Graham Reid | | 1 min read
The Divine Comedy: When a Man Cries
The amusing Divine Comedy – Neil
Hannon the sole constant the past two decades – effect a kind of
elegantly literary and often droll, social commentary, style which
often comes with orchestration, or sounds like it has stepped out of
a cabaret or music hall.
They require, and reward, careful
attention because the details are in Hannon's frequently satirical
lyrics. Here on The Complete Banker the central character
suggests the current recession could be a blessing, “we can build a
much bigger bubble next time”. And At the Indie Disco he
takes a sympathetic look at uncertain teenagers in a club which has a
Morrissey poster on the wall “and then we hit the floor for Tainted
Love”.
The title track – a well respected
man frequenting S&M sessions – finds Hannon playing
cabaret-noir piano; on Have You Ever Been in Love you could
imagine Noel Coward doing a soft-shoe shuffle; and on The Lost Art
of Conversation he offers starting point like The League of
Nations, The English Patient, Joan of Arc . . .
This isn't all cool whimsy however:
When a Man Cries (“he cries alone and just for a moment he's
back at home, cradled in his mother's arms”) is aching and
empathetic.
The Divine Comedy make music for and
about adult concerns, but sometimes find the child – silliness or
innocence – inside.
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