After mk Ultra broke up in 1999, Vanderslice wasted little time building a solo reputation. In 2000, he gained national media attention over his single Bill Gates Must Die after concocting an elaborate hoax in which Microsoft supposedly threatened legal action over supposed trademark violations (the disc had a similar etching to a Windows installation disc).
Subsequent albums, Time Travel is Lonely, Life and Death of an American Fourtracker, Cellar Door, Pixel Revolt and Emerald City have gained critical acclaim for their melodic quality and sophisticated narrative lyrical content. Vanderslice has spent much of the last few years on tour across North America, Europe, and Japan.
Vanderslice also founded a recording studio in 1997 called Tiny Telephone. Located in the Mission District of San Francisco, Tiny Telephone has carved out a niche as the last all-analog recording studio in the Bay Area, and has a policy of setting recording rates under market prices. Bands who have used Vanderslice's studio include Beulah, Death Cab for Cutie, Okkervil River and Spoon.
Vanderslice is a proponent of using analog instruments and recording equipment to produce a richer, more raw sound which he has sometimes called "dirty hi-fi". He has collaborated closely with Scott Solter in the production of his recent albums, with Pixel Revolt being notably shaped by Solter.
Vanderslice was a contributing producer on the Spoon album, Gimme Fiction, and has collaborated and toured with The Mountain Goats. He is strongly influenced by film and is a fan of David Lynch, whose work is referenced in his song "Promising Actress". His declared musical influences are diverse, ranging from Neutral Milk Hotel to Public Enemy. He is an avid photography hobbyist. He has incorporated the poetry of William Blake and Robert Lowell into his music.
Several songs on the album Pixel Revolt referenced the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent global political situation. This is also true of Vanderslice's most recent album, Emerald City.
Mansion
John Vanderslice Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Humming some bloodying nordic rowing song
It was raked and cut and comforting
To comfort I said so long
I stole my girl from her backyard
We jumped on a train
Anacostia, va
We set off in hope of changing our lives
But settled instead on holiday inn, riverside
I woke up in the morning all alone
I walked down to the lobby
And found her on the phone
"David," she said, "I miss you I'm coming home"
I pulled her by the arm
She grabbed me by the throat
I went to the room and threw all her things
Off the 17th floor balcony and set out
We set off in hope of changing our lives
But settled instead on holiday inn, riverside
The lyrics to John Vanderslice's song Mansion tell a story of a failed attempt at finding change and escaping the mundane. The singer wakes up early, takes a walk across his well-kept lawn, humming a song from a faraway place. The peacefulness of his surroundings bring him comfort, but he is ready to move on. He decides to take the matter into his own hands and steals his girl from her backyard. They embark on a journey, initially with the hope of changing their lives, but they end up staying in a Holiday Inn in Riverside. This place of transience, which represents temporary comfort and a transition period, becomes their destination.
The turning point in the song is when the singer wakes up to find his girl on the phone with someone else. She tells him that she misses her ex-boyfriend and that she's going back to him. The singer becomes enraged and throws all of her things off the balcony, indicating that he's done and moving on without her. This abrupt ending to their journey reinforces the central theme of the song, which is that change is often elusive, and we end up settling for comfort rather than taking the risk of achieving a transcendental experience.
Line by Line Meaning
At dawn I walked across my front lawn
I walked across my front lawn at the break of dawn
Humming some bloodying nordic rowing song
I was humming a Nordic rowing song with intense energy
It was raked and cut and comforting
My lawn was neatly raked and cut and it gave me a sense of comfort
To comfort I said so long
I left behind my comfort to embark on a new journey
I stole my girl from her backyard
I took my girl away from her home without permission
We jumped on a train
We boarded a train without any hesitation
Anacostia, va
We were headed to Anacostia, Virginia
To greyhound across the united states
We were planning to travel across the U.S. by Greyhound bus
We set off in hope of changing our lives
We left in hopes of changing our current situations
But settled instead on holiday inn, riverside
However, we eventually ended up settling for a Holiday Inn in Riverside
I woke up in the morning all alone
I woke up in the morning to find that my girl was no longer there
I walked down to the lobby
I walked down to the hotel lobby
And found her on the phone
I found her talking on the phone
"David," she said, "I miss you I'm coming home"
She said on the phone to some other guy named David that she missed him and is coming home
I pulled her by the arm
I grabbed her by the arm
She grabbed me by the throat
She choked me by grabbing me by the throat
I went to the room and threw all her things
I went back to our hotel room and threw all her belongings
Off the 17th floor balcony and set out
I threw them off the 17th-floor balcony and left
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: John Vanderslice
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind