Hiding in a room
(... stares
There's people looking everywhere)
Hiding in a room
I see you with my eyes
(x3)
Hiding in a room
I'm standing in a crowded room
Hiding in a room
I see you with my eyes
(x3)
The lyrics of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti in the song "Until the Night Dies" seem to describe a sense of fear, probably coming from a deep-seated anxiety that the singer cannot shake off. The lines "in my head, you don't forget what you just said" could insinuate a sense of paranoia or being self-conscious about something that has been said or done in the recent past. This could lead to a feeling that everyone around is judging and scrutinizing every move and word, exemplified by the lines "Scared of every breath and sigh, hides truth behind a lie."
The singer seems to be hiding away from the outside world, perhaps in a physical sense but also in a more emotional sense, where the world represents an unpredictable and confusing place. The repeated line "hiding in a room, I see you with my eyes" could indicate the singer retreating to a place of safety, perhaps even a place of memories, where they can look out at the world but not necessarily engage with it. At the same time, the repeated line "eyes" could represent a focus on the visual, as if the singer is observing and analyzing everything that is happening without actually experiencing it.
In the end, the singer is "standing in a crowded room" like an outsider or observer, still searching for connection but unable to fully engage in the world outside of their own thoughts and emotions. This song portrays a complex mix of fear, longing, and detachment that comes across as both haunting and relatable.
Line by Line Meaning
in my head
Internally thinking about something
You don't forget
Something that stays in your mind constantly
What you just said
The words someone just spoke to you
Scared of every breath
Being afraid of anything that may happen
and sigh
Even the little things that are out of your control
Hides the truth behind a lie
Not telling the truth and hiding it behind something else
Hiding in a room
Keeping yourself separate from the outside world
I see you with my eyes
The ability to see this person even though you are hiding
(x3)
Repeated three times
... stares
The gaze of others being focused on you
There's people looking everywhere
Being noticed and unable to hide
I'm standing in a crowded room
Being physically present in a crowded space
Contributed by Kaylee C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jason isamu
Niiice
Diego Mora
Great