Line #5 Music/RufusWainwright


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_rufus_wainwright.png]]
2
3	->''"I think that any gay person in the world would be seduced, at one point, by a certain kind of {{camp}}. For certain people it's kind of a saving grace."''
4
5	Rufus [=McGarrigle=] Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a SingerSongwriter known for his lush, theatrical BaroquePop.
6
7	Wainwright came from a musical family; his parents (Kate [=McGarrigle=] and Loudon Wainwright III) were folk singers, while his sister (Martha Wainwright) and half-sister (Lucy Wainwright Roche) are also musicians. He is openly gay, which is reflected in his music. His voice is very hard to describe. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiKMqz2MhWE See for yourself.]]
8	----
9
10	!! Discography:
11
12	* ''Rufus Wainwright'' (1998)
13	* ''Poses'' (2001)
14	* ''Want One'' (2003)
15	* ''Want Two'' (2004)
16	* ''Release the Stars'' (2007)
17	* ''Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall'' (2007)
18	* ''Milwaukee at Last!!!'' (2009)
19	* ''All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu'' (2010)
20	* ''Out of the Game'' (2012)
21	* ''Prima Donna'' (2015)
22	* ''Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets'' (2016)
23	* ''Unfollow the Rules'' (2020)
24
25	!!Provides the following tropes:
26	* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Discussed. Before settling down with his long-term boyfriend, Rufus certainly embraced this image.
27	-->"I wasn't a huge gay marriage supporter before I met Jorn because I love the whole old-school promiscuous Creator/OscarWilde freak show of what 'being gay' once was. But since meeting Jorn that all changed."
28	* BetweenMyLegs: Has a song with this very title.
29	* BigOMG: "Between My Legs" starts with a woman screaming "Oh my God!" presumably because she saw something lewd.
30	* BrotherSisterTeam: Often performs with younger sister / musician Music/MarthaWainwright. [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling "Little Sister"]] refers to their musical SiblingRivalry as children. "Martha" discusses growing up / growing out of this.
31	--> Neither of us is really that much older than each other anymore. [...] There's not much time for us to really be that angry at each other anymore.
32	* TheCameo: Sister Music/MarthaWainwright, Music/MelissaAufDerMar, and Music/GwenStefani (as the waitress) all show up in the video for "April Fools."
33	* CampGay: He even recreated Creator/JudyGarland's April 23, 1961 concert (which is ''Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall'') and performed a couple of numbers ''in Judy drag.''
34	* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: His cover of Music/LeonardCohen's "Everybody Knows" changes...well, suddenly it sounds like its set amidst a casino underworld that's about to crumble and is having one last revel in its own shallowness and debauchery. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J26UlYXPi7o Worth a listen]]
35	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeYCnw4wbTc This version]] also contains a hilarious story about when Rufus actually met Leonard Cohen. I'm not going to explain it, just watch it.
36	* CrucifiedHeroShot: In the video for "Going to a Town" Rufus's character assumes this pose.
37	* FakeOutFadeOut: "Rebel Prince". [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCEDBDj2dWc He still manages to fool people in concert.]]
38	* GratuitousFrench: "Rebel Prince" has the first verse repeated in French halfway through the song, and Rufus lived in Montreal for much of his youth.
39	** He's also written ''an entire opera'' in French with "Prima Donna".
40	%%* GodIsLoveSongs: {{Inverted\|Trope}} with "Gay Messiah."
41	* GayBestFriend: He is this to Lorca Cohen, and they had a daughter via IVF. She was also the best man at his wedding.
42	* HeavyMithril: "Between My Legs," written as a "fantasy about being able to save your object of desire when the apocalypse comes, and bring him to some sort of hidden paradise."
43	* HotConsort: The title character of "The Consort".
44	* IncrediblyLongNote: "Vibrate" has one that lasts for ''19'' seconds in at least one live performance.
45	* InTheBlood: His musical talent, since he's the son of two very talented musicians and his sister Music/MarthaWainwright is successful in her own career.
46	* IWantSong: "Want", from ''Want One'', [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin obviously]], and a recurring theme in his works. And according to Rufus, ''Release The Stars'' is an I Want ''Album''.
47	* KaleidoscopeEyes: Enter his name into any image search and try to pin his eye color down. Go ahead, try it.
48	* {{Keet}}: He's a bit more mellow than most, but watch any interview he's in and watch how much he moves during it. It gets to the point that people unfamiliar with him think he's drunk.
49	%%* LastChorusSlowDown: He loves this trope.
50	* LeavingYouToFindMyself: "Leaving For Paris No. 2", which was originally written as part of the backstory of Satine in ''Theatre/MoulinRouge''.
51	* LonelyPianoPiece: He even has a ''whole album'' of them (''All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu'').
52	* OneWomanSong
53	** "Martha" - about his younger sister Music/MarthaWainwright [[TearJerker and their aging]].
