History Music / AmandaPalmer

Worked for years as a LivingStatue called the Eight Foot Bride. Was also married to Creator/NeilGaiman, with whom she had a son in 2015.

Worked for years as a LivingStatue called the Eight Foot Bride. Is also married to Creator/NeilGaiman, with whom she had a son in 2015.

* ShoutOut: "Good Day" includes a reference to Gloria Gaynor, "The "Jeep Song" references Music/TheRollingStones, "Sing" shouts out ''Theater/{{Cabaret}}'', "Oasis" contains references to Music/{{Blur}} and, yes, Music/{{Oasis}}, "The Killing Type" references Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera, "Do It With A Rockstar" includes a blatant Music/BritneySpears reference, the album title ''Who Killed Amanda Palmer'' is a Shout-Out to Series/TwinPeaks, and "Judy Blume" is an hommage to the author.

* AdultFear: "Confessions of a Mother" is a ten minute song that recounts moments of Amanda's so-believed failings as a mother to a son who was only a few months old at the time and the sense of paranoia and constant worry that comes with parenthood. The Youtube comments under videos of it are full of fellow mothers telling similar stories and thanking her for making this song, as it made them feel less alone.

* ShoutOut: "Good Day" includes a reference to Gloria Gaynor, "The "Jeep Song" references Music/TheRollingStones, "Sing" shouts out Theater/Cabaret, "Oasis" contains references to Music/{{Blur}} and, yes, Music/{{Oasis}}, "The Killing Type" references Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera, "Do It With A Rockstar" includes a blatant Music/BritneySpears reference, the album title ''Who Killed Amanda Palmer'' is a Shout-Out to Series/TwinPeaks, and "Judy Blume" is an hommage to the author.

She's most famous for her work as part of the [[Creator/BertoltBrecht Brechtian]] punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, along with drummer Brian Viglione. They released three studio albums and toured as openers for Music/PanicAtTheDisco, until they went on hiatus in 2008. Although Viglione and her have done shows together since then, the band has officially broken up, even though Palmer has announced plans of them to produce music again.

* ''An Evening With Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer'' (with Neil Gaiman and Creator/MagaretCho, 2013)[[note]]A three disc set culled from hours of live recordings from their Fall 2011 tour of the US West Coast[[/note]]

* BadassBisexual: Is bi, and a vocal pro-choice activist and antifascist, does ''plenty'' of community work, and is absolutely shameless on stage.

** Reached its peak when she posed fully naked on the cover for "There Will Be No Intermission", a very stripped-down album about extremely intimate stories.

* BiTheWay[=/=]BadassBisexual: Is bi, and a vocal pro-choice activist and antifascist, does ''plenty'' of community work, and is absolutely shameless on stage.

--->(cue MadLaughter)

* LyricalShoehorn: In "Shores Of California", the lyrics reference ''{{Theatre/Lysistrata}}'' and ''Literature/TheIliad'', but cite their authors in the wrong order: It's [[LeastRhymableWord probably almost impossible to rhyme]] "Aristophanes" with anything, while "Homer" at least comes somewhat close to rhyming with "Lysistrata". The liner notes to ''Yes, Virginia...'' do some parenthetical LampshadeHanging:

* MsFanservice: Not done to titillate the audience, but for shock value. Amanda has ''no'' problem with this; she'll strip naked onstage, do nude photo shoots, even shoot a [[https://vimeo.com/51732600 lesbian sex scene for a music video]](NSFW). Taken to the logical extreme when she guested on Music/FlamingLips cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", most of which is her [[https://vimeo.com/48139630 completely naked in a bathtub and ends with her faking an orgasm]].('''VERY''' NSFW)

* MundaneLuxury: After spending weeks in a cold tourbus, she wrote a duet with Jason Webley called "Electric Blanket" after being gifted one.

** "Half Jack" is about the fear of [[TurnOutLikeHisFather becoming like her father]], a genetic half of her that she's afraid to embrace.

* StealthPun: "Guitar Hero"[[note]] "It's a hit![[/note]], "Girl Anachronism"[[note]] "I'm not right now at all."[[/note]], "Half Jack"[[note]] "You'll learn to hear the difference between the halves and the half-nots."[[/note]], "Ultima Esperanza"[[note]] "She lost her legs in a car crash three years ago,[[DarkHumor she doesn't get around much]]."[[/note]]

* WardrobeMalfunction: When the ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Daily Mail]]'' reported on a nipple slip and neglected to discuss anything else about her concert, she responded epically by writing them a song that devastatingly {{deconstructed}} the trope's misogynist undertones. During which she proceeded to outright [[{{Defied}} defy]] the trope by [[RefugeInAudacity stripping completely naked onstage]]. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY8qkJSQJ8M Link NSFW]].)

* SelfBackingVocalist: Done on "Half Jack".

* ShoutOut:
** From "Good Day", a ShoutOut to GloriaGaynor ("I should have changed that stupid lock (...) I will survive"):
---> I'd love to have you up to see the place... I'd like to do more than survive, I'd like to rub it in your face!"
** From "Jeep Song":
---> I see a red jeep and I want to [[Music/TheRollingStones paint it black!]]"
** From "Sing":
---> [[Theatre/{{Cabaret}} Life is no cabaret!]]"
** "Oasis" contains references to Music/{{Blur}} and, yes, Music/{{Oasis}}.
** "The Killing Type" references Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera:
---> I walk New Orleans with a knife / like Mackie hidden out of sight...
** "Do It With A Rockstar" includes:
---> Do you wanna [[Music/BritneySpears hit me, baby, one more time?]]
** The album title ''Who Killed Amanda Palmer'' is a Shout-Out to ''Series/TwinPeaks''.
** "Judy Blume" is an hommage to the author.

* StealthPun: In ''every single song.''
** From "Guitar Hero":
---> It's a hit!
** From "Girl Anachronism":
---> I'm not right now at all.
** From "Sex Changes":
---> You'll never hear the little pitter patter pitter patter of this little feat of engineering...\\
It leaves you feeling pretty hollow...
*** This entire song could stand as an example, title included. Depending on which parts you take literally and which you take as metaphors, the song is either about a person considering sex reassignment surgery (a literal sex change), someone who has taken up self-abuse to deal with the shame of losing their virginity to someone who didn't actually love them (sex changed their relationship), or someone who had an abortion (sex changed their life, essentially).
** From "Half-Jack":
---> You'll learn to hear the difference\\
Between the halves and the half-nots.
** From "Ultima Esperanza":
---> She lost her legs in a car crash three years ago,\\
[[DarkHumor She doesn't get around much]].

[[caption-width-right:350:"I want you to think of me sitting and singing beside you..."]]

->''"I am the Girl Anachronism!"''

Amanda [=MacKinnon=] [[Creator/NeilGaiman Gaiman]] Palmer (also known as Amanda [[MetaphorIsMyMiddleName Fucking]] Palmer, born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, writer and ukulele player.

Before her music career, Palmer worked for years as a LivingStatue called the Eight Foot Bride. She then co-founded the [[Creator/BertoltBrecht Brechtian]] punk cabaret band the Dresden Dolls, along with drummer Brian Viglione. They released three studio albums: their self-titled debut album was followed by the releases ''Yes, Virginia'' in 2006 and ''No, Virginia'' in 2008. The band went on hiatus in 2008, the same year Amanda released her first solo album ''Who Killed Amanda Palmer''. Although they've done shows together since then, the band has officially broken up.

She married Creator/NeilGaiman in January 2011. Also in 2011, she released her second solo album, ''Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under'' later in the same month. In 2012, she released an album with her newest band Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra called ''Theatre is Evil''. Palmer used the website Website/{{Kickstarter}} to raise funds to produce this album, and raised more money than any other musical Kickstarter up until that time. [[http://www.amandapalmer.net/shop/pay-what-you-want/ She released the album for free through her website,]] and then debuted on the Billboard top 100 Album list at number 10 due to the immense number of Kickstarter pre-orders.

Her songs vary wildly in style and topics, with many featuring some DarkHumor and subject material. Many of them are full of puns, and there's a strong running theme of children's songs in a new grownup context. Amanda's also known for performing covers of whatever she feels like, ranging from Music/{{Radiohead}}, to classic musicals, to Music/BlackSabbath, to Music/BritneySpears. She made a parodic cover version of Music/RebeccaBlack's song "Friday" from the perspective of a truck-stop prostitute.

Along with Music/JasonWebley and Sxip Shirey, she was one third of the Music/EvelynEvelyn project, active 2009-2011.

In 2014 Amanda released ''[[Literature/TheArtOfAsking The Art of Asking]]'', a book which is part-memoir, part philosophy, and an expansion of her TED talk. On September 16, 2015, she gave birth to her and Neil's first child, a son they named Anthony ("Ash"), named after her best friend and mentor who died of cancer the same year.

In 2019, seven years after her last studio record, Palmer released ''There Will Be No Intermission'', a far more serious, stripped-down album mostly just featuring her on a piano. It tackles subjects like abortion, death, depression, loss, and the climate crisis, and is generally agreed to be a guaranteed TearJerker. The world tour accompanying it featured only her at a piano, telling the most intimate and human stories of her life. Concerts often went for up to four hours.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/picture-31_27.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:There's people screaming just like they should... but you don't even know if you're good.]]

--> "I want you to think of me sitting and singing beside you..."
---> - ''The Ride''

---> "I want you to think of me sitting and singing beside you..."
-----> - ''The Ride''

* BodyPaint: Used to entertaining effect in her music video of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZCadqQY-Lw&feature=g-user-u "Want It Back"]](NSFW).

