There’s this one song from 2004 that I am completely fascinated with, because the lyrics provoke many interpretations and the artist has never explicitly stated what his story for the song is. The song? Pablo Picasso by Citizen Cope.
For a long time I was convinced that it was about Pablo Picasso himself. Guernica perhaps, another piece open to many interpretations. And while working on Guernica, Picasso stated the following: “My whole life as an artist has been nothing more than a continuous struggle against reaction and the death of art“. Citizen Cope’s lyrics struck a chord with this statement – in my mind the song’s character was protecting an artwork that he was in love with. Citizen Cope sings: “Mr. Officer, if you’ve come to take her; that means one of us, gonna end up in a stretcher”.
Picasso’s “entartete Kunst” was but one reason for the Nazis to hate him. He was also a Communist, and Guernica had come to symbolize defiance against dictatorial states and fascism. Mr. Officer is not just one man, he symbolizes the authorities as a whole. Anyone who dares to prevent human expression. Anyone who tries to force human beings to walk a straight road and fails to embrace the diversity of human nature. And Picasso fought this as artists fight – with paints, pastels and pencils.
Over time, opinions alter and ideas change, and I began to think that the song refers to street art. “I got a stick and bottle” and “everywhere I go, people hand me quarters” for instance. Maybe I’m wrong. But still, there’s this running theme of artists being persecuted for expressing themselves.
Whatever the song is about, I’d love to think that it’s a little bit of advice for us all, that human expression should be embraced.
"Flâneuse"
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