1996–2001
We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, Destroyer's 1996 debut, is made up of sixteen lo-fi home-recordings. One reviewer suggested that the album combines Bejar's "gift for melodies" with “a concerted effort to make the recording downright inconsumable; the guitars are always out of tune, and the vocals of Fisher-Price quality. 'Static means punk / tuning is junk,' Bejar moans on one track.” [5] (Ideas for Songs, released on cassette in 1997, features songs akin to those on his first album. The cassette stemmed from a request to contribute songs for a compilation album.[6])
As Bejar gained popularity in Vancouver's music scene, he was joined by producer John Collins for 1998's City of Daughters, which was recorded at a proper studio. Pitchfork noted that the songs still sounded "homespun," also noting "[t]he wordiness that would become something of a trademark is in full effect," but that "unlike much of what came later, not every line is worthy of examination."[7]
Thief (2000) embodied "Bejar's first stab at matching his grandiose, idiosyncratic vision to a showier sound;" it was the first to feature a backing band on every track.[8] The record's "anthemic yet understated"[9] piano-driven ballads have characteristically enigmatic lyrics, though some reviewers interpreted them as critiques of the music industry.[10][11]
Streethawk: A Seduction (2001) realized the sonic refinement started with City of Daughters. Bejar put it this way: "I don't think it gives credence to any kind of conceptualization of the records, but I hope that City of Daughters, Thief, and Streethawk will pop into some kind of a progression that ends with Streethawk.“ [12] A critical success, the album (retrospectively) received a rating of 9.1/10 from Pitchfork.[7]
2002–2007
The 2002 rock album This Night was a dramatic change in style. The looser, less rehearsed style was criticized as "messy [and] haphazard without purpose,"[13] though other critics praised the "beautiful mess of sounds" as "challenging... [and] a powerful, cohesive whole."[11] In a 2006 interview (after the release of Your Blues and Destroyer's Rubies), Bejar said the album "came together pretty quickly - we probably could have used more than four or five days to mix the whole thing, but that's all hindsight. It's still my favorite Destroyer record."[12]
Your Blues (2004) saw Destroyer take another unexpected turn, using MIDI instrumentation for almost all the backing music. Bejar coined the term "European blues" to describe its unique, theatrical sound.[14] One reviewer pointed out that "Bejar’s unusual voice sounds more confident, and higher up" in the synth-rich arrangements.[15] In yet another twist, the EP Notorious Lightning & Other Works reworked six tracks from the record with a live band, the very thing the LP had forsaken (the band was Frog Eyes, who toured with Destroyer in support of Your Blues).
Bejar returned with a live band for 2006's Destroyer's Rubies, delivering arguably his most confident record up to that point. The backing band took new-found prominence and, according to Bejar, "[t]he production seems... warm and lush and pretty focused on just making the band sound good and having everything sit well together."[12] NOW Magazine observed, "[w]hile the sheer density of Bejar’s writing can be overwhelming, Destroyer’s Rubies is, on a musical level, the most ’accessible’ disc he’s released."[16]
2008–2013
For Trouble in Dreams (2008), "there was a scary lack of ideas coming into the record," Bejar admitted.[17] Destroyer's piano player Ted Bois took it upon himself, as an alternative to keyboard and piano accompaniment, to create all string and synth arrangements for the songs.[17] At the time, Bejar said it was the "hardest record" to make.[17]
After the 2009 EP Bay of Pigs came 2011's full-length album, Kaputt (featuring a slightly modified "Bay of Pigs" track). Bejar cited influences such as Miles Davis and Roxy Music for his new jazz-infused, lounge music-inspired, sophisti-pop direction. In multiple interviews, Bejar variously stressed that he "sang in a completely different manner, almost unconscious of even singing, more like speaking into a vacuum, and was really happy with the results."[18][19] The record entailed a number of firsts for Destroyer: first national television performance (on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon); first official music video; first female backing vocals; and the first time Bejar performed without an instrument on tour - his concentration placed solely on his singing. Kaputt was short listed for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize [20] and was Pitchfork's second best album of 2011.[21]
Although smaller in scale, Destroyer's fourth EP "Five Spanish Songs" continued to surprise listeners. Sung entirely in Spanish, Bejar covered songs by Sr. Chinarro (es). Bejar's own tongue-in-cheek press release announcing the new songs began: "It was 2013. The English language seemed spent, despicable, not easily singable."[22]
2014–present
Bejar released Poison Season on August 28, 2015. Bejar notes that the album's sound grew from "just really getting into what we were sounding like playing live [following Kaputt]."[4] Bejar added that he would not have been able to make such an ambitious album if Kaputt had not been successful.[23] Recorded with a live band and a pronounced string section, the album's "grand cinematic set of songs"[23] feature Bejar singing with a broader range than before: "This is the first record that I've ever done that comes close to my idea of myself as a singer," Bejar said.[24]
In 2017, Bejar released ken.
