24
Alternative
Foster a Revolution
(Continued)
was still being written and produced, as well as the climate today of various countries throughout the world. These last lines of the verse, partnered with the introduction of Fela, the audience may call to mind other eastern or African nations which had or still have volatile governmental situations. Fela was notorious for challenging the Nigerian government, and equally known for the abuse he received because of it. It would be too easy to say Foster’s “martyr” is Fela, especially when taking into account his desire for global association.
The chorus turns the lyrics and the audience back to Foster and his introspection. On his journey, he seeks a connection between his western Los Angeles culture and the cultures of the eastern world, but upon opening his eyes to global political struggles, which can and often do culminate to violence, one can understand his desire to “duck for cover.” But taking separately the revolutionist character Foster writes as in the verses, he seems to be called back into himself in the chorus, and then in the first part of the second verse.
Originally living in L.A. and working as a jingle-writer, one can argue that Foster became comfortable, complacent, and competent in capitalism; yet he rejects his history in an attempt an evolution at when he goes on his journey from India to Morocco. He now seems to be turning eyes back to America, pointed out often for the imbalance into steeper national debt while perpetually funding wars. The heavy-handed imagery continues in the second verse, with the mention of both “war machines” and “chrome hand guerrillas.” The image of chrome is explicitly industrial and technological, and it would be unsurprising to seek further denunciation in other lyrics throughout the album; here, he returns to the idea of people’s revelation/revolution.
As with most pieces of art, Supermodel had varying reviews. The Rolling Stone review seems the harshest of all, dismissing the music in this more specialized album as trite in Foster’s quest for discovery. In an early interview upon the release of the album, Foster shares that the band did experiment with different sounds, and only after composing and recording the music did he write the lyrics. His job was to create capsules of meaning while still retaining the catchy, poppy appeal of his last album, which seems successful looking at “Are You What You Want To Be?”
Leeza Torres