In order to understand the brilliance of this song, one must first understand the content of Scorsese's movies and the means by which he achieves his point.
Anyone who is interested in film will tell you that Marin Scorsese is one of the most brilliant filmmakers in America today. However, Scorsese's movies send a poweful message to the viewer that is often misinterepreted by the persons most unfamiliar with his work.
Scorsese uses violence in his movies as a means of getting his point across to the viewer. Violenece draws the viewer in and produces a reaction in the viewer that causes you to abhor the material causing the violence. For example, if you were to watch a woman lying on the beach, you would feel very little reaction. But if a person came out and beat her up with a bat, you would cringe and become upset at this sight. This reaction is what Scorsese is after. By associating violence with immoral behavior and sometimes money, he shows the correlation between them and produces a reaction to both. Many of his movies seek to show the viewer another world in which violence and crime rule.
King Missile's "tribute" song to Scorsese is a perfect reaction to his movies, and it shows that Hall obviously understands Scorsese's medium. Hall describes many violent actions that he would like to perform on Scorsese, which are a reflection of the actions shown in Scorsese's movies. It is an appreciation and a show of understanding to Scorsese. Hall attempts to use Scorsese's meduim to praise his work.
The song sounds like a commentary on obsessive fandom. If you take out the violent lyrics, it sounds like a rabid Scorsese fan spouting off to his friends. I've heard people rant like this when talking about something they really like. It reminds me of those stories about celebrities getting severely mobbed.
The scary part (and the point I think Hall is trying to make), is that when the violent lyrics are included, they almost don't seem out of place.
The song lyrics are a parade of gratuitous violence and swearing. Many may think that this is just because. However, I believe that the writer is making fun of Scorsese's films, which are arguably the same. I disagree with this, but this isn't about me. Its about John S. Hall and his aparent dislike for Martin Scorsese movies. Hall tries to make the point that various acts of violence and constant use of the word "fuck" does not a good film, or song, make, nor are they neccesarily in a film. Obvoisly, Hall is being sarcastic when he says "I fucking love him".
The true brilliance of this song cannot be appreciated until one hears "Martin Scorsese PG-13", which can be found on "Happy 14 1/2" the radio promo cd for Detachable Penis. The song is identical, but does not use the word fuck. The two combined, IMHO, sum up Hall's comment on both society and Scorsese.
Submitted by Tha Buzz
I think what Martin Scorcese is trying to put across is somewhere between the respective interpretations of Matt Hanley and Mitch. I believe that John S Hall's simply saying that life imitates art.
People read too much into King Missile lyrics. I want The Story of Willy to be nothing more than a humourous story about a man named Willy with a jolly environmental reference thrown in ("Willy loved to breathe fresh air, but he went outside anyway"). I want Detachable Penis to be an amusing tale of one man's search for his missing penis. I want The Boy Who Ate Lasagne and Jumped Over a Church to be about a boy who ate lasagne and jumped over a church. Dig it? Okay, so he often uses his lyrics and poems to make a point, but that doesn't mean that every single thing the man writes down has to carry some deep social/personal significance.
Jesus wept - people will be trying to interpret his shopping lists next.