54	** "Natasha" - about his friend, actress Creator/NatashaLyonne.
55	** "Rashida" - probably about Creator/RashidaJones.
56	** "Barbara" - about a French singer.
57	* PrecociousCrush: "The Art Teacher" is told from the point of view of a woman who fell in love with the titular teacher.
58	* RebelPrince: The subject of his song of the same name, who he wants to come and spirit him away.
59	* [[ReferencedBy/WilliamShakespeare Referenced by: William Shakespeare]]: "Memphis Skyline" has the line
60	-->Then came hallelujah sounding like [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Ophelia]], for me in my room living, turn back and you will stay, under the Memphis Skyline
61	** This is especially poignant because Music/JeffBuckley, who the song is dedicated to, drowned in the Wolf River.
62	** He also set three of Shakespeare's sonnets (10, 20, and 43) to music on his album ''All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu'' — and followed through with the album ''Take All My Loves,'' which consists of various settings and treatments of nine of the sonnets.
63	** The song "Damned Ladies" features the line, "[[Theatre/{{Othello}} Desdemona]], do not go to sleep."
64	* ShoutOut: ''Lots.''
65	** The video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIF6f3tFxBw April Fools]]" has Rufus try to save the opera heroines Cho-Cho-San ("Theatre/MadameButterfly"), Carmen ("Carmen"), Mimi ("Theatre/LaBoheme"), Tosca ("Theatre/{{Tosca}}") and Gilda ("Rigoletto") from their tragic deaths. [[spoiler:He fails, but they get better.]]
66	*** He also mentions these characters by name in the song "Damned Ladies."
67	** "California" mentions "my new grandma [[Series/TheGoldenGirls Bea Arthur]]" as well.
68	** "Dinner at Eight" has the line "I'm gonna take you down with one little stone" referencing Literature/TheBible and David and Goliath in particular.
69	** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyUjk20fAHM Gay Messiah]]" has multiple references to gay culture and biblical stories.
70	** "Grey Gardens" to the documentary of the same name ''Film/GreyGardens'', and also to Thomas Mann's ''Literature/DeathInVenice'' with "Tadzio, Tadzio."
71	** "I Don't Know What It Is" references "is there anyone else who thinks ''Series/ThreesCompany''" with "knock on the door, take a step that is new."
72	** "Memphis Skyline" is about Music/JeffBuckley.
73	** "Oh What a World" is titled after the dying screams of the WickedWitch from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', and the song's BoleroEffect is a direct musical reference to, well, "Bolero".
74	** "Vibrate" mentions Music/BritneySpears.
75	** The famous [[Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera Phantom of the Opera]] theme is used in "Between My Legs."
76	** "Fuggi regal fantasima," the GratuitousForeignLanguage in "Barcelona," is from Verdi's opera of Theatre/{{Macbeth}}.
77	** He name-drops "[[Creator/NataliePortman Miss Portman]]" in "Rashida."
78	* SignatureSong: "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk". "Gay Messiah" is probably another of his best known songs.
79	** "[[Music/LeonardCohen Hallelujah]]" was this for a while, but after hearing Music/JustinTimberlake cover it at the Hope For Haiti event Rufus announced that he'd be shelving it for a bit.
80	* TheSomethingSong: “Greek Song,” "The Money Song"
81	* SophisticatedAsHell: Definitely a feature of some of his songs.
82	--> ''"[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck]] this awful art party"'' from ''The One You Love'' on ''Want Two''.
83	* TakeThat: "California" is three-and-a-half minutes of this directed at said state. And yet some people [[ComicallyMissingThePoint still manage to miss the point]] and think he's ''praising'' the state.
84	** Also, "Going to a Town" is him saying how disappointed he is in the United States under the Bush administration.
85	--->"The meaning is very plain, mainly that I'm having problems with the United States at the moment, as we all are. We all love America, I think everybody does in a certain way. But we have to admit that there's just been too many mistakes made in the recent past over too many issues, and we've just got to deal with that fact."
86	** "Tulsa" is a good-humored TakeThat to Brandon Flowers, lead singer of Music/TheKillers. Flowers loved the song.
87	* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: The video for "April Fools" opens with Rufus waking up in a bed with the opera heroines. It's definitely not intended to be sexual.
88	* UnholyMatrimony: Suggested by the lyrics of "The Consort", where they plan to "wreak havoc on the throne" and do terrible things to their enemies.
89	* VocalEvolution: 21-year-old Rufus' voice, as heard on his demo tape, is much higher and more nasally than how he sounded even on his debut album released only three years later. In his own words, "like a little old man."
90	* WellDoneSonGuy: "Do I Disappoint You" has undertones of this theme, although the song is ultimately about ''firing back'' and defending your own frailties.

Context Music / RufusWainwright