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Nocturne in Black & Gold

by Jack Phemister

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about

In 1877, John Ruskin wrote of James McNeill Whistler’s painting ‘Nocturne in Black & Gold: The Falling Rocket’; ‘I have seen, and heard, much of cockney impudence before now, but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face.’ Whistler filed a libel suit against Ruskin that went to trial in 1878, which Ruskin was too ill to attend. The court ruled in Whistler’s favour, and he was awarded a single farthing in damages.

lyrics

Whistler is my name

Well John Ruskin’s gonna pay
he said I’d fling a pot of paint
upon the public’s face
and expect a hefty pay
John Ruskin’s gonna pay

He spreads prejudice abroad
to warn the masses about a picture he barely saw
his disbelief in the state of the world
is disbelief in the sound of his voice
‘cause Ruskin writes the laws
or so he’d have you told

Did he think about what he saw?
thinks he’s seen impudence before?
but did he ever have the thought
that there are thoughts behind these thoughts?
and you know he can’t even paint

Now he’s hiding in his cave
too fragile for the day
so let the terror of time and change and death
follow him every way
yeah you should think about what you say


Far too ill to face me
with lawyers paid to hate me
two afternoons of painting
now a scandal meant to break me
well John Ruskin’s gonna pay

The trial’s a rort
they hung it upside down in court
it’s not a view of Cremorne
see they’re the colours of a chord
and that takes a lifetime to be learned

something in here reeks
his posse’s so desperate to plant their kiss upon his cheeks
and all my friends they are neglecting, neglecting to speak
I didn’t know I was stuck in an orgy
for the overconfident and the weak

but John Ruskin’s gonna pay
til we’re all laughing at his name
a jury’s decided
that black and gold are mine again
and John Ruskin’s gonna pay


the rocket falls slow
an enemy’s gently made
there’s a penny in my hand
and Ruskin says I can keep the change

John Ruskin’s gonna pay

credits

released December 20, 2023
Jack Phemister - Guitar, Vocals
Kieran Rule - Drums, Vocals
Jack Smythe - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Clare Fogarty - Cello
Adelaide Stolba - Vocals
Chloe Coco Blaby - Vocals

Written by Jack Phemister
Arranged by Jack Phemister, Kieran Rule, Jack Smythe & Clare Fogarty
Recorded & Mixed by Jack Phemister
Mastered by John Ruberto
Artwork by Jack Phemister & Adelaide Stolba

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Jack Phemister Melbourne, Australia

Jack Phemister makes Art Rock music for the modern misanthrope.
From Folk-Rock beginnings on his debut emerges a subversive new era, influenced by Art Punk, Industrial Rock, and Poetry. Exploring the depths of the human condition, and the artist’s place in it, Phemister trudges through themes of displacement, dejection, and anxiety, implementing unwarranted magniloquence and wonky guitar playing. ... more

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