Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)

Album: Reflektor (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song references Eurydice, who in Ancient Greek legend was the wife of the gifted musician Orpheus. The lyrics about despair, isolation and death were inspired by the story of the mythological lover's attempt to retrieve Eurydice from the underworld after she died.
  • Frontman Win Butler told The Sun that a particular inspiration was Marcel Camus' 1959 Brazilian movie about the star crossed lovers, Black Orpheus. "Regine (Chassagne, wife and bandmate) and I watched the film Black Orpheus, which is super relevant because it's based in Brazil during carnival and is the oldest pre Romeo and Juliet love story there is."

    "So it got to me," he added. "I obsess about ideas. I don't know any other way to write. I try to find five different ways to look at an idea."
  • Reflektor's cover art is an image of Auguste Rodin's sculpture of Orpheus and Eurydice. This is one of several songs on the album that were inspired by Greek mythology and the structure of tragedy.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.