Laura Phillips Anderson was born June 5, 1947, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, United States. She attended Mills College in California, and eventually graduated from Barnard College magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, studying art history. In 1972, she obtained an MFA in sculpture from Columbia University.
She performed in New York through the 1970s. Two early pieces, "New York Social Life" and "Time to Go," were included in the 1977 compilation New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media, along with works by Pauline Oliveros and others.
She became more widely known in 1982 with the single "O Superman," originally released in a limited quantity by One Ten Records; a sudden influx of orders from the U.K. (prompted by British DJ John Peel playing the record) led to Anderson signing with the Warner Brothers label, which re-released the single. "O Superman" reached number two on the national pop charts in Britain.
"O Superman" was part of a larger stage work entitled United States and was included on her following album, Big Science. Her more recent stage work includes a multimedia presentation inspired by Moby Dick. She starred in and directed the 1986 concert film, Home of the Brave, and also composed the soundtracks for the Spalding Gray films Swimming to Cambodia and Monster in a Box. All of Anderson's albums from the 1980s sold very well despite being labeled "avant garde". Her varied career has even included voice-acting in the animated film The Rugrats Movie. In 1994 she created a CD-ROM entitled Puppet Motel.
She wrote a supplemental article on the cultural character of New York City for the Encyclopædia Britannica and in the late 1980s hosted the PBS series, Alive from Off Center, for which she produced the short film, What You Mean We?.
One of the central themes in Anderson's work is exploring the effects of technology on human interrelationships and communication.
Anderson has collaborated with William Burroughs, Mitchell Froom, Arto Lindsay, Peter Gabriel, Perry Hoberman, David Sylvian, Jean Michel Jarre, Hector Zazou, Nona Hendryx, David Van Tieghem, and husband Lou Reed. She also worked with comedian Andy Kaufman in the late 1970s (with a romantic involvement hinted at in some of her spoken word performances about him).
Anderson, who rarely revisits older work (though themes and lyrics occasionally reappear) went on tour performing a selection of her best-known musical pieces in 2001. One of these performances was recorded in New York City only a week after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and included a performance of "O Superman". This concert was released in early 2002 as the double CD, Live in New York, which remains her most recent album release.
In 2003, Anderson became NASA's first and so far only artist-in-residence, which inspired her most recent performance piece, The End of the Moon.
Rumors emerged of a possible new album release in the fall of 2004, but this turned out to be false as Anderson seems too busy mounting a succession of themed shows, as well as composing a piece for Expo 2005 in Japan.
In February 2010, Laurie Anderson premiered a new theatrical work, entitled Delusion, at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. This piece was commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad and the Barbican Centre, London.
In May/June 2010, Anderson curated the Vivid Sydney festival in Sydney, Australia together with Lou Reed
In late June 2010, with the production assistance of husband Lou Reed, as well as Roma Baran. Laurie Anderson released her first full length studio album in near a decade with that of: "Homeland" on Nonesuch Records. Receiving much critical acclaim, "Homeland" has been lauded by many as Anderson's crowning auditory achievement. A conglomerated assimilation of her many persona's, characters and decades work exploring and experimenting in a multitude of artistic mediums.
Also featured on the "Homeland" album are a number of famed collaborators, including John Zorn (saxophone on tracks 8 & 11), Kieran Hebden of "Four Tet" fame (keyboards on track 5), Antony Hegarty (vocals on track 4), Husband Lou Reed himself on some guitar, and Tuvan throat singers. At 66 minutes, it is also Anderson's longest studio album.
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Speak My Language
Laurie Anderson Lyrics
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Speak my language. hello. hello. here come the quick. there go the dead. here they come. bright red. speak my language.
The lyrics in Laurie Anderson's song "Speak My Language" are a haunting and enigmatic reflection on life, death, and connection. The opening lines, "Daddy daddy, it was just like you said now that the living outnumber the dead," seem to suggest a moment of realization or epiphany, perhaps brought on by the singer's encounter with mortality. The idea that the living now outnumber the dead could be seen as a sign of progress, but it is also a reminder of the inevitability of death and the fleetingness of life.
The image of a "long thin thread" that stretches across an ocean and runs down a "river of red" is both vivid and mysterious. It could be a metaphor for the journey of life, or the passage of time, or it could represent the connection between the living and the dead. The repetition of the phrase "speak my language" throughout the song takes on a haunting quality as the singer seems to be calling out to someone or something that may no longer be present. The lines "here come the quick, there go the dead" suggest a sense of urgency and impermanence, as if the singer is trying to grab hold of something fleeting or intangible.
Overall, "Speak My Language" is a deeply evocative and thought-provoking meditation on the mysteries of life and death, and the human desire for connection and understanding.
Line by Line Meaning
Daddy daddy, it was just like you said now that the living outnumber the dead.
Father, it seems that your words have come true as the number of living beings on this planet surpasses that of the departed. In my homeland, the connection between us is like a delicate and narrow thread stretching across a vast ocean, flowing through a river tinged with blood. Now that the living outnumber the dead.
Where I come from it's a long thin thread across an ocean down a river of red.
The place I call my homeland is situated far away, and the bond between us is fragile, like a thin and lengthy thread that stretches across a turbulent ocean and flows through a river that runs red with blood.
Now that the living outnumber the dead, speak my language.
Since the number of living beings on this planet is greater than that of the deceased, it is time for you to understand and communicate with me in a way that I can comprehend. Speak my language.
Hello, hello. Here come the quick, there go the dead. Here they come, bright red. Speak my language.
Greetings! Greetings! The living move fast, while the dead are left behind. But they're coming, and they're coming with bright red colors, an omen to beware. So, speak my language, so that we are on the same level of understanding.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LAURIE ANDERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind