![]() It was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in August 2013, indicating that it has sold over 300,000 units in the UK. The album reached number thirteen on the UK Albums Chart. The title of the album, “An Awesome Wave”, was a quotation from the American-Canadian film American Psycho, released in 2000. ![]() The song narrates the story of two 20th-century war photojournalists and their deaths in the line of duty.Īwesome Wave has gained numerous recognitions and is regarded by many music lovers as one of the best albums by an English indie rock band. Taro is a combination of various elements, including sad dispensary girl-style post-rock strings and bells, unique vocal tone, Indian pop, and a history lesson. For instance we know what he lived for – war photography. In fact he loved his craft so much that he died in the pursuit of it.Īnd we also know who the main love of his life was, Gerda Taro. No, the song doesn’t depict Capa as a hero. In fact it can be argued, to some degree, that Alt-J is even mocking the way in which he died, risking his life in an extremely dangerous situation for a chance to snap pics.īut it’s still a compelling story nonetheless, especially if the listener knows the actual historical background of the individual being sung about.Īlt-J released Taro in May 2012 as the last song off their 2012 maiden album, An Awesome Wave. So this is a somewhat complete biographical song, even if it only details the very last moments in Robert Capa’s life. It may also be implied that his passing will now allow him the opportunity to reunite with his true love, Gerda Taro, who again died almost two decades prior. ![]() Then in the second verse the scene shifts back to the third person, with the vocalist observing Capa from the outside. And to make a long story short, he dies in what appears to be a considerable degree of pain but is then embraced in the ‘painlessly’ of the afterlife. So what Alt-J is saying is that during his final moments Capa’s mind, even if only briefly, recollected Gerda Taro, perhaps due to the fact of how they shared similar fates. (Capa was actually born Endre Friedmann.) So their careers were intertwined. Also like Capa she had met a similar fate while engaged in her craft during the Spanish Civil War. In fact it was Gerda Taro who helped create the name Robert Capa and vice versa. ![]() Then you’ll notice in the chorus that now the vocalist, seemingly taking on the role of Capa himself, references one “Taro” being ‘sprayed into his eyes’. Gerda Taro (1910-1937) was another war photographer and the former co-worker/lover of Robert Capa. Or more specifically, if you want the gory details, his leg was severed from his body, on top of the photographer suffering other injuries. And as the song also depicts it, he had wandered too far away from the rest of the company to receive the prompt medical attention that he sorely needs. What that terminology most notably represents is Capa stepping on the landmine which proceeded to take his life. So at the beginning of the first verse, the scene is set in Indochina. And Capa, who is in a French army Jeep, decides to exit the vehicle so that he can get a better shot of the action. Shortly thereafter, there is a “very yellow-white flash”. And the aforenoted four seconds are supposed to encapsulate the last moments of his life, as he died in the line of duty, covering the First Indochina War, which was waged from 1946-1954. Capa (1913-1954), who was born in Austria and also held American citizenship, was more to the point a war photographer.
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