Line #45 Music/Doppelganger


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/da_doppel.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"Mannequin left! Mannequin right! Do the mannequin, day and night!"]]
3
4	->''Two of me, two of you\
5	two of us, two by two\
6	the double life we live...''
7	-->-- “Distance and Direction”
8
9	''Doppelgänger (The Alarma Chronicles Volume II)'' is Music/DanielAmos’s fifth studio album, released in 1983. It continued the NewWaveMusic exploration from [[Music/{{Alarma}} their previous album]], but this time with more of an organic rock band sound: the low end is much thicker, and there’s more emphasis on Jerry Chamberlain’s big guitar riffs and solos. Sonically, it was DA’s darkest-sounding work yet--and in the years to come, only ''Music/FearfulSymmetry'' would rival it in that regard.
10
11	Lyrically, ''Doppelgänger'' had two themes, appropriately enough. On the one hand, it continued ''Music/{{Alarma}}''’s {{satire}} of American Christianity, this time focusing specifically on televangelists, criticizing their shoddy theology and predatory ministries. (And this was four years before the scandals that brought down Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and Robert Tilton--a time when very few Christians dared to publicly speak against any televangelists.) On the other hand, Terry Scott Taylor admits that he isn’t much better than those he’s making fun of. So all those criticisms of corrupt preachers are also confessions of his own darker half. And [[http://www.danielamos.com/articles/alarmac2.html the story in the liner notes]] picked up where ''¡Alarma!''’s story left off: in this installment, Taylor’s AuthorAvatar has a vision of himself, and he’s horrified at what he sees.
12
13	This was followed a year later by ''Music/VoxHumana''.
14
15	!!Personnel:
16
17	[[AC:Daniel Amos is:]]
18	* Terry Scott Taylor: rhythm guitars, lead vocals, backing vocals, percussion
19	* Jerry Chamberlain: lead guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Little Crosses” and “Autographs...”
20	* Tim Chandler: bass (guitar, 8-string, and fretless), backing vocals, percussion
21	* Ed [=McTaggart=]: drums, percussion, backing vocals
22
23	[[folder:Additional Musicians:]]
24	* Marty Dieckmeyer: bass guitar and keyboards on “Hollow Man”
25	* Alex [=MacDougall=]: percussion
26	* Bill Colton: saxophone
27	* a small army of keyboard players:
28	** Tom Howard on “New Car!”, “The Double”, “Memory Lane”, “Angels Tuck You In”, and “I Didn’t Build It for Me”
29	** Rob Watson on “Mall...” “Real Girls”, “Do Big Boys Cry”, “Youth with a Machine”, “The Double”, and “Here I Am”
30	** Jeff Lams on “Real Girls” and “I Didn’t Build It for Me”
31	** Mark Cook on “Distance and Direction”
32	* Additional backing vocals by: Randy Stonehill, Tom Howard, Derri Daugherty, Janet [=McTaggart=], Dori “Game Show Girl” Howard, Mark Cook, The Three Women from Istanbul, and Emilia Emulator
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	!!Tracklist:
36
37	[[AC:Side [[GratuitousGerman Ein]]:]]
38	# Hollow Man ( 2:15)
39	# Mall (All Over The World) (3:13)
40	# Real Girls (2:57)
41	# New Car! (2:00)
42	# Do Big Boys Cry (2:05)
43	# Youth with a Machine (2:42)
44	# The Double (3:50)
45
46	[[AC:Side [[GratuitousGerman Zwei]]:]]
47	# Distance and Direction (2:48)
48	# Memory Lane (3:48)
49	# Angels Tuck You In (2:38)
50	# Little Crosses (2:35)
51	# Autographs for the Sick (1:40)
52	# I Didn't Build It for Me (2:48)
53	# Here I Am (3:18)
54	# Hollow Man (Reprise) (0:43)
55
56	[[folder:Other versions]]
57	'''1992 CD reissue:''' has the original tracklisting, plus three bonus live tracks:
58	[numlist:16]
59	# Concert Intro
60	# Real Girls (Live)
61	# Memory Lane (Live)
62	[/numlist]
63
64	'''2014 Deluxe 2-Disc Collector’s Edition:''' has the original album on disc 1. Disc 2 contains:
65	# Hollow Man [Alternate]
66	# Mall (All Over the World) [Alternate]
67	# Concert Intro
68	# Real Girls [Live]
69	# New Car! [Live]
70	# Do Big Boys Cry [Instrumental]
71	# Youth with a Machine [Toy Mix]
72	# The Double [Extended Rough]
73	# Distance and Direction [Alternate]
74	# Distance and Direction [Vocal Mix]
75	# Memory Lane [Live]
76	# Angels Tuck You In [Rough]
77	# Little Crosses [Fragment]
78	# Autographs for the Sick [Alternate]
79	# I Didn’t Build It For Me [Alternate]
80	# Here I Am [Instrumental]
81	# Hollow Man (Reprise) [Alternate]
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	----
85	!! Provides examples of:
86
87	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: “Autographs for the Sick”--a parody of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_Movement Charismatic]] televangelists speaking in tongues and then translating the message--has four different speakers reciting French-, German-, and Spanish-sounding nonsense.
