Grimes Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Genesis is a song by Grimes. Appearing on her third studio album, Visions, it is the 2nd track on the album, and the lead single.

Background[]

In a retrospective track-by-track commentary, Grimes said about the song:[1]

"Wow, I tried to take this song off the album, which is so crazy now. I made "Genesis" to be sort of a live thing, and I think actually workshopping it with an audience is part of why its good... like I just kept altering it to try and get a bigger response from the crowd, but I never really looked at it as a song. I sort of felt like it was more of a live stunt or something haha. But like all my friends made me keep it on the album, and I thought they were insane. It has no [meaningful] lyrics cuz it was just a live vibe. I guess, at the time, I also didn't really perceive lyrics. I just thought lots of songs didn't have lyrics... haha WTF.

Trivia[]

  • This is one of Grimes' most successful releases so far due to its music video becoming viral, mostly through micro-blogging site Tumblr. NME placed the song at number 16 on its list of 50 Best Tracks of 2012.[2]
  • Genesis was exclusively released on Pitchfork on January 4, 2012 before being officially released by 4AD on January 9.[3][4]
  • The word "Genesis" means: the origin or mode of formation of something.
  • Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible.[5]

Video[]

Video Credits
Grimes_-_Genesis
Title Visions
Premiere 22 Aug 2012
Length 5:32
Location Los Angeles, California
Director Grimes
Producer Sebastian Pardo, Lana Kim

Additional Credits

  • Co-starring: Brooke Candy
  • D.O.P: Drew Bienemann
  • Special thanks to Seth Pratt, Alfredo Llamas, Mac Boucher, Tokimonsta, Sigrid Lauren, Freidl, Lux, Lindsay & Jessie St.James

Behind the Scenes

[1] Photography: Drew Bienemann

Background

Hieronymus Bosch- The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things

The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things - Hieronymus Bosch

Grimes explained the video to Pitchfork:[7]

[There's a lot going on here. What's the concept of the video?] It's loosely based on this painting by my favorite painter, Hieronymus Bosch, called "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things". I wanted to play with Medieval/Catholic imagery. I was raised in a Catholic household and went to a Catholic school, and my childhood brain perceived medieval Catholicism as an action movie: There's this crazy omnipresent guy who can destroy you at any moment.
[It feels reminiscent of a lot of video games, too.] That just naturally happens in a lot of the art I do because I like to read comics and play video games. I want it to be anime-like. It was very Tarantino influenced, and he's influenced by anime, and obviously anime and video games go hand in hand. The video references so much because I can't help taking everything that's attractive to me and putting it into stuff. I'm very bad at keeping things minimal.
[Who's the woman with the pink braids, Brooke Candy?] I played a show in L.A. a few months ago, and I saw her at a party. She looked so cool that I was like, "OK, I'm just going to move to L.A. because that person has the best style I've ever seen in my life." So I moved to L.A. for a couple of weeks and I ran into her at a party pretty much on the first day. I was just like, "Dude, you have the most star power of any person I've ever met. I need to make a music video and I need you to drive it as a character."

I don't have any money to hire actors. I just need to get people who are going to do a good job being themselves. Brooke Candy was the first person I found. It was all about her.

[Why did you decide to add the minute-long intro?] We got all this beautiful footage because the light was unbelievable at the end of the second day, but it didn't fit into the storyline. Still, I really wanted to use it-- I felt like it was aggressive and weird, like Beyoncé meets Dune or something. I also wanted to put out more music because I'm very limited in what I'm allowed to put out now because I signed to a record label. It was an excuse to do more stuff without getting in trouble, I guess.
[Did you have a lot of people gawking and wondering what the hell you were doing when you filmed in L.A.?] People didn't talk to us much. But with the limo shots, we were kind of on the side of the road, and people kept staring and accidentally almost driving into us. The limo driver was just laughing at us; he probably thought we were doing a high school art project.
[You seem pretty comfortable holding a python.] It's just an animal. If you're nice to it, it will most likely be nice back. Every once in awhile it would start tightening-- starting to want to kill you-- and the trainer would have to come and calm it down. It's an albino python that we rented from this place that rents out birds and reptiles for movies.
[It looks just like the snake from Britney Spears' performance of "I'm a Slave 4 U" video at the 2001 Video Music Awards. Could it be the same one?] It's actually a different python. I wish it was the same python. I was specifically referencing her performance in this video. That was one of Britney's best moments.
[Were there any safety issues on set with the snake, the car, or any of the weapons?] I was having a really good time driving that Escalade, but it was definitely very illegal-- I don't have a license. [laughs] I actually almost drove the car into another car. And I think some people got hurt with the weapons. I maced myself in the hip and burnt my hand really badly on the sword. There were definitely some close calls with the mace-- you could kill someone in a minute with that thing.


The original concept for the video was different, as said by Grimes in an interview with Fake Plastic Tunes:[8]

My friend has a VHS recorder and I’m going to get a bunch of girls and they will all be like angels going into buildings and setting off fireworks, breaking stuff, and doing graffiti.


Lyrics[]

My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know
Oh, heart, and then it falls, and then I fall, and then I know
My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know
Oh, heart, and then it falls, and then I fall, and then I know
My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know
Oh, heart, and then it falls, and then I fall, and then I know
My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know
Oh, heart, and then it falls, and then I fall, and then I know

My
My
My
Ever see, ever be, ever know my heart
Ever see, ever be, ever know my heart

Home and I know
Playing the deck above
It's always different
I'm the one in love
Home and I know
Playing the deck above
It's always different
I'm the one in love
Home and I know
Playing the deck above
It's always different
I'm the one in love
Home and I know
Playing the deck above
It's always different
I'm the one in love

My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know
Oh, heart, and then it falls, and then I fall, and then I know
My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know
Oh, heart, and then it falls, and then I fall, and then I know
My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know
Oh, heart, and then it falls, and then I fall, and then I know
My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know
Oh, heart, and then it falls, and then I fall, and then I know

Ever see, ever be, ever know my heart
Ever see, ever be, ever know my

Home and I know
Playing the deck above
It's always different
I'm the one in love
Home and I know
Playing the deck above
It's always different
I'm the one in love
Home and I know
Playing the deck above
It's always different
I'm the one in love
Home and I know
Playing the deck above
It's always different
I'm the one in love

References[]

Advertisement