Disclaimer: Since I am not fully familiar with Father John Misty’s full discography, for this review I will be limiting myself to only his album ‘Pure Comedy’, which the song ‘A Bigger Paper Bag’ is from. I will be referring to Father John Misty as Tillman as well.

Joshua Michael Tillman, also known as J. Tillman or Father John Misty, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and drummer. Maintaining a steady output of solo recordings since 2004, Tillman was a former member or toured with Demon Hunter, Saxon Shore, Fleet Foxes, Jeffertitti’s Nile, Pearly Gate Music, Siberian, Har Mar Superstar, Poor Moon, Low Hums, Jonathan Wilson, Bill Patton, The Lashes, Stately English, and has toured extensively with Pacific Northwest artists Damien Jurado, Jesse Sykes, and David Bazan. He has also made contributions to albums by popular artists, including Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Kid Cudi, and has produced one album for Matthew Daniel Siskin, known as Gambles. (Wikipedia, not the best website to be citing from… Here’s a beautifully written full artist biography of Father John Misty by Mark Deming – link)

Father John Misty’s latest album ‘Pure Comedy’ takes a rather cynical approach compared to his more personal previous works. The album creates detailed depiction of what’s wrong with the world in Tillman’s point of view. Going over everything from a person’s birth to religion, politics and the advancement of technology, this album is full of social commentary on various levels and subjects.

Lines like these are throughout the entire full length record and work incredibly well to make the listener feel uneasy, as if all of society is pointless; to focus on everything grotesque and morbid. Somehow Tillman manages to bring out the ugly truth that we all know and experience wrapped around in incredibly beautiful sonic world. His music at points sound like out of a musical, whilst at other – like a rock ballad from the 80s. However, no matter which direction the album and the overall sound goes, it always sounds cohesive and flows perfectly with no track killing the momentum of the album. Overall, the album carries critical themes making the world feel ugly and does it in the most beautiful way possible. I would simply describe the project as ‘gorgeous witty irony’.

Focusing on “A Bigger Paper Bag” and it’s meaning in the grander scheme of the album, I would argue that it expresses the way Father John Misty might be coping with all of the problems that he’s been pointing out in the record up till this point. Simply put, in the song escape from this messed up world is only provided through alcohol and drugs.

“This song is about narcissism and self-absorption. He is using alcohol, drugs and ego to shield himself from the world and other people. He ends the song by telling himself that he is the only one he loves.” (genius.com, Phil Boyatsis)

I couldn’t agree more. The song feels like a getaway. It normalises the use of opioid to deal with problems, as if it is the only way out. The slow pace of the drums that almost stumble from the kick to the snare and back to the kick bring about the sensation of being dizzy, tipsy, loose in other words – high or drunk. The instrumentation sounds psychedelic, the bass, guitars and pianos throughout the track remind me of a slowed down chill version of Thundercat, Terrace Martin or Kamasi Washington. The electric piano/ rhodes piano really jumped out to me as something that could’ve been on Childish Gambino’s brilliant soul album ‘Awaken, My Love’, which again felt quite psychedelic. The strings that support Tillman’s vocal performance throughout the track provide him with the softest, warmest, most lustrous cashmere-like foundation that he gracefully and effortlessly sings on top, creating gorgeous harmonies with stacked vocal lines. It’s a perfect representation of being under the influence of alcohol.

As far as lyrics go, the song is filled with references and lines about substance abuse and Father John Misty’s escape from the cruel world. Тhe title ‘A Bigger Paper Bag’ immediately brings about the idea of a paper bag (obviously). What I always associate a paper bag is people wearing it on their head, which I consider an act of isolation, rebellion, ostentatiousness of protest. A case in point is Shia LaBeouf wearing a paper bag that said “I am not famous anymore” (Selby, Independent.com)

The paper bag is a means of fake anonymity, the cheapest, easiest way to fool oneself into thinking that he’s escaping life. Furthermore, genius.com contributors expand on that:

Alcoholics often hide their drinks under large paper bags. FJM could also be referencing another cynical bard – John Lennon – who created the term “Bagism” to satirize prejudice and stereotyping. According to John and Yoko, a person could escape prejudice simply by living entirely within a bag. (genius.com)

This ties together perfectly with the lyrics “What a fraud, what a con”. He acknowledges the fact that he’s putting on a fake persona in order to battle the reality, however, this changes nothing as he continues with “You’re the only one I love”. He loves himself and it doesn’t matter that he’s a “fraud” or a “con”, it is the only thing in this world that’s important, he is.

Expanding on the idea of narcissism, Father John Misty’s idea of true escape being possible only in one’s self greatly resembles the philosophy of individualism.

Individualism is the idea that the individual’s life belongs to him and that he has an inalienable right to live it as he sees fit, to act on his own judgment, to keep and use the product of his effort, and to pursue the values of his choosing. It’s the idea that the individual is sovereign, an end in himself, and the fundamental unit of moral concern. This is the ideal that the American Founders set forth and sought to establish when they drafted the Declaration and the Constitution and created a country in which the individual’s rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness were to be recognized and protected. (Biddle, 2014)

This somewhat connects Tillman to the glorious past when “the individual’s rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness were to be recognized and protected”. His escape from today’s reality is achieved by him focusing on himself. His self-destructive way of dealing with society doesn’t stop him from loving himself. His form of escapism is his individualism, he believes that he’s more than the rest and by pointing everything wrong with this world and making fun of it, he realises there’s not much he can do. So he stopped caring about anything. In an interview with Pitchfork he says:

“I grew up being told by psychotic adults that I was filled with sin, that my experiences didn’t matter, and that I would die before I reached adulthood because we were living in the end times,” he says. “I made a decision as a child that I would never let anyone tell me that I was invalid or inauthentic, or that my experiences were.” (Mapes, 2017)

Tillman has seen that individualism is his way out of everything he’s criticising on his album ‘Pure Comedy’. It’s all just a joke for him and being a fraud is the best solution. Alcohol and drugs are the main way he can reach this state of nihilism in which his being is at utmost importance.

Listen to the song here: 

Bibliography

DEMING, Mark. n.d. “Father John Misty Biography and History” AllMusic [online], Available at: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/father-john-misty-mn0002877943/biography
Geinus.com, n.d. “Father John Misty – A Bigger Paper Bag lyrics” Genius [online] Available at: https://genius.com/Father-john-misty-a-bigger-paper-bag-lyrics
SELBY, Jenn. 10.02.2014 “Shia LaBeouf wears a paper bag on his head…” Independent[online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/shia-labeouf-wears-paper-bag-on-his-head-to-the-premiere-of-nymphomaniac-at-berlin-film-festival-9118259.html
BIDDLE, Craig. 02.02.2014 “Individualism vs Collectivism: Our Future, Our Choice” The Objective Standard [online], Available at: https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2012-spring/individualism-collectivism/
MAPES, Jillian 16.03.2017 “Here Is the Scandalous Father John Misty Interview You’ve Been Waiting For” Pitchfork [online] Available at: https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/10041-here-is-the-scandalous-father-john-misty-interview-youve-been-waiting-for/