The Death Of Ferdinand De Saussure

The Magnetic Fields is one of those random bands that doesn't quite fit into the main stream, but it's a crime that they have escaped the public ear. Stephin Merritt, the founder of the band and its lead singer/songwriter, fills each song with intelligent lyrics that are usually literal, whether humorous or depressing, and always interesting.

The band formed in NYC and have been making music since the early '90s, but really broke through with the fantastic triple album 69 Love Songs (this is how I was introduced to them). The first song I heard from that album was from Volume 3 and entitled "The Death of Ferdinand De Saussure."

Not your traditional pop-tune, Merritt references Ferdinand de Saussure, who was a Swiss linguist at the turn of the 19th century. The ever-truthful Wikipedia links de Saussure to the theory of semiotics - the study of signs and their significance. It is believed that , as a linguist, he applied this theory to language as quoted: "The connection between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary" and "In language there are only differences, and no positive terms." And to think of all the misinterpretation of language when we're in relationships - the differences between what is said, what is meant and what is understood.

How Merritt jumps from de Saussure to Holland-Dozier-Holland, the 1960s producers of Motown love songs, is an interesting twist, but it fits - all in the name of relationships and communication. To read or hear the lyrics, there is nothing seemingly worthy of note. The words are basic and seem like a school kid's writing assignment gone horribly wrong. However, the references in the song are off-center, innovative, relevant, and truly brilliant. Magnetic Fields really raises the bar. I'm sure I'll blog about them many times to come.




LYRICS:
I met Ferdinand de Saussure on a night like this
On love, he said, I'm not so sure I even know what it is
No understanding, no closure, it is a nemesis
You can't use a bulldozer to study orchids, he said so

We don't know anything
You don't know anything
I don't know anything
About love

And we are nothing
You are nothing
I am nothing
Without love

I'm just a great composer and not a violent man
But I lost my composure and I shot Ferdinand
Crying, it's well and kosher to say you don't understand
But this is for Holland Dozier Holland, his last words were

We don't know anything
You don't know anything
I don't know anything
About love

But we are nothing
You are nothing
I am nothing
Without love

His fading words were

We don't know anything
You don't know anything
I don't know anything
About love

But we are nothing
You are nothing
I am nothing
Without love