A Chicago native, O'Rourke's work has found equal luck with experimental jazz and noise fanatics, chill room denizens, and bedroom experimentalists, and has had the resultant effect of cross-pollinating many otherwise isolated compositional communities. In early 1993, he formed an avant-rock group with Darin Gray and Dylan Posa called Brise-Glace. The band released one studio album, When in Vanitas..., in 1994.
Subsequently, O'Rourke has released a fair bit of material as a soloist, although more often in the electro-acoustic/musique concrète vein. Dealing most often with prepared guitar in improvisational group settings, he's collaborated with such contemporary improv heroes as Derek Bailey, Henry Kaiser, Eddie Prevost and Keith Rowe (of English improv group AMM), KK Null, David Jackman (Organum), and early Krautrock experimentalists Faust. O'Rourke is also engaged in an ongoing exploration of experimental rock as a member of Gastr del Sol, who've released albums through the Teen Beat and Table of the Elements labels.
Beginning with guitar at the age of 6, it wasn't until his collegiate career at DePaul University that O'Rourke's interest in the less obvious possibilities of the instrument led him through the early catalogs of the post-classical and electro-acoustic traditions. While at DePaul, O'Rourke completed much of the work that would constitute his first few releases. He also had the opportunity to meet up with noted improvisational guitarist Derek Bailey, whose invitation to O'Rourke to play at the British improv festival Company Week led to further collaborative projects with Bailey, Henry Kaiser, Eddie Prevost, and David Jackman. O'Rourke began working with Dan Burke's Illusion of Safety project in the early '90s, releasing three albums through Staalplaat and Tesco, before moving on to form experimental "rock" group Gastr Del Sol with David Grubbs. Although focusing more on collaboration after a string of solo releases in the early '90s, O'Rourke has shifted back to solo work of late, releasing Terminal Pharmacy through John Zorn's Tzadik label and completing commissioned pieces for the Kronos Quartet and the Rova Saxophone Quartet. In 1995, O'Rourke was invited by German experimental electronic label Mille Plateaux (Oval, Steel, Microstoria) to conduct an extended remix of their entire back catalog. He also produced and co-wrote a good portion of innovative German outfit Faust's Table of the Elements release, Rien. O'Rourke is also noted for his work as a producer. This role led to another project during the mixing of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, when O'Rourke combined with Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche to form Loose Fur.
Eureka
Jim O'Rourke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Are your skies clear and sunny down there?
Even in this rain the breath of the breeze is reaching me here
Here on this phone
A quarter a day room for me
And as things stay the same
I'm quickly running out of change
While you're sitting there on your ass
Fresh crease in your shirts
No stain of sweat on your back
There's no need
There's an employee
To make up for all of your slack
A seed don't make a tree
Without a servant who waters the grass
The song Eureka by Jim O'Rourke is about a person who is struggling and feeling alone, talking to someone who they see as successful and put together. The lyrics begin by asking if the person on the other end of the line can hear them, and if the weather is good where they are. Even though it's raining where the singer is, they can feel the wind blowing and reaching them through the phone. The singer is in a cheap room that costs only a quarter a day, and they are running out of money. Meanwhile, the person they're talking to is described as being able to think on their feet, even though they are sitting down comfortably. They have no signs of physical labor on them, and they have an employee who does all of their work for them.
The final lines of the song emphasize the idea that success is not achieved alone. The singer notes that a seed cannot grow into a tree without someone to water it, and compares this to having a servant to take care of the work that needs to be done. The overall message of the song seems to be one of frustration and longing for a better life. The singer is reaching out to someone who they perceive as having everything they need, but in reality, the other person has a team of support behind them.
Line by Line Meaning
Hello, Hello, can you hear me?
Attempting to start a conversation with someone over the phone
Are your skies clear and sunny down there?
Asking about the weather in the other person's location
Even in this rain the breath of the breeze is reaching me here
Noticing the wind even during rainy weather
Here on this phone
Noting the physical medium of communication
A quarter a day room for me
Staying in a very cheap room
And as things stay the same
Nothing new is happening in the singer's life
I'm quickly running out of change
The singer is running out of money
You're thinking on your feet
The other person is adaptable and able to think quickly
While you're sitting there on your ass
The other person is physically stationary
Fresh crease in your shirts
The other person is well-dressed
No stain of sweat on your back
The other person isn't doing physically demanding work
There's no need
There is no necessity for the other person to work hard
There's an employee
Someone else will work hard for the other person
To make up for all of your slack
The other person expects someone else to compensate for their lack of effort
A seed don't make a tree
A plant requires more than one component to grow
Without a servant who waters the grass
Without assistance or support, no one can succeed
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: JIM O'ROURKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TechnoTurtle9974
Belgrade Pia
I agree with that. I am not the one that you need to direct this to. When experimentation is done right, the lack of melody, among other musical traits, can be replaced with something far more interesting, or unique.
WHEN IT IS DONE RIGHT BEING THE MAIN POINT OF IMPORTANCE HERE.
There are loads of examples of artists messing up something great, for the sake of "experimentation" and it comes off as pretentious, and not worth listening to.
Experimentation for the sake of experimentation does not make an album great. Experimentation that creates a new uniquely beautiful sound, soundscape, or sometimes just harshness can be great. Fiddling around with a song just to be/ make an album sound "artsy or weird" is pretentious.
Now, please get off your high horse.
@TheTheavenger23
Prelude to 110 or 220/Women of the World (0:00)
Ghost Ship in a Storm (8:46)
Movie on the Way Down (12:41)
Through the Night Softly (20:19)
Please Patronize Our Sponsors (25:06) Something Big (28:11)
Eureka (31:25)
Happy Holidays (40:37)
@tannerin
jim o'rourke is one of those guys I've heard about everywhere but never actually heard until now and this is fantastic
@lightning860
You're one of those guys who I see leaving comments on so many great albums
@seanmurphy7733
If you haven't already, be sure to also check out his EP from the same year as Eureeka (1999). It's called Halfway To A Threeway.
@ephre
Yeah Threeway for sure, and Upgrade and Afterlife by Gastr Del Sol, that album is magickal.
@RustinChole
Insignificance, the follow up album to this is also masterful, very different but beautifully composed. Good Times is a song to end all songs.
@PEGGLORE
Bound to make an appearance in the list of top 100 Hipster albums.
@choppa-vj1en
Guys, if you liked this album, especially song 'Eureka', i strongly recommend watching <Eureka> by Aoyama Shinji. In interview, he actually wrote its screenplay after he listened to 'Eureka'. It's long film, about 3 hours and half, but seriously, it can change your entire life. I experienced that before, and if you're reading this, just write about this down somewhere and watch it if you somehow depressed or need something to encourage you. Long story short, it's a great movie.
@adrianjohnson2287
Jim O'Rourke is one of those guy who's musically fluid. He can plant one foot in the pop musical landscape and with the other the uninhibited world of avant garde music. I call that genius and he has been on my musical radar for years and he's a fellow Chicagoan. Now in Japan.
@daikaizen1231
"Eureka" inspired Shinij Aoyama to make his four-hour-long movie with the same title. It´s about three survivors of a massacre in a bus, who try to go on living after their traumatic experience.
If you give it a chance, the film might really stick with you.