Rufus Wainwright: Difference between revisions

no edit summary
prefix>Import Bot
(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Music.RufusWainwright 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Music.RufusWainwright, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license)
 
No edit summary
 
(11 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{workcreator}}
{{outdated}}
[[File:Rufus_Wainwrightbbbb_6787.jpg|framethumb|300px]]
 
{{quote| ''I think that any gay person in the world would be seduced at one point by a certain kind of camp. For certain people it's kind of a saving grace.''<br|'''Rufus''', on [[camp]] />}}
 
'''Rufus''', on [[Camp|camp]] }}
[[Rufus Wainwright]] is known for his lush, theatrical [[Baroque Pop]]. He came from a musical family. His parents ([[Kate McGarrigle]] &and [[Loudon Wainwright III]]) were folk singers. His sister, [[Martha Wainwright]], is another musician. He is openly gay, which is reflected in his music., Hisand voicehis husband, [[Jörn Weisbrodt]], is verythe hardartistic todirector describe.(as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiKMqz2MhWEof Seeearly for2021) yourselfof the WNET streaming platform ALL ARTS.]
 
His voice is very hard to describe. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiKMqz2MhWE See for yourself.]
 
Rufus Wainwright is known for his lush, theatrical [[Baroque Pop]]. He came from a musical family. His parents (Kate McGarrigle & Loudon Wainwright III) were folk singers. His sister, Martha Wainwright, is another musician. He is openly gay, which is reflected in his music. His voice is very hard to describe. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiKMqz2MhWE See for yourself.]
----
=== {{Discography: ===}}
* ''Rufus Wainwright'' (1998)
* ''Poses'' (2001)
Line 17 ⟶ 20:
* ''All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu'' (2010)
 
