Art is Dead: Select Commentary
March 2, 2021
Apprentice Cory
Ars longa vita brevis
[Gods and legends] go on forever. Or at least what they represent.
The eternal in us. Opera is here to ennoble us.
Baron Von Swieten
[Gods and legends] go on forever. Or at least what they represent.
The eternal in us. Opera is here to ennoble us.
Baron Von Swieten
1-5
Although opera is the subject of the quote, the Gentle Reader should understand that all proper art, not only the performing arts, aims to ennoble the audience.
This next song honestly is nothing at all, but it helps me sleep at night.
This spoken section is not part of the song proper. Burnham states the piece is ‘nothing at all’. However, this cannot be true, as the efforts both to create it and to perform it must constitute something, rather than ‘nothing’. The fuzzy logic among performing, receiving a paycheck, maintaining one’s artist integrity, and being self aware are not in conflict and allows Burnham to justify his actions both logically and morally.
Art is dead. Art is dead. Art is dead. Art is dead.
The fourfold repetition recalls the four elements. The fourth element, earth, is the most materialistic. This materialism is demonstrated by the depiction of the pentacle in the Tarot deck. The cards depicting pentacles are associated with wealth and prosperity.
Entertainers like to seem complicated, but we're not complicated.
Artists, specifically entertainers, imply that that are complex individuals. However, Burnham, who identifies with entertainers [‘we’re], states that they are not impenetrable.
I can explain it pretty easily. Have you ever been to a birthday party for children?
And one of the children won't stop screaming 'cause he's just a little attention attractor.
Any publicity is good publicity.
When he grows up to be a comic or actor, he'll be rewarded for never maturing,
for never understanding or learning that every day can't be about him.
The actor or comic is immature and self centered and is rewarded, or paid a fee, for his performance.
6-10
There's other people, you selfish ass hole.
The comic or artist is selfish. It is possible that the ‘selfish asshole’ may be the attention seeking birthday child.
I must be psychotic. I must be demented to think that I'm worthy of all this attention,
of all of this money, you worked really hard for.
Burnham is not psychotic or demented, as he questions if he is, in fact, worthy of either of ‘all this attention’ or ‘all this money’.
I slept in late while you worked at the drug store.
Burnham is aware that the audience members have various occupations that require odd hours that are imposed by their employers.
My drug's attention. I am an addict, but I get paid to indulge in my habit.
Burhan states that he is addicted to attention, otherwise said, he is an ‘attention attractor’. Unlike the birthday child only seeking attention, Burnham is given recognition and is paid to ‘indulge’ in his ‘habit’.
It's all an illusion, I'm wearing make-up, I'm wearing make-up, make-up, make-up, make-up, make...
Art is dead.
So people think you're funny, how do you get those people's money?
Burnham distinguishes between being a legitimate entertainer and earning a salary for services performed and being funny and getting people’s money and the actions and results are identical, how the transaction is viewed is based on one’s morality or hierarchy of values.
11-15
Said art is dead.
We're rolling in dough, while Carlin rolls in his grave. His grave, his grave.
Current entertainers are wealthy while George Carlin [d. 2008] hypothetically shows enormous anger towards those individuals who are in their careers for wealth. If nothing else, Carlin, similar to Burnham, did not belittle his audience and frequently make thought provoking comments.
The repetition of ‘Art is dead’ brings the total usage to six occurrences, the number of man, the only creation on the sixth day.
The repetition of ‘Art is dead’ brings the total usage to six occurrences, the number of man, the only creation on the sixth day.
The show has got a budget. The show has got a budget.
And all the poor people way more deserving, of the money won't budge it.
Burnham states that poor people should rightly receive his salary, however, there is nothing the show’s expenses for poor people. It seems that Burnham morally struggles with the his fees, the working responsibilities of the audience, and those ‘way more deserving’. Although we are uncertain of the exact nature of his struggle, we can state that Burnham has a hierarchy of values and to say that a certain group is deserving, while another group is not, suggests morality.
'Cause I wanted my name in lights when I could have feed a family of four for forty fucking, fortnights.
Forty fucking fortnights.
Burnham is honest and expressed that he did desire, ‘wanted’, fame. He could have sang ‘Because I want…’ with the same number of syllables as ‘’Cause I wanted’ and not affect the lyrics. Yet, he did not do so, and this choice clearly places his desire in the past tense. We suggest that Burnham may suffer from some guilt during his performances. Although we can only speculate about guilt, we do know from the introduction that the song helps him sleep at night.
Although we do not expect mathematical exactitude in lyrics, we do enjoy alliteration. The Gentle Reader can ponder the cost of feeding four people for a year and a half being the equivalent of a performance. Of course, multiple shows per week would be expected from a performer in demand, if only to promote the ‘Burnham Brand’. More performances greatly increases the number of families that could be fed.
Although we do not expect mathematical exactitude in lyrics, we do enjoy alliteration. The Gentle Reader can ponder the cost of feeding four people for a year and a half being the equivalent of a performance. Of course, multiple shows per week would be expected from a performer in demand, if only to promote the ‘Burnham Brand’. More performances greatly increases the number of families that could be fed.
I am an artist, please God forgive me.
Burnham implores God’s forgiveness, although the the listener is unsure of what, exactly, the Deity should remit.
I am an artist, please don't revere me.
Burnham knows that artists are frequently ‘deeply respected or admired’.
16-21
I am an artist, please don't respect me.
Burnham does not wish ‘deep admiration elicited by his abilities, qualities, or achievements’.
I am an artist, you're free to correct me.
Burnham is an artist and the accident of being an artist does not insulate anyone from criticism.
A self-centered artist. Self-obsessed artist.
Like many creators, Burnham is ‘concerned solely with his own desires, needs, or interests’ and is ‘excessively preoccupied with his own life and circumstances’. The careful reader needs to resolve any contradiction between being ‘self-obsessed’ and the economic tradeoff of performing and feeding a family of four.
I am an artist. I am an artist.
The repetition of ‘I am an artist’ emphasizes that Burnham identifies himself as one who ‘practices any of the various creative arts’.
But I'm just a kid. I'm just a kid. I'm just a kid. Kid.
According to our research, the first recording of this piece was when Burnham was not yet twenty years old. This qualifies as ‘just a kid’.
And maybe I'll grow out of it.
Perhaps, the author will rise about his addiction to attention. If he has not already, Burnham, with more life experiences, will possibly mature, realizing that juvenile ‘attention attractors’ are ‘selfish assholes’.