Here Lies Love

Here Lies Love
Soundtrack album by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim
Released 5 April 2010 (2010-04-05)
Recorded 2008–2009 at South Hell Studios, New York City, United States
Genre Alternative dance, disco, big beat, art rock, electro
Length 90:06
Language English
Label Todomundo/Nonesuch
Producer David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, Cagedbaby, Patrick Dillett and Los Amigos Invisibles
David Byrne chronology
Everything That Happens Will Happen on This Tour – David Byrne on Tour: Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno
(2009)		 Here Lies Love
(2010)		 Live at Carnegie Hall
(with Caetano Veloso)
(2012)
Fatboy Slim chronology
Palookaville
(2004)		 Here Lies Love
(2010)		 Bem Brasil
(2014)
Singles from Here Lies Love
  1. "Please Don't"
    Released: 19 January 2010

Here Lies Love is a concept album and rock musical made in collaboration between David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, about the life of the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos along with the woman who raised her—Estrella Cumpas—and follows Marcos until she and her family were forced to leave the Philippines.[1] The album features 22 guest vocalists and was released on 5 April 2010, under Nonesuch Records and Todomundo in several formats, including a deluxe double-Compact Disc set with a DVD of music videos from the album and a 120-page book.

The album was adapted as a rock musical that premiered in 2013 off-Broadway at The Public Theater and ran again at the Public in 2014–2015. It also played at the Royal National Theatre's Dorfman Theatre in 2014–2015.

Background

The title of the album is taken from a comment made by Imelda Marcos during a visit to her husband Ferdinand Marcos's embalmed body. Imelda Marcos expressed that she would like the phrase "Here Lies Love" to be inscribed on her tombstone.

David Byrne released the following statement regarding this album:

"The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person—what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if—as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music—one could experience it in a club setting? Could one bring a 'story' and a kind of theatre to the disco? Was that possible? If so, wouldn’t that be amazing!"

Recording and release

The studio album features mostly guest female singers, including Florence Welch, Allison Moorer, Nellie McKay, Cyndi Lauper, Tori Amos, Martha Wainwright, Natalie Merchant, Sia Furler, Santigold, Charmaine Clamor, Nicole Atkins, Sharon Jones and Kate Pierson among many others, alternately playing the roles of Imelda Marcos and Estrella Cumpas.

Byrne described Cyndi Lauper's performance on the album as "amazingly fine-tuned" and "very impressive." The only male vocalists are Steve Earle on "A Perfect Hand", and Byrne himself on "American Troglodyte" and "Seven Years", the latter being a duet with Shara Worden from My Brightest Diamond.[2]

The first promotional single from Here Lies Love is "Please Don't" featuring Santigold on vocals. The single became available on Byrne's website as a free high-quality MP3 download on 19 January 2010.

Live performances

Here Lies Love

A promotional poster of the performers from the album, illustrated by Scott Menchin
Music David Byrne with Norman Cook
Lyrics David Byrne
Productions Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts (2006), Carnegie Hall Perspectives Series (2007), The Public Theater (2013)

Here Lies Love was performed live four times before the album was released. It was first presented as a song cycle (with vocals by Byrne, Dana Diaz-Tutaan and Ganda Suthivarakom) at the Adelaide Festival of Arts under the artistic direction of Brett Sheehy in Adelaide, Australia, on 10 March 2006 with additional dates on 13 and 14 March, and was also performed live at the Carnegie Hall in New York City on 3 February 2007, as part of the Carnegie Hall Perspectives Series.[3]

The album was adapted into a stage musical, directed by Alex Timbers, that premiered off-Broadway at The Public Theater in New York City in 2013. It starred Ruthie Ann Miles in the title role.[4] The production played an extended run at the Public before closing in August 2013. It returned for an open-ended commercial run again at the Public in April 2014. The production closed at the Public on January 4, 2015.[5][6] The production won five Lucille Lortel Awards in 2014.[7] The musical, directed once again by Timbers, opened at the Royal National Theatre in September 2014 and played a limited, sold out run through January 2015 at the Royal's newly renovated Dorfman Theatre. The London-based production was nominated for three Olivier Awards in 2015 (Best New Musical, Outstanding Achievement in Music, and Best Theatre Choreographer).[8]

Scene structure

Prologue
  1. "Here Lies Love"
Act I
Flashback – Early Days
  1. "Every Drop of Rain"
  2. "You'll Be Taken Care Of"
  3. "The Rose of Tacloban"
  4. "How Are You?"
  5. "A Perfect Hand"
  6. "Eleven Days"
Act II
The Climb to Power
  1. "Walk Like a Woman"
  2. "Don't You Agree?"
  3. "Ladies in Blue"
  4. "When She Passed By"
  5. "A Pretty Face"
  6. "A Whole Man"
  7. "American Troglodyte"
  8. "Dancing Together"
Act III
The Turning Point
  1. "Men Will Do Anything"
  2. "Never So Big"
  3. "Please Don't"
Act IV
The Fall
  1. "Solano Avenue"
  2. "Seven Years"
  3. "Order 1081"
  4. "Why Don't You Love Me?"
  5. "Here Lies Love" (Reprise)

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
The A.V. ClubB+[10]
BBCmixed[11]
Mojo[12]
NME[13]
One Thirty BPM53%[14]
Pitchfork Media5.0/10[15]
Q[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
The Daily Telegraph[18]
The Times[19]

The overall album had a moderately positive critical reception, with many critics praising the production quality yet feeling it was lacking in artistic expression. The review by Pitchfork Media summarized: "And even [the tracks are] not bad, per se, unless the very idea of bland competence offends you".

