They were among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company and the group has a style that is typical of many Elephant 6 bands due to their interest in combining musical experimentation with the basic tenets of pop i.e. catchy melodies and sing-along choruses. The band’s style has been influenced by conventional indie pop, psychedelic music, vaudeville and music hall on their earlier releases and by afrobeat, funk, krautrock and reggae on their recent releases.
The band’s style has been known to change between albums. At first, the band embraced a more simple, quirky, lo-fi indie pop sound, which occasionally bordered on twee pop. The band was created by Kevin Barnes and named after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal, though the story changes in various interviews. Barnes was the only member of the “group” prior to his relocation to Athens, Georgia. There, he met Derek Almstead, later of Circulatory System, M Coast, Elf Power etc., and Bryan Poole, who also performs as The Late B.P. Helium.
Together, they recorded their first album, Cherry Peel, as well as The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower and The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy.
A number of singles and a re-release of The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower occurred before the release of the band’s third album, The Gay Parade in 1999. With contributions from several members of the Elephant Six collective at the time, it also featured artwork from Kevin’s brother David Barnes, who would continue to do artwork for future albums.
This album marked that the band had moved to a fuller sound, which is also found on its follow-up, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse. These two albums contain more narrative lyrics, as opposed to the rather personal lyrical matter of those preceding it, and often imitating the style of old 1950s radio plays.
After production on The Gay Parade began in 1998, Poole left the band to focus on his duties with Elf Power, another Elephant Six band from Athens. Barnes also recruited Jamey Huggins and Dottie Alexander, who had been performing together as Lightning Bug vs. Firefly, to play various instruments. Derek moved from drums to bass. The band was joined soon after by Marshmallow Coast’s Andy Gonzales.
Following the release of The Gay Parade, the band signed with Kindercore Records, who would release a number of singles and compilations. It wasn’t until 2001 that Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse would be released as a new album with original material. The album again featured contributions from across the Elephant 6 spectrum.
In 2002, Aldhils Arboretum was released, with a slightly different sound than its predecessors, as the songs were more directly structured. This album marks the beginning of the change in of Montreal’s sound, with more danceable rhythms than ever before, especially on the album’s closer, “Death Dance Of The Omipapas and Sons For You”. A successful tour ensued, including of Montreal’s first trip to the UK, along with a tour-only EP.
Kindercore Records would fold shortly after the release of Arboretum, and of Montreal’s status was also threatened. Kevin got married, and Andy and Derek left the band. Barnes, being uncomfortable with the unrest, as well as some divisions within the band, took to writing and performing their 2004 album Satanic Panic in the Attic mostly by himself. Released by Polyvinyl Records, it became one of their more successful efforts to that point. The 2004 tour saw The Late B.P. Helium (Bryan Poole) rejoin the band, with some bass played by Kevin’s partner Nina Barnes. The album marked a shift to something more electronic with traditional structures, to be further advanced in later albums and new songs. In their most recent releases and concerts, the band has fully embraced a sort of techno-pop glam image, with little of their previous incarnations surfacing. This style is featured in singles such as Disconnect the Dots. The style would continue to evolve into 2005’s The Sunlandic Twins, which was even more a Barnes solo effort. Recorded in Athens, with the exception of one track recorded in Norway, it was a much more pronounced electronic album. The album became a success, mostly due to the singles “So Begins Our Alabee” and the MTV clip for “Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games)”.
The band released several collections of singles in early 2006. Barnes recorded most of the band’s 2007 release, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, by himself while living in Norway and Athens, Georgia. The switch to autobiographical themes of suicide, depression and isolation of the album was a direct product of his troubled personal life during that period.
of Montreal released Skeletal Lamping on October 21, 2008 followed by False Priest on September 14, 2010, Paralytic Stalks on February 7, 2012, and Lousy with Sylvianbriar on October 8, 2013. Aureate Gloom is scheduled for release by Polyvinyl Records on March 3, 2015.
Lyrically, their style has changed dramatically throughout the years. In the beginning, many songs were narratives of personal or humorous situations, such as “Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl”, from Cherry Peel. This style, however, changed with The Gay Parade, where many songs involve small narratives surrounding invented characters (in songs such as “Jacques Lamure”, “The Autobiographical Grandpa”, “Mimi Merlot” and “Rose Robert”). Others act as extracts from fictional conversations (“Advice From a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage” and “Good Morning Mr. Edminton” as examples). With Aldhils Arboretum came a slight return to the previous writing style, except following more poppy, classical lyrical structures (such as the use of choruses, which are generally absent in the Gay Parade/Coquelicot years). This style continued throughout Satanic Panic and The Sunlandic Twins to some extent. On the album Hissing Fauna: Are You The Destroyer? the lyrics are much more personal than previously used, with songs detailing emotions within the speaker.
