Tears of a clown
Decider breaks down Jeremy Enigk’s breakdowns
Will somebody please give this photo a hug?
Article Tools
A fine line separates a tune that tears your heart asunder and one that prompts snide giggles. Longtime mope-master Jeremy Enigk (playing tonight at the Shank Hall) has been on both sides of that divide over his career. A founder of Sunny Day Real Estate, he helped lay the foundation for emo as we (wish we didn’t) know it. As that act went into sporadic hibernation in the ’90s, he moved on to acoustic guitars and orchestration for his solo output—and he also found time to dabble in slightly more visceral post-hardcore in the short-lived The Fire Theft. With his latest full-length, last year’s The Missing Link, the songwriter once again returned to the world of heartbreak by couplet. As with the rest of his career, sometimes he gets it right—crushingly right. Other times he gets it unintentionally, hilariously wrong. Decider weighs in on a few of Enigk’s lyric sheets.
“Lost myself when pain from your heart left its trace in written words held like a seam”—“The Blankets Were The Stairs” from SDRE’s Diary (1994)
Mixed metaphors are the workhorses of emo lyricists. Torn asunder by his latest brush with the emotional grim reaper, Enigk in “The Blankets Were The Stairs” sounds so shattered, the basics of freshman-year poetry no longer apply to him. And yet, he makes it work; despite, or maybe because of, Enigk’s arty ambiguity, “Blankets” stands as one of SDRE’s most compelling tunes.
Verdict: Tears
Mixed metaphors are the workhorses of emo lyricists. Torn asunder by his latest brush with the emotional grim reaper, Enigk in “The Blankets Were The Stairs” sounds so shattered, the basics of freshman-year poetry no longer apply to him. And yet, he makes it work; despite, or maybe because of, Enigk’s arty ambiguity, “Blankets” stands as one of SDRE’s most compelling tunes.
Verdict: Tears
“The rain was there to wash away my tears / I wanted to be them but instead I destroyed myself”—“Grendel” from Diary
Years of emo copycats adrift in a sea of high-school breakup verse and bad eyeliner sapped much of the punch of Enigk’s tortured lyrics. Then again, Enigk isn’t dealing in anything but drama-club cliché at times himself—and “Grendel” is a prime example. Tears? Check. Lonesome walks in the rain? Check. Clumsy, figurative, emotional suicide? Check and mate. If Enigk had had the foresight to scrawl a couple lines about dog-eared photographs or long-distance phone calls, “Grendel” might have been the apotheosis of emo as a whole.
Verdict: Clown
Years of emo copycats adrift in a sea of high-school breakup verse and bad eyeliner sapped much of the punch of Enigk’s tortured lyrics. Then again, Enigk isn’t dealing in anything but drama-club cliché at times himself—and “Grendel” is a prime example. Tears? Check. Lonesome walks in the rain? Check. Clumsy, figurative, emotional suicide? Check and mate. If Enigk had had the foresight to scrawl a couple lines about dog-eared photographs or long-distance phone calls, “Grendel” might have been the apotheosis of emo as a whole.
Verdict: Clown
“Shade and the black hat don’t tell me / I’ve paid my regards pouring in wine / What I’ve seen, it tears me inside”—“Shade And The Black Hat” from Enigk’s Return Of The Frog Queen (1996)
In a rare brush with composure, “Shade And The Black Hat” sees Enigk set aside his excruciatingly emoted delivery and corny turns of phrase to go for something a little less obvious. A lot less obvious, actually: Obtuse imagery and surrealism abound, leaving most of the song’s emotional thrust hinging on Enigk’s cooing delivery.
Verdict: Tears
In a rare brush with composure, “Shade And The Black Hat” sees Enigk set aside his excruciatingly emoted delivery and corny turns of phrase to go for something a little less obvious. A lot less obvious, actually: Obtuse imagery and surrealism abound, leaving most of the song’s emotional thrust hinging on Enigk’s cooing delivery.
Verdict: Tears
“No more the fool in the photograph / That night chained in your embrace / Day dawned and I saw your face”—“Fool In The Photograph” from SDRE’s The Rising Tide (2000)
If terminal romances are the gold standard for emo-song subject matter, betrayal is its platinum. In “Fool In The Photograph,” Enigk wrings everything he can out of the victim angle, and his lilting falsetto—ever the weapon of choice in the self-pity wars—works wonders for his cause. Just to defend his title as emo bantamweight of the world, Enigk uses tear-stained old photos as the song’s primary conceit. Call it histrionics by numbers.
Verdict: Clown
If terminal romances are the gold standard for emo-song subject matter, betrayal is its platinum. In “Fool In The Photograph,” Enigk wrings everything he can out of the victim angle, and his lilting falsetto—ever the weapon of choice in the self-pity wars—works wonders for his cause. Just to defend his title as emo bantamweight of the world, Enigk uses tear-stained old photos as the song’s primary conceit. Call it histrionics by numbers.
Verdict: Clown
“You wanted everything, and it is what you got / You live for better days / You’re all tied in knots”—“It’s Over” from The Fire Theft’s The Fire Theft (2003)
Emos spend their days pining over things they don’t have: girlfriends and/or boyfriends, someone who understands them, the first pressing of that Cap’n Jazz LP, and dignity. So when Enigk goes the other direction and moans about that unhappy someone who has it all, it’s an about-face for the needy generation. “It’s Over” could have wound up being one of those “Be careful what you wish for” cautionary tales, but it’s probably just proof that Enigk and his followers are insufferably morose no matter what good things come their way.
Verdict: Clown
Emos spend their days pining over things they don’t have: girlfriends and/or boyfriends, someone who understands them, the first pressing of that Cap’n Jazz LP, and dignity. So when Enigk goes the other direction and moans about that unhappy someone who has it all, it’s an about-face for the needy generation. “It’s Over” could have wound up being one of those “Be careful what you wish for” cautionary tales, but it’s probably just proof that Enigk and his followers are insufferably morose no matter what good things come their way.
Verdict: Clown
“Never take the time / Don’t break my heart—again”—“World Waits” from Enigk’s World Waits (2006) and The Missing Link (2007)
A dozen years into his career as indie-rocks foremost sobsmith, Enigk finally learns to stand up for his emotional wellbeing on “World Waits”—a song so good, Enigk recorded it twice for two consecutive albums. In it, Enigk draws a line in the sand, sets expectations, and puts his big foot down to declare he’s not going to let the world destroy him (again). Unless, of course, he needs inspiration for the lyrics of his next project.
Verdict: Clown
A dozen years into his career as indie-rocks foremost sobsmith, Enigk finally learns to stand up for his emotional wellbeing on “World Waits”—a song so good, Enigk recorded it twice for two consecutive albums. In it, Enigk draws a line in the sand, sets expectations, and puts his big foot down to declare he’s not going to let the world destroy him (again). Unless, of course, he needs inspiration for the lyrics of his next project.
Verdict: Clown
