Winston Churchill, u good, bro? “Those who have met Herr Hitler face to face,” […], “have found a highly competent, cool, well-informed functionary with an agreeable manner, a disarming smile, and few have been unaffected by a subtle personal magnetism.” Hitler and his Nazis had surely shown “their patriotic ardor and love of country.”
Do you feel like writing this record helped you better understand those things you don’t know about yourself?
It’s set me on the right path, I think. You write from so far in the future that it’s not like I’ve answered those questions, but what matters to me with this album is that this album is about trying to break through into the next phase of your life and figuring out which parts you can and can’t take, and not settling for this cynicism that can plague you.
This album is me asking all of those questions; those are the thoughts that I’m prosecuting about myself, my friends, my family, my tiny corner of the world. It doesn’t end with me figuring it out; it ends with the song called What Do I Do With All This Faith? because I’ve always thought of myself as someone who doesn’t necessarily have God, but I’m spilling over with faith; a lot of this unearned faith and unearned hope, right? Why is it there? Why do you just keep feeling it in the face of so much shit? I love it. I love feeling it. I love finding it. Jack Antonoff
Vanessa Carlton is catching some heat from fans after her interview with Blender magazine, where they followed the singer around including a trip to a New York strip club and “spiritual cleansing” afterwards at a Catholic church. Carlton, who is Jewish, wanted to offer a donation and confessed her sins but was thwarted when an actual service was going on. Carlton then told Blender: “I hope these people realize Jesus was just an uppity Jew.” Zapryan writes on VanessaCarlton.com: “I’ve no idea if she did but I have to say that I would be terrified if she really did say it. I thought she had more sense than to offend the most wide spead religion in the entire world.” Evanessa added, “It was very tasteless for her to say that.”
I have no faith — and that’s what it’s about. My friend Harry put it in the best way ever once. He was like, “Man, sometimes I just wish I could make the Jesus leap.” But I can’t do it. I mean, I definitely have weird beliefs that come from nothing. I wasn’t raised religious. I do yoga and stuff. I think breathing is important. But that’s pretty much as far as it goes. I like to believe that ghosts and aliens exist, but I kind of doubt it. I love science — I think science is like the closest thing to that that you’ll get. If I’m being honest, this song is about turning 11 and not getting a letter from Hogwarts, just realizing that nobody’s going to save me from my life, nobody’s going to wake me up and be like, “Hey, just kidding. Actually, it’s really a lot more special than this, and you’re special.” No, I’m going to be the way that I am forever. I mean, secretly, I am still waiting on that letter, which is also that part of the song, that I want someone to shake me awake in the middle of the night and be like, “Come with me. It’s actually totally different than you ever thought.” That’d be sweet. Phoebe Bridgers
"Like a good used-to-be-Catholic, I sang “Here I am Lord” to the sea." Sara Bareilles
Healy is a devout atheist