88	* BigRockEnding: On “I Didn’t Build It for Me”.
89	* BookEnds: The album opens with “Hollow Man”, and ends with “Hollow Man (Reprise)”.
90	* CallBack: “Hollow Man” and its reprise are set to a backmasked version of “Ghost of the Heart” (from ''Music/{{Alarma}}'').
91	* CaptainObvious: The interpreter in “Autographs for the Sick”, who keeps “translating” even when the speaker is just singing in English. At the end:
92	-->'''Speaker #4:''' Hahaha...\
93	'''Interpreter:''' Ha ha ha.\
94	''[three drum beats]''\
95	'''Interpreter:''' Dit dit doo.
96	* CherubicChoir: Sings briefly over the outro of “Memory Lane”.
97	* {{Chiaroscuro}}: The front cover, and some of the interior art of the mannequin, is marked by a high contrast between light and shadow. There’s very bright light visible through the venetian blinds in the background, but it doesn’t really illuminate the room at all.
98	* CityPlanet: Implied by “Mall (All Over the World)”.
99	-->It spreads like the blob\
100	It swallows your town
101	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: “New Car!” is a mockery of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology the “health and wealth” gospel]], the idea that God rewards faith with material wealth--and conversely, if you’re poor, it’s your own damn fault for not believing hard enough.
102	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: On “Autographs for the Sick”.
103	-->Phonographs for the deaf, they can't hear you \
104	Gloves for the amputees, they can't cheer you \
105	Down at the stadium they're waiting for the end of the age\
106	You're praying for the healthy while the lame never get to the stage
107	* ConceptAlbum: Dual concepts: 1. [[CorruptChurch “Televangelists are full of it.”]] 2. [[NotSoDifferentRemark “To be honest, I’m not much better.”]]
108	* CorruptChurch: Half of the CentralTheme of the album.
109	** “New Car!” and “Angels Tuck You In” mock the “health and wealth” gospel that the televangelists taught.
110	** “Do Big Boys Cry” calls them hypocrites who won’t admit to their own wrongdoing.
111	** “Autographs for the Sick” accuses them of being more interested in collecting money than in helping anyone with their ministry.
112	--->You're a bonfire lover, counting dollars in the afterglow
113	** “I Didn’t Build It for Me” mocks a RealLife incident of blatant church fund misuse (if not outright embezzlement).
114	* CreditsGag: The liner notes credit Ed [=McTaggert=] with playing “skins, tubs, and traps (say that five time fast!)”. They also credit the background clapping on “Angels Tuck You In” to “The [[Music/EricClapton Eric ‘Clap-Tons’]]”.
115	* DroneOfDread: About 30 seconds of wailing synthesizers fall between “Hollow Man” and “Mall (All Over the World)”.
116	* EgocentricallyReligious: “Angels Tuck You In” criticizes the belief that God owes his followers a life of ease, devoid of hardships.
117	-->This cartoon world you’ve created \
118	It’s like Disneyland\
119	Get out your golden ticket\
120	The one they give you when you’re born again
121	* EvilTwin: The other half of the CentralTheme of the album, most explicitly spelled out in “The Double”. Everyone is half of a pair: a good self and an evil self. All of us here on Earth? [[HumansAreFlawed We’re the evil ones.]]
122	-->I'm his injustice sometimes\
123	I am his wrong\
124	It will be right again when\
125	Christ rules over
126	* {{Foreshadowing}}: “Mall (All Over the World)” discusses consumerism, and “Youth with a Machine” discusses dehumanizing effects of technology--both topics that would be further explored in ''Music/VoxHumana''.
127	* GloryDays: “Memory Lane” is about the danger of obsessing over the nostalgic past.
128	-->You have gotten much thinner \
129	You're lookin' like a shadow\
130	It's from dwelling on the might-have-beens \
131	Living in a time-warp\
132	To whom am I speaking? \
133	Some ghost from the past? \
134	While you think about old glories\
135	You're fading real fast
136	* GratuitousGerman: The two sides of the original LP (and the two CD’s of the special edition) are labeled “ein” and “zwei”. And on “The Double”, the backing singers count off the beat in German.
