WXTJ Writes! By CC West: Father John Misty Ponders the Meaning of Identity with Mahashmashana
After testing the waters of jazz on his last album, Father John Misty circles back to his orchestral rock roots.
Released this past November, Father John Misty’s newest album, Mahashmashana, is an eclectic work that deals with the clash of adulthood and the definition of identity. The piece features 8 tracks, each of which burst with a lifetime of self-reflection.
The album’s captivating name came across Misty in one of the American screenwriter, Bruce Wagner’s, novels. Mahāśmaśāna is from the ancient language of Sanskrit and is sacred to the religion of Hinduism. The word is defined as a great cremation ground. An idealized name for a piece foraging for life’s deeper meanings.
Misty ignites the piece with a nine-and-a-half minute title track “Mahashmashana,” diving deep into the depths of this enchanting word’s definition. Despite it being double the length of most of the other songs on the album, each lyric’s density corroborates itself to the song. Lyrics like, “She is patient, the act of creation/ May one day produce a happy man” and “Must not have made it to the angels/ Who passed the holy roman noses round” illuminate Father John Misty’s ability to tell a story in just one line.
Launching the next song with an upbeat guitar riff, Misty remains true to his 70s-pop aesthetic on track 2, “She Cleans Up.” Continuing to delve into his confrontation with identity, the song acknowledges individuals’ natural instincts to “clean up” their faults just to repeat the cycle of getting dirty again.
In track 3, Misty takes a step away from his stage name in the title for a song that tussles with his individuality. “Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose” deals with an individual standing in the eye of the hurricane of their identity putting their feelings into words. Lyrics including, “You’re in no shape / You’re in no shape / All the king’s horses, all the king’s men / You may never be whole again” clutches on to the experience of feeling swallowed by defeatism. One that is all too common, yet rarely ever spoken about.
Continuing a major theme in his music of criticizing the workings of society, Track 4, “Mental Health” raises to prominence the exploitation of mental health in humans today. Over a mix of orchestral and rock n’ roll symphonies, Father John Misty castigates the world’s obsession with mental health and using it as a means of control.
“Screamland” comes next. Channeling a guitar section that alludes to Lou Reeds’ Street Hassle, the song tips its cap to one of Misty’s most beloved idols. The singer-songwriter tackles the struggle of confronting the harsh realities of the adult world and dreaming of a sanctuary to let the screams out. In true Father John Misty fashion, the song is only one note, honoring Misty’s dedication to musical experimentation.
Taking listeners out to the scene of a first date, the subsequent track, “Being You” unveils a battle of trying to live another person’s life. Over a simplistic violin melody, the ballad features a protagonist who nods their head to the conversation as their mind whirls and howls with the realization that they have dissociated from their true inner-being.
Track 7 and the second epic of this album is titled “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All.” Clocking in at eight and a half minutes long, the song pays homage to Misty’s last album “Chloe and the Next 20th Century” by dipping itself back into jazz. Recorded in just two takes, the song reminds listeners that no matter the hero or the villain they indefinitely will encounter their flaws in the presence of time. Moments they wish to veil will forever be witnessed by time as it is irrevocably the driving force of their slip-ups.
The album concludes with “Summer’s Gone.” One last time, Father John Misty casts light on the cloaked realities of self-perception. Placing the messages of each song into an all-encompassing box, the song perceives a protagonist yearning for an escape to a cold world where their emotions can be properly felt.
In just 50 minutes Father John Misty submerges into the loosely talked about epiphanies of the human experience that lurk within the depths of the brain. With his 6th studio album, he remains vulnerable to his listeners — offering them a safe place to express their feelings or in other words, this life’s Mahashmashana.
