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.
Priest's Knees
Destroyer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
West coast maximalist
Exploring the blues
Ignoring the news
From the front
Where they're taking her
Children away
Tall ships made of snow
Invading the sun
Some people call me "angel"
On their death bed in a dream
That's right
The Czar's father thought
Things could've gone differently last night
But they didn't
And I couldn't bear
To follow you there
Where trauma exists in the sky
Twentieth century masters
Welcome these disasters
And so do I but no
Oh, baby please don't go
Up into it
The lyrics to Destroyer's song "Priest's Knees" are metaphorical and abstract, yet profound, and have been interpreted in different ways by fans and critics. The song starts with the singer describing himself as a "West coast maximalist" who is "exploring the blues" while ignoring the news "from the front" where "they" are taking children away. This could be a reference to the government or society's injustices and oppression that he is aware of but chooses to ignore because his own pursuit of pleasure or creativity takes precedence. However, the reference to "the front" suggests that there is a larger conflict or struggle taking place, perhaps a war or a social movement.
The song's title "Priest's Knees" could also be a metaphor for submission or prayer, as priests kneel in prayer, or it could refer to frailty and vulnerability, as knees are a vulnerable part of the body. The second verse of the song presents contrasting images of "tall ships made of snow" invading the sun and the singer being called an "angel" by people on their deathbeds in dreams. These images could represent purity and innocence versus corruption and power, and the singer's uncertain position amidst these opposing forces. The third verse shifts to a historical allusion to "the Czar's father" and a missed opportunity for change, possibly reflecting on personal regrets or missed chances to effect change.
Overall, "Priest's Knees" is a complex and enigmatic song that invites multiple interpretations, but it embodies the introspective and imaginative qualities that make Destroyer's music unique.
Line by Line Meaning
And I was just another
West coast maximalist
Exploring the blues
Ignoring the news
From the front
I was a person who admired the maximum possible amount of artistry, especially from the west coast, and who was diving into the emotional depths of the blues genre without paying attention to the negative headlines being broadcasted right in front of me.
Where they're taking her
Children away
Taking them where they wanna go
Tall ships made of snow
Invading the sun
The singer is witnessing the government separating children from their parents, and shipping them off to who knows where, while this tragic event is covered in white lies and misconceptions.
Some people call me "angel"
On their death bed in a dream
That's right
The Czar's father thought
Things could've gone differently last night
But they didn't
During their last moments, some people view me as a guardian, even though it's just a figment of their dying imagination. Meanwhile, someone powerful thought that last night something could have happened that didn't ultimately come to pass.
And I couldn't bear
To follow you there
Where trauma exists in the sky
Twentieth century masters
Welcome these disasters
And so do I but no
Oh, baby please don't go
Up into it
The artist was unable to accompany someone to a place where airborne catastrophe takes place, something that many influential people in the last century welcomed. However, the artist pleads for their loved one not to go up into the tragic skies above.
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB.
Written by: Daniel Bejar
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind