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.
Rhetoric
Momus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll love you 'til the newspaper reports the fall of man
I'll love you 'til you turn into a person I don't know
I'll love you 'til the desert sands are buried under snow
I'll love you 'til the razorblades are held against my neck
I'll love you 'til the sea glows purple and the sky goes black
I'll love you 'til Mount Everest falls down into the sea
I'll love you 'til the tiny worms go burrowing in me
The brambles tangle round and round far as the eye can see
I'll love you 'til the astronauts go walking on the sun
I'll love you 'til the reaper comes to wake me with his gun
I'll love you 'til the melting clocks have chimed a melting hour
I'll love you 'til the world has stopped and time has lost its power
I love you like the engine of a little blue machine
I love you like the bee that dies, dies astride a queen
When it comes to love, people often make grandiose promises, and that's what the singer is doing in the song "Rhetoric" by Momus. The singer claims that he will love his partner until the end of the world, beyond life and death. He illustrates his point by exaggerating absurd situations, proving that his love is eternal in both time and space. He will love her even beyond the apocalypse, as seen in the line "I'll love you 'til the sea glows purple and the sky goes black" and even when they are no longer themselves, as seen in the line "I'll love you 'til you turn into a person I don't know." The singer's love is so strong that nothing can overcome it, not even physical pain, as he proclaims "I'll love you 'til razorblades are held against my neck."
However, the singer's love does not just extend to extreme circumstances. He also states that he loves her like a little blue engine, like a dying bee astride a queen. These comparisons showcase his love's continuous and unshakeable nature even in small, mundane moments of life. The singer stresses that he will always love his partner, with no limits to time or scenario, as if his love is beyond reason and explanation.
Overall, the song "Rhetoric" expresses the idea that love can be everlasting, unending, and all-inclusive.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll love you 'til they figure out the way that life began
I will love you for an uncertain, possibly infinite, amount of time
I'll love you 'til the newspaper reports the fall of man
I will love you until humanity faces its demise
I'll love you 'til you turn into a person I don't know
I will love you through change and growth, even if it challenges my perception of who you are
I'll love you 'til the desert sands are buried under snow
I will love you even in the face of impossibility
I'll love you 'til the razorblades are held against my neck
I will love you in the face of danger or harm
I'll love you 'til the sea glows purple and the sky goes black
I will love you until the end of time, even if the world is unrecognizable
I'll love you 'til Mount Everest falls down into the sea
I will love you through any catastrophe or upheaval
I'll love you 'til the tiny worms go burrowing in me
I will even love you beyond my own death and decay
The lovely owl upon the bough is swooping down for me
Nature's beauty and unpredictability reminds me of my own mortality
The brambles tangle round and round far as the eye can see
Despite life's harshness, I will love you
I'll love you 'til the astronauts go walking on the sun
I will love you through discoveries and scientific advancements, improbable as they may seem
I'll love you 'til the reaper comes to wake me with his gun
I will love you even in the face of death
I'll love you 'til the melting clocks have chimed a melting hour
I will love you even in the face of surreality and distorted time
I'll love you 'til the world has stopped and time has lost its power
I will love you until there is nothing left in this world
I love you like the engine of a little blue machine
My love for you is constant and dependable, like a machine's engine
I love you like the bee that dies, dies astride a queen
My love for you is passionate and intense, like a bee dying while mating with a queen
Contributed by Lillian M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
CultureJudge
In his best stuff he's probably the most formidable lyricist of the last 50 years or more. And I'm including Dylan and Lennon.
goupi
i love this. i like it becasue it is intellectual and it has a great melody... so sweet i love what the woman says.
onlyyesterday1967
Beautiful
Quentin Crisp
I don't really understand why the lady here explodes with such vehemence at the perfectly ordinary word 'theory'.
Gabriela Varino
what the fuck is she talking about?