For more than twenty years he has been releasing, to only marginal commercial and critical success, playful and transgressive albums on labels in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. In his lyrics and his other writing he makes seemingly random use of decontextualized pieces of continental (mostly French) philosophy, and has built up a personal world he says is "dominated by values like diversity, orientalism, and a respect for otherness." He is also known in certain circles outside the U.S. as a producer. He is fascinated by identity, Japan, the avant-garde, time travel and sex. Live Momus shows are rare but when he does perform he often sings the crowd favourite 'maf' from the Stars Forever LP.
He wears a patch over his right eye because he lost the use of it after contracting acanthamoeba keratitis from a contact lens case washed with Greek tap water.
Nick Currie currently resides in Osaka, Japan.
Mistaken Memories
Momus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One hundred times stronger than acid
I took a drug
One thousand times stronger than aspirin
(Fall asleep here, wake up somewhere)
I took a drug
The pain of my life disappeared
I took a drug
I fell asleep fuzzy, woke up clear
(Fall asleep there, wake up somewhere)
I'm waking up here
When I dream I see knights in white satin
When I dream I get mistaken memories of medieval Manhattan
Sleep is the name of the drug I took
Sleep and nothing more
Sleep is the tower of Babel
Sleep is my Utopia
Sleep is the place I feel safest in
Wrapped up in a cotton cocoon
In a topographical ocean
On the dark side of the moon
When I dream I see knights in white satin
When I dream I get mistaken memories of medieval Manhattan
And the world is upside down
But my mind is turning on
Milk is spilling from the murdered sun
I see masturbating monks on 42nd Street
Rats carry the plague to Chinatown
Cathedrals in the well of an elevator shaft
The water towers so many onion domes
The channel 12 commercials all star Joan of Arc
On Broadway a lamb is lying down
Where have they gone, the snows of Villon?
They are falling on Manhattan as rain
Never wake me, boy
If you wake me I'll die
If you wake me you'll destroy this perfect world I see
When I dream
(Mistaken memories of medieval Manhattan)
When I dream
In Momus's Mistaken Memories of Medieval Manhattan, the singer describes a drug-induced dream state where their pain disappears and they feel safe in their cotton cocoon. The drug in question is sleep, and the song suggests that the singer's dream state offers them a perfect world where they feel secure and protected from the mundane reality of their daily existence. In their dreams, they see knights in white satin and get "mistaken memories" of a medieval Manhattan where cathedrals sit in the elevator shafts of skyscrapers, and rats carry the plague to Chinatown. The song concludes with an appeal not to wake the singer, for fear that the "perfect world" they inhabit in their dreams will be destroyed, and they will be forced to return to an unpleasant reality.
Line by Line Meaning
I took a drug
I consumed a powerful drug
One hundred times stronger than acid
The strength of the drug I consumed was 100 times greater than that of acid
One thousand times stronger than aspirin
The strength of the drug I consumed was 1000 times greater than that of aspirin
(Fall asleep here, wake up somewhere)
I lost consciousness and woke up in a different place
The pain of my life disappeared
The drug took away all the pain in my life
I fell asleep fuzzy, woke up clear
I fell asleep feeling groggy but woke up completely alert
(Fall asleep here, wake up somewhere)
I lost consciousness and woke up in a different place
I'm waking up here
I am becoming fully conscious in my current location
When I dream I see knights in white satin
In my dreams, I see figures dressed as knights wearing white satin
When I dream I get mistaken memories of medieval Manhattan
During my dreams, I begin to have memories of Manhattan in medieval times, even though it is not historically accurate
Sleep is the name of the drug I took
I took a drug that is called 'Sleep'
Sleep and nothing more
The only thing I consumed was this drug that induced sleep
Sleep is the tower of Babel
The sleep drug that I consumed is like the Tower of Babel, a metaphor for a structure that can connect heaven and earth
Sleep is my Utopia
For me, Sleep is a perfect world similar to a paradise or utopia
Sleep is the place I feel safest in
When I am under the influence of the drug, I feel safest when I am asleep
Wrapped up in a cotton cocoon
I feel like I am wrapped up in a soft cotton cocoon while asleep
In a topographical ocean
It feels like I am floating in a vast ocean but I know its just a feeling while sleeping
On the dark side of the moon
Being asleep is like being on a faraway, mysterious and probably non-existent place like the other side of the moon
And the world is upside down
Whenever I am dreaming, it seems like my dream-world is upside down
But my mind is turning on
Regardless of my bizarre dreams, my mind is active and alert
Milk is spilling from the murdered sun
In my dream, I can see milk spilling from what appears to be the 'murdered' sun or dying star
I see masturbating monks on 42nd Street
In my dream, I can see monks engaging in sexual acts on a well-known street in New York. Probably indicating the influx of sexual and pornographic material in the modern world.
Rats carry the plague to Chinatown
In my dream, I see rats spreading the plague in the Chinatown neighbourhood of Manhattan
Cathedrals in the well of an elevator shaft
The elevator shaft seems to be transformed into a cathedral, possibly indicating the shift from mechanical to intellectual development
The water towers so many onion domes
In my dream, the water towers seem to take the form of onion domes like those found in churches, reflecting the influence of religion on the people
The channel 12 commercials all star Joan of Arc
All the commercials on channel 12 feature a starring role by the historic figure Joan of Arc, indicating an unrealistic portrayal by the media
On Broadway a lamb is lying down
In my dream, there is a lamb lying down in the middle of Broadway, a busy street in Manhattan. Probably representing innocence and purity in a busy and polluted world.
Where have they gone, the snows of Villon?
Villon is a poet who wrote about the passing of time, as can be seen in the line 'where have they gone, the snows of Villon?'. This could be referring to the inevitability of change in the world
They are falling on Manhattan as rain
The snows of Villon may no longer exist but they signify change, and that change is falling on Manhattan similar to rain
Never wake me, boy
I never want to be woken from my drug-induced sleep, addressing someone as 'boy'
If you wake me I'll die
If I am woken up, I will metaphorically 'die' because my perfect world will be destroyed
If you wake me you'll destroy this perfect world I see
If anyone tries to wake me up, this perfect, imaginative world I am living in would be destroyed
When I dream
Whenever I dream
(Mistaken memories of medieval Manhattan)
These are not necessarily true memories of medieval Manhattan but rather a blend of imagination and experiences
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: NICHOLAS CURRIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Aldo Charles
on Morality Is Vanity
I’ve been listening to this song last two weeks.