Music Moment: Thao Nguyen
Thao Nguyen's fifth and latest album A Man Alive is a departure from the usual for her band Thao and the Get Down Stay Down.
The singer usually draws inspiration for her songs from social causes, like mass incarceration and women's rights. But this time, Nguyen reaches into her own past to create a deeply personal musical exploration of her relationship with her father.
"He left when I was maybe 11 or 12, my parents split up," Nguyen says. "And so he kinda just floated away but you never knew when he would come back and you never knew when he would just leave."
After years of suppressing her feelings, Nguyen's mixed emotions started bubbling up into song following a sobering brunch with a friend. "She had a similar relationship, or non-relationship, with her dad, and she found out he was very sick," Nguyen says.
"And she was sort of grappling with whether or not to get in touch or what would she do and it woke up this slow burn panic within me. We're just trapped in this thing that, it's just like this swamp of this kind of inertia and no one will move."
The tracks on A Man Alive go back and forth in a battle between forgiveness and anger.
"This record, you know a lot of that is me releasing whatever I have to and grieving in whatever way, and having a lot of anger and then trying to sort of move forward, to forgive," Nguyen says. "But then a few songs later, I could leave him for dead."
Even in such a personal record, Nguyen stays true to her musical activism with the track Meticulous Bird.
"It's about various abuses of power, sexual assault and abuse in particular," Nguyen says. The raw, distorted song is designed to help listeners reclaim a sense of self. "I wanted whoever to be able to scream 'I take my body back,'" Nguyen says.
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Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Now let's spend a few minutes with a new album that caught our attention.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ASTONISHED MAN")
THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN: (Singing) Decades to decide, I need decision.
THAO NGUYEN: Hi, this is Thao Nyugen from the band Thao And The Get Down Stay Down. And this is my new record "A Man Alive."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ASTONISHED MAN")
THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN: (Singing) I wake so worried, worried. Yet I won't hurry, hurry. What is the weight, the weight of a lonely man? I wake so worried, worried. Yet I won't hurry hurry. I still sleep as only the careless can.
NGUYEN: This record is mostly about my relationship with my dad. He left when I was maybe 11 or 12. My parents split up, and so he kind of just floated away. But you never knew when he would come back, and you never knew when he would leave.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MILLIONAIRE")
THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN: (Singing) Shatter what you will not carry. Smash want you won't make. Oh, daddy I'm broke in a million pieces. That makes you a millionaire something
NGUYEN: And the real - you know, the engine of the record started to roar when I was having breakfast with a very good friend of mine. And she had a similar relationship - or no relationship - with her dad. And she found out he was very sick. And she was sort of grappling with whether or not to get in touch or - you know, what would she do? And it woke up this slow-burn panic within me. It's so extreme in how mundane this kind of separation is because either one of us could easily find the other.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GUTS")
THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN: (Singing) You know, I'm so easy to find. You won't come get your girl. You know, I'm so easy to find. You won't come get your girl. You know, I'm so easy to find. You won't come get your girl. I want peace - enough for two. I want...
NGUYEN: We're just trapped in this thing that it's so - it's just this, like, swamp of this kind of inertia and no one will move.
(SOUNDBITE OF THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN SONG, "GUTS")
NGUYEN: This record, you know, a lot of that is me releasing whatever I have to and grieving in whatever way and having a lot of anger and then trying to sort of move forward to forgive. But then a few songs later, I - I feel like I could leave him for dead.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "METICULOUS BIRD")
THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN: (Singing) Why didn't I, why, why didn't I, why didn't I, why, why didn't I - I find the scene of the crime and take my body back. I find the scene of the crime and take my body back. I take my body back.
"Meticulous Bird" is one of the ones that's closest to me from this record. It's about various abuses of power - sexual assault and abuse in particular. And even in a record so personal, I wanted to maintain whatever level of activism I can maintain. And so I wanted whoever to be able to scream I take my body back.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "METICULOUS BIRD")
THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN: (Singing) ...Violence to vow against - not what I dream, not what I dreamt, not what I mean, not how I meant...
MARTIN: That's Thao Nguyen, talking about her band's new album "A Man Alive."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "METICULOUS BIRD")
THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN: (Singing) Hunting only through seasonings. I planned on no problems to punctuate my stay. Now I perch above you meticulous bird of prey. Now I perch above you meticulous bird of prey.
MARTIN: This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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