milo on shuffle: sanssouci palace (4 years later)

On the final song of Budding Ornithologists are Weary of Tired Analogies, Rory Ferreira’s final album under the rap moniker of Milo, he says goodbye to the moniker that has built his fame and reputation. In a searing 2 minutes and 55 seconds Milo deconstructs himself as an artist and person alongside the fanbase that has arisen around him. The final verses consider the two concepts in unison, as he says goodbye (for now) and asks the listener to say goodbye with him. It is a difficult and dense song that reveals a frustrated, sad and ultimately hopeful message within its tightly packed verses. Delivered over a looping, gently melancholic piano sample and sharp drum patterns at a rapid fire pace, Milo does not miss a step in his final song. Below is a (largely) line-by-line analysis of the song:

[Intro]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yo

Dun-dun, dun-dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun, dun

Dun, dun, yeah, yeah

[Verse 1]

Do-gooders are closest to evil[1], I note as I stroll the cathedral[2]

Rogue taxidermist macrame timelines like curtains[3]

Sanssouci palace[4], gold rope dookie chain malice

Kabuki callus[5], moody and stylish, using Cristal as a stylus

Thousand car pileup in Kabul, my Luke Hand Cool, jukebox mule

Gunny sack ran a thread, I'm at they head loosing marbles[6]

Anxiety in car fulls and car ride

All you see is potato chips on my bar tab archive

Blue like steel guitar hard slide

Blue like Wilhelm Reich, Bygone Organite[7]

Hammond organ squeal, 360 deal, down to the Focusrite

I could never keep my focus right

Locus always shifting, Plutonian[8] physics

Lonely like weekend only visits, hmm, hmm[9]

[Verse 2]

Temptations the time I become a loathsome inventor

Memory wholly dementia, enemy trying to hold me to how they remember[10]

Night tremor fugue in a hammer pant suit[11]

Black organist, organon organic[12]

Whole man how God intended, the American way[13]

The paragon[14] prays, this is what merits praise

And Fridays with F. Gary Grey, Sarah staring strays

As does good fortune, never green horses[15]

Goodby remorses, I'm flying over you[16]

Yeah

[Verse 3][17]

Ro' Lazarus[18], go maverick, the pull had 'em asking about magnets

They ain't seen me up early at the asscrack with it

They ain't seen, they ain't seen, they ain't seen[19]

Must get sleep, must consummate with lover

All rappers seem to seek out what makes them suffer[20]

Must get sleep, must consummate with lover

All rappers seem to seek out what, yo

[Verse 4]

In my palm, the weight of ammo was felt

Wave the stick like like I just Gesso'd the canvas myself[21]

Toboggan cut sharply, cut a rug nicely

Exit stage center with the buttercream icing

Stripped of my handicaps[22], fitted like pop meant

Bebop so ill, money clip engraved with the guild name

Left my copy of Leviathan at the gun range

Butter gin for the wunderkind who made a career of out loud wondering

Smellin' like satsuma, spit it like your math tutor

No time for the subtle cynic, befuddled critic with whimsy

Beard like Gimli, and if my light shine dimly it still shine[23]

Iridescent moleskine, grown mousy

Cue ball, Jinder Mahal, cupid shuffle Gronkowski

Take my house keys, doubting Thomases get brow beat

Hoisting poetry, big bags of nostrum groceries[24]

I am not what you suppose, but far different[25]

[Outro][26]

Whoever you are holding me now in hand

Without one thing all will be useless

I give you fair warning before you attempt me further

I am not what you suppose, but far different[27]

Therefore, release me now

Before troubling yourself further[28]

---

[1] The opening bar can be read as a barb against western liberals, the “both sides” crowd who help define the fish-hook theory. A theory that pushes against the centrist/liberal understanding of horse shoe theory, which suggests the far-left and the far-right are ultimately the same on the political spectrum. The fish hook theory rejects this, and proposes that, ultimately, it is political centrists and the far-right who are in political parallel. 