Track listing

Disc one
  1. "Here Lies Love" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 5:52
  2. "Every Drop of Rain" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 5:34
  3. "You'll Be Taken Care Of" (David Byrne) – 3:20
  4. "The Rose of Tacloban" (David Byrne) – 2:33
  5. "How Are You?" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 2:43
  6. "A Perfect Hand" (David Byrne) – 4:58
  7. "Eleven Days" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 2:44
  8. "When She Passed By" (David Byrne and Tom Gandey) – 3:50
  9. "Walk Like a Woman" (David Byrne) – 3:59
  10. "Don't You Agree?" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 3:20
  11. "Pretty Face" (David Byrne) – 3:23
  12. "Ladies in Blue" (David Byrne) – 4:21
Disc two
  1. "Dancing Together" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 3:53
  2. "Men Will Do Anything" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 4:06
  3. "The Whole Man" (David Byrne) – 4:15
  4. "Never So Big" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 4:00
  5. "Please Don't" (David Byrne) – 3:59
  6. "American Troglodyte" (David Byrne, Norman Cook, and José Luis "Cheo" Pardo) – 4:07
  7. "Solano Avenue" (David Byrne and Norman Cook) – 3:56
  8. "Order 1081" (David Byrne) – 5:47
  9. "Seven Years" (David Byrne) – 5:40
  10. "Why Don't You Love Me?" (David Byrne and Tom Gandey) – 3:58
DVD videos
  1. "Eleven Days" – 2:20
  2. "When She Passed By" – 3:30
  3. "Don't You Agree?" – 2:51
  4. "Dancing Together" – 3:24
  5. "Please Don't" – 4:00
  6. "Order 1081" – 4:28

Cast recording track listing

A cast recording of the 2013 off-Broadway performance was released by Todo Mundo on 26 April 2014.[7]

Disc one
  1. "American Troglodyte" (Ensemble)
  2. "Here Lies Love" (Ruthie Ann Miles & Melody Butiu)
  3. "Child of the Philippines" (Conrad Ricamora & Ruthie Ann Miles)
  4. "Opposite Attraction" (Conrad Ricamora & Ruthie Ann Miles)
  5. "The Rose of Tacloban" (Ruthie Ann Miles)
  6. "A Perfect Hand" (Jose Llana)
  7. "Eleven Days" (Ruthie Ann Miles)
  8. "When She Passed By" (Melody Butiu)
  9. "Sugartime Baby" (Ruthie Ann Miles, Jose Llana & Jeigh Madjus)
  10. "Walk Like a Woman" (Ruthie Ann Miles)
  11. "Don't You Agree?" / "Pretty Face" (Ruthie Ann Miles, Jose Llana & Maria-Christina Oliveras)
  12. "Dancing Together" (Ruthie Ann Miles & Maria-Christina Oliveras)
  13. "The Fabulous One" (Conrad Ricamora)
  14. "Men Will Do Anything" (Maria-Christina Oliveras)
Disc 2
  1. "Star and Slave" (Ruthie Ann Miles)
  2. "Poor Me" (Ruthie Ann Miles & Jose Llana)
  3. "Please Don't" (Ruthie Ann Miles)
  4. "Solano Avenue" (Ruthie Ann Miles & Melody Butiu)
  5. "Riots and Bombs"
  6. "Order 1081" (Renee Albulario, Melody Butiu, Natalie Cortez & Maria-Christina Oliveras)
  7. "Seven Years" (Ruthie Ann Miles & Conrad Ricamora)
  8. "Gate 37" (Conrad Ricamora)
  9. "Just Ask the Flowers" (Natalie Cortez)
  10. "Why Don't You Love Me?" (Ruthie Ann Miles)
  11. "God Draws Straight" (Kelvin Moon Loh)
  12. "Here Lies Love (Curtain Call)" (Ensemble)

Personnel

Florence Welch is one of several vocalists who takes the part of Imelda Marcos on the album

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About "Here Lies Love"; Here Lies Love". David Byrne. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  2. ↑ Ayers, Michael D. (14 December 2009). "David Byrne Announces Upcoming Album With Fatboy Slim". Spinner. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  3. ↑ "David Byrne Tour Index". Davidbyrne.com. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  4. ↑ Brantley, Ben. "A Rise to Power, Disco Round Included", The New York Times, 23 April 2013, accessed 7 April 2014
  5. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/theater/here-lies-love-to-close-at-the-public.html
  6. ↑ Hetrick, Adam (18 April 2013). "Public Theater Announces Second Extension of David Byrne-Fatboy Slim Musical Here Lies Love". Playbill.com. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Here Lies Love Cast Album Out Today + Lortel Award Wins!". David Byrne. 6 May 2014.
  8. ↑ http://www.olivierawards.com/nominations/view/item274537/best-revival/
  9. ↑ Collar, Matt. "Review: Here Lies Love". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  10. ↑ "A. V. Club review".
  11. ↑ "BBC review".
  12. ↑ "Mojo review".
  13. ↑ "NME review".
  14. ↑ "One Thirty BPM review". by Rob Hakimian
  15. ↑ "Pitchfork review".
  16. ↑ "Q review".
  17. ↑ "Rolling Stone review".
  18. ↑ "Telegraph review". The Daily Telegraph (London). 1 April 2010.
  19. ↑ Cairns, Dan (4 April 2010). "The Times review". London.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.