Purple Television
[April 13 2015] : music
Collapsing Scenery / Metaphysical Cops by by Don Devore
Purple TV presents Metaphysical Cops by Collapsing Scenery. Written by singer and lyricist Reggie Debris, the lyrics to “Metaphysical Cops” were inspired by Jeff Sharlet’s expose of the American roots of Uganda’s anti-gay movement “Straight Man’s Burden” publsihed in 2010 in Harper’s magazine. The song gives voice to two opposing narrators: a young man who experiences his homosexuality as a communion with the divine, and a traditionally religious voice that perceives homosexuality to that of demonic possession.
The title also makes reference to the words of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Pnin: “…metaphysical police can break physical bones.” The accompanying video, realized by Collapsing Scenery’s multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Don Devore, reflects the tension within the song through visual abstraction and disorientation. Collapsing Scenery will be holding a Metaphysical Police Can Break Physical Bones art installation at D&F Contemporary NYC to coincide with the video release, details can be found here.
