“Another Girlfriend” — Rhett Miller
The Old 97’s frontman recently released a new self-titled solo album, which this song is from.
Although Miller sometimes runs the risk of coming off as a mimbo, he’s apparently a pretty smart guy with a deep interest in literature. His clever lyrics often show off a talent for wit, allusion and wordplay, and his latest solo album was apparently influenced in part by the late writer David Foster Wallace.
The liner notes for Miller’s new album start with a quote from Wallace’s magnum opus, “Infinite Jest”:
“And when he came back to, he was flat on his back on the beach in the freezing sand, and it was raining out of a low sky, and the tide was way out.”
When playing a show in Madison this February, Miller gave the audience a preview of an “R-rated” version of the song “Another Girlfriend.” He cleaned up the few explicit lyrics, and it ended up on his new album after all. Its wry lyrics are perfectly in line with Miller’s playfully skewed take on relationships and heartbreak.
Read a review of the Madison show from No Depression here.
And here’s a good live video from that show:
Rhett Miller sings “Question” in Madison, 2-7-09. (video by Kiki Scheuler)