{{creatortropes}}
=== Provides the following tropes: ===
* [[A Date Withwith Rosie Palms]]: "One Man Guy"
** Which becomes even funnier (or disturbing) when you remember the song was actually written by ''his father'' Loudon.
* [[Adorkable]] - Oh boy, is he. He's an avid opera and literature fan and has even written his own opera entirely in French, and has a tendency to run his hand through his hair during live performances, rendering it more and more foofy as the show progresses, but it just makes him look even more adorable.
* [[All Gays Are Promiscuous]] - Before settling down with his long-term boyfriend, Rufus certainly embraced this image.
{{quote| "I wasn't a huge gay marriage supporter before I met Jorn because I love the whole old-school promiscuous [[Oscar Wilde]] freak show of what 'being gay' once was. But since meeting Jorn that all changed."}}
* [[Between My Legs]] - Has a song with this very title.
* [[Big OMG]] - "Between My Legs" starts with a woman screaming "Oh my God!" presumably because she saw something lewd.
* [[Brother -Sister Team]] - Often performs with younger sister / musician [[Martha Wainwright]]. [[Annoying Younger Sibling|"Little Sister"]] refers to their musical [[Sibling Rivalry]] as children. "Martha" discusses growing up / growing out of this.
{{quote| [[Tear Jerker|Neither of us is really that much older than each other anymore. [...]There's not much time for us to really be that angry at each other anymore.]]}}
* [[Camp Gay]] – He even recreated [[Judy Garland]]'s April 23, 1961 concert (which is ''Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall'') and performed a couple of numbers ''in Judy drag.''
** Just look at the quote on top!
* [[The Cover Changes the Meaning]] – His cover of [[Leonard Cohen]]'s "Everybody Knows" changes...well, suddenly it sounds like its set amidst a casino underworld that's about to crumble and is having one last revel in its own shallowness and debauchery. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J26UlYXPi7o Worth a listen]
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeYCnw4wbTc This version] also contains a hilarious story about when Rufus actually met Leonard Cohen. I'm not going to explain it, just watch it.
* [[Creator Breakdown]] – Rufus recorded ''All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu'' while his mother was dying of cancer. His previous albums, known for lush full orchestrations, are not anywhere near as depressing as this. All it is is Rufus singing with piano, nothing more.
Line 36 ⟶ 39:
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Double Entendre]]: "Gay Messiah"
* [[Fake -Out Fade -Out]] - "Rebel Prince". [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCEDBDj2dWc He still manages to fool people in concert.]
* [[WhatFaux Do You Mean Its Not SymbolicSymbolism]] - Pretty much the entirety of the video "Going To A Town", done very intentionally.
* [[Gratuitous French]] - "Rebel Prince" has the first verse repeated in French halfway through the song, and Rufus lived in Montreal for much of his youth.
** He's also written ''an entire opera'' in French with "Prima Donna".
* [["God Is Love" Songs]] - [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] brilliantly with "Gay Messiah."
* [[Heavy Mithril]] - "Between My Legs," written as "fantasy about being able to save your object of desire when the apocalypse comes, and bring him to some sort of hidden paradise."
* [[Hot Consort]] - The title character of "The Consort".
Line 45 ⟶ 49:
* [[Incredibly Long Note]] - "Vibrate" has one that lasts for ''19'' seconds in at least one live performance.
* [[In the Blood]] - His musical talent, since he's the son of two very talented musicians and his sister Martha Wainwright is successful in her own career.
* [["I Want" Song]] - "Want", from ''Want One'', [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|obviously]], and a recurring theme in his works. And according to Rufus, ''Release The Stars'' is an I Want ''Album''.
* [[Kaleidoscope Eyes]] - Enter his name into any image search and try to pin his eye color down. Go ahead, try it.
* [[Keet]] - He's a bit more mellow than most, but watch any interview he's in and watch how much he moves during it. It gets to the point that people unfamiliar with him think he's drunk.
* [[Last Chorus Slow -Down]] – He loves this trope.
* [[Leaving You to Find Myself]] - "Leaving For Paris No. 2", which was originally written as part of the backstory of Satine in ''[[Moulin Rouge]]''.
* [[Lonely Piano Piece]] - He even has a ''whole album'' of them (''All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu'').
* [[Meaningful Name]] - Rufus (Latin for "red") tended to wear a lot of red early in his career.
* [[One -Woman Song]]
** "Martha": about his younger sister [[Martha Wainwright]] and [[Tear Jerker|and their aging.]]
** "Natasha": about his friend, actress [[Natasha Lyonne]].
Line 58 ⟶ 62:
* [[Rebel Prince]] - The subject of his song of the same name, who he wants to come and spirit him away.
* [[Refrain From Assuming]] - "Greek Song" is sometimes referred to as "You Turn Me On" after the phrase repeated seven times in the first verse.
* [[Shout -Out]] - ''Lots.''
** The video for "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIF6f3tFxBw April Fools]" has Rufus try to save the opera heroines Cho-Cho-San ("[[Madame Butterfly]]"), Carmen ("Carmen"), Mimi ("[[La Boheme]]"), Tosca ("[[Tosca]]") and Gilda ("Rigoletto") from their tragic deaths. {{spoiler|He fails, but they get better.}}
*** He also mentions these characters by name in the song "Damned Ladies."
Line 65 ⟶ 69:
** "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyUjk20fAHM Gay Messiah]" has multiple references to gay culture and biblical stories.
** "Grey Gardens" to the documentary of the same name, and also to Thomas Mann's ''Death in Venice''.
** "I Don't Know What It Is" references "is there anyone else who thinks [[ThreesThree's Company]]" with "knock on the door, take a step that is new."
** "Memphis Skyline" is about [[Jeff Buckley]].
** "Oh What a World" is titled after the dying screams of the [[Wicked Witch]] from ''[[The Wizard of Oz (Filmfilm)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', and the song's [[Bolero Effect]] is a direct musical reference to, well, "Bolero".
** "Vibrate" mentions [[Britney Spears]].
** The famous [[The Phantom of the Opera|Phantom of the Opera]] theme is used in "Between My Legs."
** "Fuggi regal fantasima," the [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]] in "Barcelona," is from Verdi's opera of [[Macbeth]].
* [[Shout -Out to/To Shakespeare]] - "Memphis Skyline" has the line
{{quote| Then came hallelujah sounding like [[Hamlet|Ophelia]], for me in my room living, turn back and you will stay, under the Memphis Skyline}}
** This is especially poignant because Jeff Buckley, who the song is dedicated to, drowned in the Wolf River.
** He also set 3 of Shakespeare's sonnets (10, 20, and 43) to music on his album ''All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu''.
Line 81 ⟶ 85:
* [[Take That]] - "California" is three and a half minutes of this directed at said state. And yet some people [[Completely Missing the Point|still manage to miss the point]] and think he's praising the state.
** Also, "Going to a Town" is him saying how disappointed he is in the United States under the Bush administration.
{{quote| "The meaning is very plain, mainly that I'm having problems with the United States at the moment, as we all are. We all love America, I think everybody does in a certain way. But we have to admit that there's just been too many mistakes made in the recent past over too many issues, and we've just got to deal with that fact."}}
** "Tulsa" is a good humored [[Take That]] to Brandon Flowers, former lead singer of The Killers. Flowers loved the song.
* [[There Is Only One Bed]] - The video for "April Fools" opens with Rufus waking up in a bed with the opera heroines. It's definitely not intended to be sexual.
* [[The Cameo]] - sister [[Martha Wainwright]], [[Melissa Auf Der Mar]], and [[No Doubt|Gwen Stefani]] (as the waitress) all show up in the video for "April Fools."
* [[The Something Song]] – “Greek Song,” "The Money Song"
* [[Vocal Evolution]] - 21-year-old Rufus' voice, as heard on his demo tape, is much higher and more nasally than how he sounded even on his debut album released only three years later. In his own words, "like a little old man."
* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]] - Rufus has some well publicized issues with his father, though they appear to have become more amicable in the last few years. "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbAQXTwE6r8 Dinner At Eight]" in particular is about a dinner he had with his father and a disagreement they had while on a shoot for Rolling Stone magazine.
** "Do I Disappoint You" is not actually addressed to his father (we think) but has the same sort of theme, although the song is ultimately about ''firing back'' and defending your own frailties.
* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]] - Pretty much the entirety of the video "Going To A Town", done very intentionally.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:TurnMusicians of the Millennium/Music1990s]]
[[Category:RufusMusicians Wainwrightof the 2000s]]
[[Category:Musicians of the 2010s]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Canadian Musicians]]