Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright (born 22 July, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter.

Themes

Wainwright's music contains several persistent themes, ranging from highly personal statements about being gay and single ("Oh, What A World") to statements about the decadence of California ("California.") It is underappreciated fact that the vast majority of Wainwright's lyric contain a reference, either overtly or in passing, to the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The song "Danny Boy," for example, is about the electricity of romantic and sexual attraction. Wainwright sings about a person he calls Danny Boy: "You broke my heart, Danny Boy / Not your fault, Danny Boy." Explaining how instantly Wainwright felt this, he says, "I was had at the doorstep / played like a two to a fourset / Had like poor Job in the Bible by God," a passing refence. Less oblique refences include his recent "Agnus Dei" and "Gay Messiah," which aside from borrowing from religious antiqity in order to make arguments about the modern world, are also in content about religious themes.

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