137	* {{Homage}}:
138	** The doppelgänger theme, chiaroscuro art, dark atmosphere, and GratuitousGerman are all nods to GermanExpressionism.
139	** “Hollow Man” is an extended tribute to Creator/TSEliot’s poem “The Hollow Men”, mixing direct quotations with original lyrics in the same style.
140	* {{Hypocrite}}: “Do Big Boys Cry”:
141	-->Do big boys cry?\
142	Are they a step beyond\
143	Shouting ‘bout right\
144	But living wrong?
145	* ImplausibleDeniability: In “I Didn’t Build It for Me”, the televangelist narrator builds an opulent mansion with his followers’ donations. When others call him out, he claims that God told him to build it, as a gift to the whole church.
146	-->There's a plaque in the hall \
147	My name's on the wall \
148	And a statue of my family\
149	It wasn't my decision\
150	It was all in a vision\
151	I didn't build it \
152	I never would have built it \
153	I really didn't build it for me...
154	* ListSong: The verses of “Real Girls” are taken up by lists of... types of women, for lack of a better explanation.
155	-->Girls! In ads...\
156	Girls! With big wigs!\
157	Girls! Incognito...\
158	Girls! On display!
159	* LiteralSplitPersonality: The Good Twins and {{Evil Twin}}s (described above) are halves that will eventually reunite and become whole.
160	** As mentioned in “The Double”:
161	--->I am his double here, I can expect\
162	We'll be together when time is no more
163	** And also in “Hollow Man (Reprise)”:
164	--->For me, therefore, everything has a double existence \
165	Both in time and when time shall be no more
166	* LyricalDissonance: “Hollow Man (Reprise)” promises that everything will get better, eventually--that “the form of every single grain will be restored in glory.” It sounds less uplifting than it reads, because it uses the same creepy backing music as the first “Hollow Man”.
167	* OfficiallyShortenedTitle: Around this time, even though they still used the full band name on the album cover, Daniel Amos started calling themselves just "DA" at live shows--as documented on the "Concert Intro" track from the CD reissues.
168	* TheMerch: [[invoked]] “Little Crosses” makes fun of the proliferation of Christian-themed merchandise.
169	* MinisculeRocking: “Hollow Man (Reprise)” is less than a minute long, and “Autographs for the Sick” is under 2 minutes.
170	* MurderousMannequin: Downplayed. The mannequin from the liner notes doesn’t kill anyone, but his spookiness is definitely played up. You have to wonder where he got that real human face from, though...
171	* TheNewRockAndRoll: In “Autographs for the Sick”:
172	-->She’s warning all her children about the horrors of rock-n-roll.
173	* NotSoDifferentRemark:
174	** “Do Big Boys Cry” wonders whether televangelists (the “big boys” of the title) ever admit their mistakes and make amends. The final line of the song is, “What do I do? I’m a big boy, too.”
175	** “Here I Am” mentions having to watch a church service on the foyer TV (because the chapel was too crowded) and parallels that with the invisible wall that separates the band from their own fans.
176	* OffscreenAfterlife: In the liner notes story, the narrator briefly has a vision of {{Heaven}}, but declines to describe it in any detail--partly because God forbids him, and partly because his words can’t do justice to what he saw.
177	* OtherMeAnnoysMe: In the liner notes story, the narrator sees himself from the outside--without realizing that it is himself--and gets so angry at his own flaws that he tries to attack himself.
178	* ParodyOfEvolution: The liner notes include an illustration of “the evolution of mannequin”, a parody of the March of Progress painting with four mannequins. They’re identical, but with the leftmost one bent over at the waist, and each subsequent one standing up a little straighter. The final mannequin has sunglasses and a smarmy grin.
179	* PortalDoor: The liner notes story ends with the narrator chasing his double through a mysterious door to parts unknown.
180	* PunBasedTitle: “Youth with a Machine” is a pun on the real-life group [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_With_A_Mission Youth With A Mission]].
181	* ShoutOut:
182	** “New Car!” name-checks the GameShow announcer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Jacobs Johnny Jacobs]] and prominently features audio samples of him.
183	** "Autographs for the Sick" copies the bilingual four-count from Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs’ "Wooly Bully".
184	--->Uno! Dos! One, two, tres, cuatro!
185	* SpokenWordInMusic: Both versions of “Hollow Man” are monologues set to music, with some singing in the background. "Autographs for the Sick" has five different speakers talking over each other, while twisted GarageRock plays behind them.
186	* VisualPun: On the cover, the album title is stylized as ''[=DoppelgÄnger=]''--[[DontExplainTheJoke emphasizing the band's initials in the word]].
187

Context Music / Doppelganger