Another unique quality of the band is the fusion of ostensibly gloomy lyrics with bouncy, upbeat melodies and hooks. On Aldhils Arboretum, for example, the lyrics for tracks like “Doing Nothing” and “Old People in the Cemetery” focus on apathy, loneliness or death while being contrasted with cheerful instrumentation. Another example of this tendency is shown in their choice of covers; for example, Yoko Ono’s “I Felt Like Smashing my Head Through a Clear Glass Window” from The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower.
True to the style of most Elephant 6 recording artists, of Montreal’s members have been in a variety of side projects and other bands:
The band itself has performed as the backing band for Marshmallow Coast on record and on tour.
My First Keyboard was the pseudonym used by Dottie Alexander to release the song “The You I Created” on the Kindercore singles club. of Montreal acted as her backing band.
Repudiated Immortals The
of Montreal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
?All you little things are incomplete?
Why did he speak of us that way?
I don't cry not 'cause I don't care
It's very hard to feel the way we used to feel up there
The creator of what's now cliche
Wants us little things to cry and feel alone
No no no don't feel sad 'cause it's a violent world
But there's still beauty
I'll take care of you if you take care of me
I like to sit and listen to the sound
Of the snowflakes landing on the trees
But I can't get used to feeling cold
I can't get used to what has happened here to you and me
There's no escaping so I won't try
It's just the heaviness that comes with knowing you will never die
The lyrics to of Montreal's song Repudiated Immortals are contemplative and introspective. The song appears to be a commentary on the nature of the human condition and the struggle to find purpose in it. The verse "The creator of what's now cliche had some funny words to say, All you little things are incomplete, Why did he speak of us that way?" suggests that the person is feeling incomplete, perhaps even insignificant, in the grand scheme of things. The lyrics then go on to say that it is difficult to feel the way we used to feel when we were younger, implying that as we age, we become more jaded and disillusioned with the world around us.
Despite this sense of melancholy, the song offers a glimmer of hope. The line "I'll take care of you if you take care of me" suggests that the person singing the song is reaching out to someone they care about, offering support and companionship. This sentiment is reinforced by the line "there's still beauty" which suggests that even amidst the chaos and uncertainty of life, there are still things worth living for.
Overall, Repudiated Immortals is a song that examines the human condition with both honesty and tenderness. It acknowledges the difficulties of living in a world that often seems cold and indifferent, but it also reminds us that there is still beauty and hope to be found.
Line by Line Meaning
The creator of what's now cliche had some funny words to say
The person who started a trend or idea that is now overused made an odd statement
All you little things are incomplete
The singer questions why the creator referred to them as insufficient or lacking
Why did he speak of us that way?
The singer wonders why the creator expressed such negative sentiments towards them
I don't cry not 'cause I don't care
The artist is not crying because they are numb to emotions or feelings
It's very hard to feel the way we used to feel up there
The artist finds it difficult to experience the same emotions they once had before
The creator of what's now cliche
The person who started a trend or idea that is now unoriginal and overused
Wants us little things to cry and feel alone
The creator desires for the singer and others to feel sadness and loneliness
But don't don't lose hope no no no no
Despite the negativity, the artist encourages the listener to keep hope alive
No no no don't feel sad 'cause it's a violent world
The artist advises the listener not to feel saddened by the violent nature of the world
But there's still beauty
The artist reminds the listener that there is still beauty in the world
I'll take care of you if you take care of me
The singer offers to support the listener and vice versa
I like to sit and listen to the sound
The artist enjoys hearing the sound of snow landing on trees
Of the snowflakes landing on the trees
The singer listens to the gentle sound of snow settling on the branches
But I can't get used to feeling cold
The singer dislikes feeling the cold weather on their skin
I can't get used to what has happened here to you and me
The singer struggles to accept the current state of themselves and the listener
There's no escaping so I won't try
The artist acknowledges that there is no way to escape from reality
It's just the heaviness that comes with knowing you will never die
The artist experiences the weight of the knowledge that they and the listener will never be immortal
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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