* FanService: Sometimes spiraling into FullFrontalAssault. What is this "modesty" you speak of?

* LyricalDissonance: Many of her songs, but "Oasis" takes the cake. The song is about a girl getting raped at a party and then going to get an abortion, It's presented with a very upbeat tone, almost entirely in major chords. One time in concert, she tried performing the song the way critics thought the song should have sounded: much slower, and with a depressing tone, replete with lots of minor chords. Halfway through the first verse, she says, "fuck it" and goes back to playing the song as originally written.

* MsFanservice: Amanda has ''no'' problem with this; she'll strip naked onstage, do nude photo shoots, even shoot a [[https://vimeo.com/51732600 lesbian sex scene for a music video]](NSFW). Taken to the logical extreme when she guested on Music/FlamingLips cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", most of which is her [[https://vimeo.com/48139630 completely naked in a bathtub and ends with her faking an orgasm]].('''VERY''' NSFW)

* QuirkyUkulele: Parodied in "Ukulele Anthem", a (only half) satirical song about how playing the ukulele will make your life more fulfilling and quirky.

** WouldHurtAChild: "Slide" is about a little girl being groomed and eventually raped by a man far older than her.
----

In 2019, seven years after her last studio record, Palmer released ''There Will Be No Intermission'', an album filled with songs about the most agonizing, troubling and hurtful experiences humans can go through as it tackles subjects like abortion, death, depression, loss, and the climate crisis. It is a guaranteed TearJerker. The world tour accompanying it featured only her at a piano, telling the most intimate and human stories of her life. Concerts often went for up to four hours.

* AudienceParticipation: Audience singalongs, audience sleepovers, audience makeshift-French-hotel-wine-parties.

* HairyGirl: Wrote a song about her bush.

* LastNoteNightmare: "Slide".

In 2019 Palmer released the record ''There Will Be No Intermission'', her [[CerebusSyndrome most emotional and serious album yet]] as it tackles subjects like abortion, death, the climate crisis and maternal regret. The world tour accompanying it featured only her at a piano, telling the most intimate and human stories of her life. Concerts often went for up to four hours.

Along with Music/JasonWebley and Sxip Shirey, she is one third of the Music/EvelynEvelyn project.

In 2014 Amanda released ''[[Literature/TheArtOfAsking The Art of Asking]]'', a book which is part-memoir, part philosophy, and an expansion of her TED talk. On September 16, 2015, she gave birth to her and Neil's first child, a son they named Anthony, nicknamed Ash.

* BlackComedy: While "Oasis" was already this, the crowd during the one time she tried to sing it in minor key thought it was gut busting.

* FilleFatale: "Missed Me"

** "The saddest note in the world"

* MadnessMantra: "I'm not the killing type, I'm not the killing type, I'm not, I'm not..." In "The Killing Type" she lists her profound frustration with a significant other, all while insisting that [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial she's not the killing type]]. The whole thing steadily turns more and more violent and eventually devolves into her simply yelling '''"Die! Die! Die! Die!"''', and finishes by meekly repeating once more: "[[BlatantLies I'm not the killing type]]..."

* QuirkyUkulele: Parodied in "Ukulele Anthem", a satirical song about how playing the ukulele will make your life more fulfilling and quirky.

%% * SanitySlippageSong:
%% ** "Girl Anachronism"

%% * SelfBackingVocalist: Done on "Half Jack"

*** This entire song could stand as an example, title included. Depending on which parts you take literally and which you take as metaphors, the song is either about a person considering gender reassignment surgery (a literal sex change), someone who has taken up self-abuse to deal with the shame of losing their virginity to someone who didn't actually love them (sex changed the their relationship), or someone who had an abortion (sex changed their life, essentially).

* HairyGirl: She's said that while she will occasionally shave her legs and underarms, she usually doesn't, and actually wrote a song about her bush (see above). That being said, [[MsFanservice it doesn't seem to detract that much]].

* MercyKill: In "The Killing Type" she says that she stepped on a dying bird to put it out of it's misery.
* MetaphorIsMyMiddleName: Not her given middle name, but she's been known to go by "Amanda Fucking Palmer."

* TheMusical: [[http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/events/show/onion-cellar The Onion Cellar]]
** And she once played the Emcee in a production of ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}''.
*** And she co-created a musical based on the Music/NeutralMilkHotel album "In the Aeroplane over the Sea" called ''With the Needle That Sings in Her Heart''.

* RefugeInAudacity / CrossesTheLineTwice: "Oasis", especially the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C17yfGyJjM music video]].
* SanitySlippageSong: "Girl Anachronism", "Runs in the Family", and many others.
** "Guitar Hero" is another one with some serious SanitySlippage...
* SelfBackingVocalist: Done on "Half Jack."

* ShoutOut: ''[[Series/TwinPeaks Who Killed]] [[strike:Laura]] Amanda [[Series/TwinPeaks Palmer?]]''