             This opening line exists largely out of context until the beginning of Verse 2, as the "enemy trying to hold me to how they remember" are often the 'apolitical' listener, those who do not wish to accept Milo's radical politics. Once it becomes apparent that this song is Milo reflecting on his relationship with himself and his "fans" the lines are drawn sharply into focus.

[2] Milo framing the first half of this opening bar within the context of a cathedral setting could be read as tying in an element of critique against organised religion, particularly aimed at Western Catholicism and Christianity. “Do-gooders”, being Christian followers that stick unabashedly to the right wing, authoritarian and socially oppressive elements of the Bible in an attempt to secure a place in Heaven, are, ironically, “closest to evil” (Hell) for their abhorrent beliefs. 

[3] A difficult line to digest. “Macrame” is a form of textile produced using knotting techniques. By extension, a “macramé timeline” is a knotted timeline. The metaphor “like curtains” helps tie the image together and extend the full imagery of the line, which revolves around textile technique and industry.

Milo possibly frames himself as the “rogue taxidermist”, a tongue-in-cheek line as taxidermy, for many, may already be seen as a “rogue” profession. Taxidermy is the preserving of an animal's body via mounting or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state.

This is not to be taken as literal, of course, but most likely as a metaphor for Milo as a hip-hop artist. His songs are his “macramé timelines”, deeply interwoven with metaphor, simile and social/political/cultural (etc.) references. If hip hop as a genre is likened to taxidermy, Milo framing himself as the “rogue” artist would not be unsurprising. His musical taxidermy is not for neutered display in a museum but is unique.

[4] Located in Potsdam, just outside of Berlin (Germany), Sanssouci Palace holds the remains of King Frederick the Great – King of Prussia (1712-1786).

Sans souci translates from French to (roughly) “worry free”. Sanssouci Palace was a place of relaxation, rest and respite from the wider world for the King. Perhaps Milo’s music acts as a Sanssouci Palace for the listener, or for Milo himself?

[5] Kabuki is a is a classical Japanese dance-drama. Milo’s “kabuki callus” – callus’ being abrasions on the inner palm – may come from gripping the mic for so long, a metaphor for intensive hard work.

[6] Another dense passage. Using “Cristal as a stylus” possibly ties into the imagery of Milo at the bar further down the verse. In essence, alcohol is fuelling his writing.

Elements of this verse could be read as simply braggadocious, but there’s so much to unpack within the verse that that interpretation feels simplistic (not least the context of its role as the final song on the last album from Rory Ferreira as Milo.) Little nods to a “thousand car pile up in Kabul” or even the use of “malice” in the previous line suggest a personal tension bubbling under the surface of the song. Of course, as with so many Milo songs, ideas are never simply in dichotomy against each other.

This line: “Gunny sack ran a thread, I'm at they head loosing marbles” does feel wholly braggadocious. Milo pulls the thread at the proverbial sack, and the listeners mind begins to unravel before them. Milo as “rogue taxidermist” is again pulling the strings of the listener, enlightening them with his music.

[7] In this passage the song opens itself up to a more personal core, and it becomes more obvious in its absence of simple arrogance. Milo depicts the scale of his anxiety in “car fulls” and its presence in a “car ride”, the end point of anxiety as metaphor being “a thousand car pile-up” and (self-) destruction. Where before alcohol is his “stylus”, the catalyst for his penmanship, here his bar tab is empty but for “potato chips”. Milo feels classically “blue” – blue as the music genre, blue as Dr Wilhelm and his face as he emits the Wilhelm scream, blue as “bygone orgonite”. The use of “bygone” and “tab archive” is not coincidental either, there is a definite call to the past, to being forgotten (perhaps itself a catalyst for Milo’s anxiety?)

[8] “Plutonian physics” may be a mis transcription. There is Plutonium physics, Plutonian as in relating to the planet Pluto, and the astrological notion of Plutonian physical traits.

