Features: Features: Bruce Hornsby (John Cage samples, vocals); John Mailander (violin); Virginia Symphony members: Elizabeth Vonderheide (violin). Jonathan Richards (violin); Matt Umlauf (viola); Elizabeth Richards (cello); Christopher White (bass)
Bruce calls it “The David Foster Wallace moment.” It offers a passionate singer with a string quartet backing him. “The narrative comes from Wallace’s “The Pale King“, a novel about boredom, about IRS tax examiners as unlikely yet convincing American heroes.”
The line “Will the drugs help?” was originally written as “Will the meds help?”. The word “Meds” features heavily in another of the Absolute Zero songs, so Bruce re-recorded rather than repeat himself.
“A commentary which comes from the David Foster Wallace unfinished novel “The Pale King” – a book about boredom, and IRS regional examiners and their lives.”