A few years ago, I discovered the band The Drums and fell in love with their indie-rock stylistic elements, with many of their songs containing prominent drumbeats, catchy guitar riffs, and complex uses of reverb. In listening to their less-popular songs, however, I discovered that many of their themes and lyrics tackle the lead singer Johnny Pierce’s queer identity and complicated Christian background that he grapples with in his music. In several interviews, such as this one with the online magazine Them, Pierce discusses growing up with a “rough childhood in a small town with two conservative Pentecostal pastors as parents.” Understanding this crucial piece of his identity, I can see how many of the Drums’ songs reveal the conflicting relationship between Pierce’s queer identity and his life experiences. His songs often illustrate the ideas of growing up, leaving his anti-gay household, feeling skeptical of religion, and more, intertwining these lyrics with descriptions of his tumultuous and emotional love life.
For this post, I picked the Drums’ song “Head of the Horse” because it embodies the Drums’ emotion-heavy songs packed with storytelling. In this manner, the songs privilege meaning over genre-specific style. “Head of the Horse” seems to reference sporadic but significant moments from Pierce’s younger life until present times. Throughout the verses and chorus, some devices I identified are the repetition of phrases and the shift between past and present tense verbs. “He hugged me when I came home” in the first verse becomes “He hugs me when I come home” in the second. There are also many instances of imagery, such as the opening line, “Shrink-wrapped magazines in a paper bag.” This brief sentence elicits many questions from listeners like me in an attempt to connect the puzzle pieces that the song provides. There are also references to religion among the cruel interactions with his parents in the song. The lines “Have a headache? / We’ll grab the oil / If you complain / Well, that’s the devil talking” evoke a sense of disconnect and disillusionment with one’s religious parents who enforce religion in unexpected moments, such as curing a headache. These lyrics blend various facets that create identity, including parental figures, religious and cultural background, sexuality, and romantic relationships. They also illuminate how the experience of queerness is not just individual, but also familial, relational, and cultural.
I think the Drums have very catchy but also heart-wrenching music. Their themes are very fitting for some of the topics that we’ve discussed in class, and I am glad I got to touch on some of them.