Makin' Angels
Destroyer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
there was a craft sale of the heart...
Where things are made and things are sold
and returned into the gold from whence they came...
And I said I would come...
And you said you'd come too...
Hey, rock n roll's not through (yet)...
I'm sewing wings on This thing...
Every time I try to speak your language a new part of me lives...
So I said I would start something and you'd start something too...
Hey, rock n roll's not through (yet)...
I'm sewing wings on This thing...
How can we not be so territorial, when everyone's in love with the land?
So I said I would go there, and you said you'd go too...
Hey, rock n roll's not through (yet)...
I'm sewing wings on This thing...
The lyrics to Destroyer’s song “Makin’ Angels” are a poetic and abstract exploration of relationships, creativity, and the constant pursuit of growth and connection. The opening line refers to a “craft sale of the heart,” which could be interpreted as the exchange of emotions and experiences between people, or perhaps the act of creating art or music. The idea that things are “returned into the gold from whence they came” suggests a cyclical nature to this exchange, possibly indicating that what we put out into the world will eventually come back to us in some form or another.
The refrain of “Hey, rock n roll’s not through (yet)…” serves as a sort of rallying call or reminder that there is always more to be explored and created, regardless of one’s age or artistic experience. The lines “I’m sewing wings on This thing…” could be interpreted as the act of trying to elevate oneself or one’s art to a higher level, or striving for a sense of freedom or transcendence.
The second verse makes reference to the challenges of communication and understanding between people, with the line “Every time I try to speak your language a new part of me lives…” The desire to start something new and move forward is expressed again, as well as a plea for less territorial behavior in relationships, suggesting a desire for more openness and shared experiences.
Overall, the lyrics to “Makin’ Angels” are abstract and open to interpretation, but convey a sense of striving, growth, and creative potential.
Line by Line Meaning
Ok, and for a start,
there was a craft sale of the heart...
It all began with a sale where emotions were made, traded and eventually turned into valuable things.
Where things are made and things are sold
and returned into the gold from whence they came...
It was a place where emotions were made into valuable things and when returned, they were worth their weight in gold.
And I said I would come...
And you said you'd come too...
I promised to participate and you promised to be there with me.
Hey, rock n roll's not through (yet)...
We still have a long way to go before rock and roll music becomes obsolete.
I'm sewing wings on This thing...
I'm working on something new and exciting, creating something that can make me fly.
Every time I try to speak your language a new part of me lives...
Whenever I try to communicate with you, a new side of me opens up, which is all about discovering and experiencing new things.
So I said I would start something and you'd start something too...
I pledged to initiate something and you pledged to do the same.
How can we not be so territorial, when everyone's in love with the land?
The land is occupied by so many people who all love it, so how could we possibly not be territorial?
So I said I would go there, and you said you'd go too...
I promised to visit the land and you promised to accompany me.
Hey, rock n roll's not through (yet)...
Rock and roll music still has a long way to go before it becomes obsolete.
I'm sewing wings on This thing...
I'm working on something new and exciting, creating something that can make me fly.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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