of Montreal – The Actor's Opprobrium

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I guess I should have known to stay away
From a snuff film by Gene Genet
But the cash was good and the director
Gave me the biggest scene
What does it mean when Pentecostal born-again virgins
Appear picketing in angry protest?
Oh, those sloppy tarts
Have sulphurized hearts

Sure, a dead man quietly pulling on his tongue
In a coffin after being hung
Does make strange erotic cinema
But that was the great master’s vision
And the actors agree to portray
The fiend is best in a death fantasy
Because when one is licking the knife
Ah, well, that is truly the life

Oh, what does it mean
When the stagehand approaches
Wheeling in a guillotine?
Let’s play nice
Yes, I want to be a star
But that’s going too far

Yes, I’m still smarting from the bite
Of coital sessions in gelatinal light
I’m questioning my chosen career
Don’t think I’ll be attending the premier

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Lyrics submitted by constant

Track duration: 02:36


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14 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I always thought he was talking about stage acting.
    Hmm. Guess he's not. I like the lyric, "Yes, I want to be a star, but maybe that's going to far." It's one of my favorite lyrics ever.
    I think he dies.
    Flag Seezleon November 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:also, snuff films probably aren't real, porn and crime experts believe.
    Flag lazybootproductionson February 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:just, weird/amazing imagery set around an extremely arty snuff film with a wide-eyed snuffee (who didn't know that's what he signed on for) as a narrator. if he's actually killed or not is ambiguous, but that's part of the point. the most creative line is the bit about how licking the knife truly is the life, a great jab at the whole glamoristic kind of things that actors sometimes say.
    Flag lazybootproductionson February 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Jean Genet reputedly said that "The only two things worth writing about are sex and death." So, a 'strangely erotic' scene in a snuff film would take these two themes and fuse them. Genet didn't have to direct a snuff film himself; maybe the naive actor/narrator had been duped into believing that his director was in fact Jean Genet, and now he realizes that he's been had, and nearly been killed himself by the guillotine.

    Speaking of guillotine, the real Jean Genet died of throat cancer. There might be something to that guillotine image as a symbol of his throat cancer.
    Flag Sadie Rohmon August 10, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Well he actually is referring to Jean Genet [the correct way to spell it] He mispronounces his name which as somebody said, is pronounced somewhat like "John." I also find it strange that he is relating a snuff film to Jean Genet since the only film he ever did was far from snuff. Though his novels can be a bit violent and erotic.
    Flag danslesboison December 15, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't think he's refering to Jeunet, because "Jean" in French is pronounced similarly to "John". He sings "Gene".
    Flag lepidoptera3on August 10, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think he is referring to Jean-Pierre Jeunet the french director of Amelie.
    Flag bassguitargodon March 29, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i always thought it was about an actor who was in a snuff film and he's one of the people who get killed. that's why he won't be attending the premier
    Flag hungry_daveon February 23, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
    Apparently they do exist. Anyway, I love this song.
    It's a pretty funny story, too.
    Flag opratoriloveyuon February 20, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Gene Genet made one film. It was about two male prisoners who fall in love.

    He also wrote many plays and stories which have been turned into movies.
    Flag lepidoptera3on February 14, 2006   Link

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