[9] The last three lines of the song again open more easily to the listener. The notion of a “locus always shifting” reflects a sense of lack of control in one’s life. What begins as an exceptionally dense verse, ends with a line of universal sentiment, that of feeling lonely. The “hmms” as the verse drifts away feel reflective, allowing both the listener and Milo space to contemplate these final lines.

[10] On a first glance this line is quite difficult to parse. It doesn’t reveal itself to the listener clearly, even at Milo’s obfuscated standard. I think it becomes easier to parse if you imagine a comma after “temptations”, splitting the sentence so that “temptations” flows into “enemy trying…”, which links the temptations with the enemy, rather than the temptations of Milo himself.

Considering this, the context of “enemy trying to hold me to how they remember” begins to become clearer. In the act of ‘becoming’ a “loathsome inventor” (becoming is in inverted commas to reflect Milo’s sarcasm) Milo’s enemies – perhaps fragile listeners (the do-gooders and liberals from the first verse) – suffer from a memory that is “wholly dementia”. A brilliant oxymoron, with dementia the degenerative cognitive disease that causes the afflicted party to “forget” over time. One cannot have a memory that is wholly dementia, it is paradoxical.

The query then is what the enemy is trying to hold Milo too – it’s a typical critique labelled at artists who grow or develop over time musically and personally. A veritable “I miss the old Kanye…” dilemma. In this instance though, rather than developing into a right-wing parody of themselves, Milo is suggesting that the listener’s memory of him is flawed. It is not Milo who has fundamentally changed, but the listener.

[11] More difficult lines from the inimitable MC. The bars here operate on the axis of the word “fugue”.  In simple terms: “In music, a fugue is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the course of the composition.”

               However, there is also a Fugue State - “a rare psychiatric disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including the memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics of individuality”

Milo imagines himself as a haunted personification of this. A “night tremor fugue in a hammer pant suit”. The hammer pant suit as a reference to the classic choice of attire by MC Hammer in the late 80s-early 90s. If Milo is the “night tremor fugue” in response to his enemy, then he is acting as the reversal of amnesia, the reversal of dementia. The enemy tries to hold him to how they remember, Milo is trying to reverse this.  

[12] “Black organist” as a point of self-reference doubles down on the “fugue” image from the previous line, “organon organic” plays with alliteration and repetition – translating “fugue” as a musical note to a linguistic technique. It is a reference also to the earlier “Bygone Organite” of Wilhelm Reich. In Reich’s writings, orgones are a biological or cosmic energy found throughout the universe. Milo is perhaps somewhat mockingly referring to the notion of “organon organic”, as there has been no empirical proof of orgone theory to date. Ergo, they cannot be “organic” as we define organic today.

[13] Here is a certainly tongue-in-cheek line - a jab against deeply engrained American ideals of manifest destiny and American exceptionalism, formed from a colonialist/imperialist ideology. By playing with this ironically, Milo is admitting he is not a “whole man how God intended”, despite the initial reading that this may be another braggadocious line.

[14] Paragon: “a person or thing regarded as a perfect example of a particular quality” I believe that this ties into the previous line due to the parallel religious imagery and the idea of the ‘perfect’ being. I cannot decipher these lines in yellow though. “Fridays with F Gary Grey” is a reference to the director’s 1995 film Friday.

[15] In horse racing/riding a “green horse” is a new inexperienced horse, that has only just begun its training/education. This may be a callback to the opening lines of the 2^nd verse, the enemies that are misremembering Milo are like “green horses” – uneducated.

[16] In a previous time, Milo may have taken the time to educate these “green horses”, to accommodate their viewpoints/beliefs (engaging with centrists/liberals). Now, remorseless, Milo is free to leave these “green horses” behind and fly over them. In relinquishing the shackles of the Milo moniker with this final album, Milo (Rory Ferreira) feels artistically free again. It is in this sentiment that Milo will conclude the song: 

“I am not what you suppose, but far different/

Therefore, release me now/

Before troubling yourself further”

[17] Perhaps less of a strict verse and more of a refrain, this section breaks up the intensity of Verse 1, 2 and Verse 4 that looms ahead. I think this is deliberately kept more obtuse than the other Verses, and as such will not spend as much time discussing this section.

