“Death of the Author,” in brief, is an interpretive model that proposes that the identity, intent, and biography of the author of a work of art (author here being used in the broader sense of “creator”) should have no bearing on one’s interpretation of that work of art. So we’re gonna do an experiment in interpretation. For the sake of this experiment, please don’t look up on anything about the song or the band I’m about to talk about; I promise I’ll get there.
First, here’s the last line of the chorus of the song “Shadow of a Genius” by Amplify This:
I'm still your biggest fan
What did that make you feel? What meaning did you derive from that, beyond the literal semantic meaning of the words? Did that do anything for you? Probably not, right? Here’s the whole chorus:
Living in the shadow of a genius
Oh we got 500 miles between us
Play the same game but they've never seen us
Together on the same team
I know that my lights well they shine real bright
The shadow from yours can be dark as the night
I'm still your biggest fan
Now what? Anything? A little pinprick of emotion perhaps? How about with the whole song:
[Spoken Intro]
So just roll the whole first verse again
Count me in
1 2 3 4
[Verse 1]
Was that awkward to you
Or was it me that feels this way
We have so much in common
But you have nothing to say
It's just like Otis wrote down
And what Aretha sang
Respect is all I want from
But I don't feel it today
[Chorus]
Living in the shadow of a genius
Oh we got 500 miles between us
Play the same game but they've never seen us
Together on the same team
I know that my lights well they shine real bright
The shadow from yours can be dark as the night
I'm still your biggest fan
[Verse 2]
Some play for the love of the game
And others they dream of the wealth and the fame
The reason that I started
Is just not quite the same
As a kid I watched you
Practicing all day
And all I ever hoped for
Was to play with you someday
[Chorus]
Instead I'm living in the shadow of a genius
Oh we got 500 miles between us
Play the same game but they've never seen us
Together on the same team
I know that my lights well they shine pretty bright
The shadow from yours can be dark as the night
I'm still your biggest fan
I'm still your biggest fan
[Bridge]
Don't get me wrong I know I have nothing to offer
But sometimes I wonder if blood is really thicker than water
Look at your son, look at your daughter
30 years from now will they know one another?
[Verse 3]
They always come to see you
No matter what it takes
And tell me man we'd love to see you play
But we can't stay out that late
Toss me a lifeline I'm sinking fast
I guess I still haven't learned how to swim
They say we saw your brother on TV
Hey man, why aren't you up there with him
[Chorus]
Living in the shadow of a genius
Oh we got 500 miles between us
Play the same game but they've never seen us
Together on the same team
I know that my light well it shines pretty bright
But the shadow from you can be dark as the night
I'm still your biggest fan (living in the shadow of a genius)
I'm still your biggest fan (living in the shadow of a genius)
I'm still your biggest fan (living in the shadow of a genius)
[Bass Solo]
At this point, I imagine you have a basic sense of the narrative here. Two brothers, both musicians, the younger one feels like he’s living in the older one’s shadow, but “still [his] biggest fan.” Does that line hit you a bit harder now? I would think so, now you have the context, right? Now you know we’re talking about brothers, there’s a tension in that line, like yes it’s an offering, “I still appreciate you,” but also there’s pain there, not just in the “still” (as in, despite how you’ve treated me) but also in the fact that he is in a sense reduced to being merely a fan, not a colleague or a brother.
But of course, this is music, you can’t just separate out the lyrics, so here’s the full song:
Now when you hear him actually sing that line, “I’m still your biggest fan,” now you’re really feeling it, right? At least a little bit? So, can we agree that getting greater context enhanced your experience of the art?
Well, here’s some more context: That guy standing in the middle of the picture who looks a little like Ben Folds? That’s the bass player of Amplify This. He’s not the lead singer on most of their songs, but does take lead on this one, which he also wrote. His name is Chuck Folds. Ben Folds’ younger brother. Now listen to the song again.
If you’re a Ben Folds (Five) fan, or at least have some sense of his stature as an artist, you probably now feel more invested in the song. It feels more specific, more grounded, the emotions more tangible as you have a real sense of the scope of this dynamic. “I’m still your biggest fan” means a lot more when you know who he’s talking about, doesn’t it? “Look at your son, look at your daughter / 30 years from now will they know one another” is not just a vague gesture, these are real people now (one of whom is also a musician who has some things to say about her family dynamic, incidentally). That bass solo at the end is no longer frivolous excess, it’s the artist reaching the limit of verbal communication and expressing himself through his instrument.
So if we agree that greater context can enhance our experience of art, surely the context of who the artist is no less valid than the context within the art itself. And so “Death of the Author” is a bad model, the end, bye.
Well, no.
“As for him being a Nixon supporter and abandoning his gay son…I don’t care? I mean, that sucks, but I’m not here to put Herbert on a pedestal. I just think his books are interesting. I can find interesting stuff in Stranger in [a] Strange Land too, and Heinlein is way worse.”
Me, in what had admittedly at that point gotten to be a somewhat contentious discussion
“But surely,” I hear you cry, “if you propose that Chuck Folds’ identity is an inherent aspect of ‘Shadow of a Genius’ as a work of art, then you must admit Herbert’s is inherent to Dune?” Nope. I must nothing. You must nothing. That’s the point.
Knowing Chuck Folds is the author of “Shadow of a Genius” enhances my experience of that work of art, so I keep it. Knowing Frank Herbert ended up being kinda right-wing and was a shitty dad does not enhance my experience of Dune, so I discard that information in the context of discussing the work of art. I do not mean to suggest that information doesn’t matter, but I need not let it affect how I read the books. Alternatively, I may find a reading that incorporates that information in a way that deepens my understanding of the work or opens up new avenues of interpretation, in which case, back in the contextual pool it goes. And that reading might even be more critical and end up making me like Dune less. But, crucially, that reassessment will still be based in the text, even if it’s using authorial biography and beliefs as context. That is still aesthetic engagement; “person bad therefore thing bad” is not.
“Death of the author,” like any model of interpretation, is a tool, a thing you can use to try be better at doing the work of engaging with art. But like any tool, you need to know how and when to use it properly in order to get the most value out of it and not risk making the work you’re doing harder or less effective.
Anyway I think Lindsay Ellis did a video on this like 5 years ago that probably said a lot of the same things but with more relatable examples, I mostly just wanted to talk about “Shadow of a Genius” because that line gets me every time.
p.s. Also I’m not here to litigate Chuck and Ben’s relationship, I have no idea what happened that led them to this moment, also the song is from 2009 so who knows, maybe they’ve reconciled in the last 15 years. It should but maybe doesn’t go without saying that I am also a pretty big Ben Folds fan. “Brick” was one of the first real songs I learned on piano, Way to Normal was one of the first albums I bought with my own money, I saw Ben Folds in concert in 2022 and I don’t even go to concerts. I just think “Shadow of a Genius” communicates a powerful emotion very effectively and that’s generally what I want from art. I call this “Death of the Author’s Brother’s Actions That May or May Not be Deserving of Criticism and also His Feelings About This Whole Situation.” Coined and minted. Give me those big philosophy bucks.
Certain of Eventual Failure 