Album: Days Of Abandon (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This features guest vocals from A Sunny Day in Glasgow's Jen Goma. Frontman Kip Berman explained to Billboard magazine: "I wrote the lyrics, and I didn't actually write them thinking someone else would sing them. But I think it works, since 'Life After Life' is a bit in drag -- given that the lyrics draw on Genet's Our Lady of The Flowers as partial inspiration."

    "But the idea of drag and the performance of gender is so open-ended that it really doesn't matter if the voice is (biologically) female or male," he added. "And given that Jen's voice is a bit more brassy and biting than mine, I thought that it conveyed a more complex relationship between confidence and frailty, strength and despair. Plus, it gets boring to listen to me for ten songs in a row, right?"
  • Our Lady of the Flowers (Notre Dame des Fleurs) was the debut novel of French writer Jean Genet (1910 –1986). First published in 1943 it is a largely autobiographical account of a man's journey through the Parisian underworld, featuring a fictionalized drag queen alter-ego by the name of Divine.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

Dean Pitchford

Dean PitchfordSongwriter Interviews

Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

Supertramp founder Roger Hodgson

Supertramp founder Roger HodgsonSongwriter Interviews

Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."

Thomas Dolby

Thomas DolbySongwriter Interviews

He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")Songwriter Interviews

Holly Knight talks about some of the hit songs she wrote, including "The Warrior," "Never" and "The Best," and explains some songwriting philosophy, including how to think of a bridge.