[18] After 4 days, Jesus rose Lazarus from death in the Bible. 4 years later vs. 4 days later. I would not put it beyond Milo to suggest there is significance in this parallel. Especially as so much of the song points towards an artistic resurrection or rebirth.

[19] Repetition plays a key part here in questioning who is the “they” that Milo is addressing. Is it the listener? Milo’s fans? Milo’s contemporaries and competitors? What also have “they” not seen? The line prior perhaps suggests the hard work and craft that has gone into Milo’s career and would tie in neatly to his frustration that spills out in Verse 2.

[20] A whole essay could be written on this single line. For now, I will point towards a few brief points of reflection. Why does Milo specify and then universalise rappers? What is unique to being a rapper that they must seek that which makes them suffer? What is this point of suffering? Is Milo including himself in this statement?

[21] A classical hip hop image, with language and writing taking on a physical manifestation. Milo’s lyrics are as powerful as ammunition; there is suggestion of a symbiosis between the craft and the act of creating – Milo is suggesting he is a natural.

[22] A slightly whimsical image that relates to Milo’s admonishment of his renowned moniker. A ‘nicely cut’ rug to slide down centre stage on a “toboggan”, with a tub full of “buttercream icing” – he is leaving on top; he is leaving “stripped of my handicaps”. In the context of the full song, it is possible that his handicap is the moniker Milo itself and the perceived expectations that come with that name.

What follows these opening lines of Verse 4 is Milos goodbye to the listener. It largely repeats the structure of this toboggan image, but I will highlight a few key lines below, as it acts as a sharply critical and witty reflection of his career to this point.

[23] There are so many enjoyable bars between annotation 23 and 24. Milo’s rejection of the neckbeard critic, too close minded to grapple with his music. His bending of the pronunciation of the word “moleskine” to ensure it rhymes with shine. His career deftly summed up as a kid who loudly wonders is touching and heartfelt. Most beautiful of all these though is “and if my light shine dimly it still shine”. A proud self-affirmation of self-worth. A humble understanding that no matter what comes next, Milo, or rather, Rory Ferreira, still has value.  

[24] “Take my house keys… Hoisting property” – if there was any doubt Milo was moving on, it is confirmed in these lines. Milo is leaving; do not be a “doubting Thomas” and mistake his affirmations as performative. The “big bags of nostrum groceries” may be a nod towards his future endeavours. He is leaving the house, or palace, of Milo, but is taking with him nostrum groceries (his duo with Elucid), perhaps he is moving into the Scallops Hotel? Wherever Rory Ferreira is going, Milo is not coming with him.

[25] This is, technically, the first line Milo utters this affirmation throughout the song, yet the message has been persistent throughout. As you (you being my fan, my listener, my enemy) understand I am not “what you suppose”, I am not Milo, “but far different” – what that difference is remains to be seen.

[26]Again, we must consider the context of this Outro verse amongst the wider album. This is Rory’s final album as Milo, these are for all intents and purposes, the last lines of Milo. In light of this context they hold a greater weight to the listener because of their presupposed finality. At the time of writing the final live shows of Milo are reaching an end. Tonally this Outro is not angry or demanding, it is quiet and reserved, but affirmative. These are instructions as much as they are lyrics. To follow them is to find peace with the ending of Milo.

[27] Milo repeats the song’s crucial affirmation. The line prior asks again of the listener, do not doubt me now, do not be or become an “enemy” whose memory is “wholly dementia”, for I have given you fair warning.

[28] We are asked to let go. To let go of our understanding of Milo. What is to become cannot be stopped. Do not hurt or make yourself suffer trying to protest this movement away, it is inevitable. With this the song, the album and Milo the artist as he currently exists concludes.