If Vincent Minor’s compulsive listenability is impossible to pin down, it all fits with the storybook saga of its creator, the singer/songwriter originally known as Michael Mangia. The LA native has lived a series of unlikelihoods and improbabilities, starting with his birth in a bathtub (spitting distance from where Bobby Kennedy was shot), and eventually working towards LA Lords, the gay speed-dating company that Minor founded to help gay friends get a leg up on their love lives and give back to the gay & lesbian community.
At various points in between, Minor went to school with the kid from The Neverending Story, studied piano and voice with Beck’s mother, worked as a child actor in the cutthroat world of children’s TV and started a record label called Social Science Recordings, home to LA indie darling Obi Best. Minor’s career as a singer/songwriter has been equally nomadic, bringing him from swank Nashville recording studios to European concert halls, then back to the seedy splendor of his homeland.
All of these wanderings are reflected on Vincent Minor’s eponymous debut full-length, set for a September 21, 2010 release on Social Science Recordings. The album’s 11 songs match Minor’s literary flair with an orchestral opulence worthy of the musicals. Day-tripping piano parts converse with woodwinds and strings. A tuxedo-clad Harry Nilsson respectfully bows to Gilbert & Sullivan. All the while Minor presides over each production piece with his reedy baritone. Throughout the album, we come to know a songwriter who is deeply familiar with the language of celluloid and the treachery of images, as he artfully deploys both to address the stories.
Minor brought along some of L.A.’s top talent to help round out his grand vision. Engineer/producer Tom Biller (Fiona Apple, Sean Lennon, Where the Wild Things Are), keyboardist Zac Rae (Fiona Apple, Annie Lennox, My Brightest Diamond), horn player Stewart Cole (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, Rachael Yamagata) and upright bassist Ed Maxwell (Devics, Gary Jules, Meiko) all contributed their talents to make Vincent Minor a vibrant album of colors and imagery.
To introduce this very special album to a live audience, Vincent Minor will embark on an unusual national tour across the country this summer. He will spend a week in each tour stop, just enough time to assemble an entirely new band for each show. While the violins are tuning and the trumpets are emptying their spit valves, Minor’s alter ego Michael Mangia will host gay speed dating parties in each city, too.
Fanfare
Vincent Minor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Over harmony till the curtain call
As the lights go dim with anticipation
It's about to begin
With the helicopter that rescued you
With it's pra-pa-pa-peller over that terrace view
Well they all knew you when your thought got loose
Everything seems so real when you're on the mezzanine
Squeeze mother's hand, boys don't scream
Staring at the stage watching the masked man kill the maid
And slink down deep in my seat
And so it goes...
The rhythm runs away with no rhyme in it
The story starts to unfold
And though the scenes are rather dark dense and different
The orchestra will grow
Can't help it anymore
What have we done? They're coming through the floor
Can't hold them back
When social belles make disguisable boys
He tips his hat to the quizzical crowd
Watch the magic come out of a fat man's mouth
His pitter-patter on the legs of laughter
Keeps on kicking you
Anything that enters must make an exit
Nothing ever stays in it's place
And as the room changes
As a conductor turns his pages
And the sets reverse around
Below...
The cardboard ocean that's hung by strings
And the sequined mermaids
Are manned by heads dizzy by the kerosene
That's burning down the play
Pinch me from this dream
A recurring nightmare
Bookmarking my sleep
Never-ending fanfare
There's got to be some cause for this insanity
Vincent Minor's song "Fanfare" is a surrealistic and cryptic journey through the world of theatre and the mind. The lyrics describe the anticipation before a performance, where the audience is seated and waiting for the show to begin. The first two lines, "Sit yourself down and watch the canvas wall, Over harmony till the curtain call" suggest that the audience is looking at a blank canvas-like wall and waiting for the performance to start. The phrase "canvas wall" could refer to the stage curtain or to the blankness of the human mind, waiting to be filled with the images and sounds of the performance.
The lyrics then take a more obscure turn, with lines like "With the helicopter that rescued you, With its pra-pa-pa-peller over that terrace view." The reference to a helicopter suggests a departure from reality, and the noise of the propeller hints at a disorienting experience. The lyrics then mention an opera and a hidden thought, alluding to a narrative that is concealed behind a performance or a person's thoughts.
The song then shifts to the experience of the audience, the excitement, and shock they feel, saying "Everything seems so real when you're on the mezzanine, Squeeze mother's hand, boys don't scream." The lyrics then describe a scene from the performance, where the masked man kills the maid, evoking the presence of danger and darkness. The music's rhythm becomes disjointed, and the lyrics become chaotic as the story unfolds, saying, "The rhythm runs away with no rhyme in it, The story starts to unfold."
Overall, "Fanfare" is a complex and intriguing song, which seems to explore the boundary between reality and imagination, the conscious and subconscious mind. The lyrics use surrealist imagery to create a dream-like atmosphere, and the music complements the experience with its unconventional structure and shifts in tempo and melody.
Line by Line Meaning
Sit yourself down and watch the canvas wall
Take a seat and observe the painted backdrop
Over harmony till the curtain call
Listen to music until the show ends
As the lights go dim with anticipation
As the room darkens with expectation
It's about to begin
The performance is going to start
With the helicopter that rescued you
Referring to a past event, the helicopter that saved you
With it's pra-pa-pa-peller over that terrace view
The sound of its propeller rotating over a terrace view
Well they all knew you when your thought got loose
Other people were aware when your thoughts became chaotic
Though it was hidden in an opera
Even though it was concealed in an operatic performance
Everything seems so real when you're on the mezzanine
The view from the mezzanine makes everything appear lifelike
Squeeze mother's hand, boys don't scream
Hold your mother's hand tightly and don't make noise
Staring at the stage watching the masked man kill the maid
Gazing at the stage as the masked man murders the woman
And slink down deep in my seat
Sinking down into the chair
And so it goes...
And the story progresses...
The rhythm runs away with no rhyme in it
The beat goes wild without any logic
The story starts to unfold
The tale begins to unravel
And though the scenes are rather dark dense and different
Despite the bleak, complex and varied scenarios
The orchestra will grow
The musical ensemble will increase in size
Can't help it anymore
Can't resist the urge any longer
What have we done? They're coming through the floor
What did we do wrong? They're breaking through the floor
Can't hold them back
Can't prevent them from coming forward
When social belles make disguisable boys
When sophisticated ladies create hidden boys
He tips his hat to the quizzical crowd
He nods to the confused audience
Watch the magic come out of a fat man's mouth
Observe enchantment emanating from an overweight man
His pitter-patter on the legs of laughter
His light footsteps accompanying laughter
Keeps on kicking you
Continues to give you an emotional jolt
Anything that enters must make an exit
Anything that comes in must go out eventually
Nothing ever stays in its place
Nothing remains fixed in its location
And as the room changes
As the area transforms
As a conductor turns his pages
Like a maestro flipping through the music sheets
And the sets reverse around
And the scenery flips over
Below...
Beneath the surface...
The cardboard ocean that's hung by strings
The paper-mache sea suspended by threads
And the sequined mermaids
And the glittery sirens
Are manned by heads dizzy by the kerosene
Operated by people affected by kerosene fumes
That's burning down the play
That's consuming the drama
Pinch me from this dream
Wake me up from this dream
A recurring nightmare
A nightmare that reoccurs
Bookmarking my sleep
Marking my sleep with memories of the nightmare
Never-ending fanfare
An everlasting ceremony
There's got to be some cause for this insanity
This madness must have a reason
Contributed by Brody E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.