This past weekend, artist Father John Misty took the stage on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. This was the singer’s debut on the program.
Father John Misty played his newest single, “Pure Comedy”. The singer also debuted a new song titled “Total Entertainment Forever”. Both songs will be featured on his upcoming album, Pure Comedy, which is expected to drop April 7.
The lyrics in “Total Entertainment Forever” examine virtual reality. The song opens with the line “Bedding Taylor Swift/ Every night inside the Oculus Rift.” The opening lyric took audiences by surprise.
The singer discussed the lyrics of the song with Exclaim! Magazine following his performance. The singer touched upon how society has a fascination with consuming entertainment in as many forms as possible. In the song, he reflects upon how these forms of entertainment may become more disturbing as technology advances.
In regards to the Taylor Swift line, Father John Misty explained: “The fact of the matter is, I don’t want that to happen to Taylor Swift. That is the worst thing I can think of; that is so horrible. But again, this plays into progress, where like, the internet was supposed to be this new democracy, a utopia of information where everyone had a voice and we were all interconnected, and we would experience true democracy — and it turned into pornography, followed only by outrage. The tools represent some kind of technological advancement, but if we can’t act like more than angry ecstasy freaks with the most advanced technology in the world, then how much have we really progressed?”