10 Things You Didn't Know About Amanda Palmer

7. Most of Her Songs Are Jokes

Many of Palmer's best known songs started out as jokes despite their popularity with audiences. Like the ukulele, Palmer intended to perform many of her songs only once, largely basing them around topical or personal events. However, their continued popularity led them to be repeated in subsequent shows. This includes Coin Operated Boy, one of the biggest hits for Palmer's first band the Dresden Dolls, and later songs such as Oasis and Leeds United.

The one exception to this rule appears to be the song Dear Daily Mail which to date has only been performed publicly once. In 2013 the newspaper published an article which extensively criticised Amanda€™s performance at Glastonbury festival due to a wardrobe malfunction. While singing on stage Amanda€™s dress slipped, exposing on of her breasts to the audience.

Palmer subsequently performed a specially-written song in reaction to the article, which completely failed to mention anything else about the performance of music. The lyrics of the song question, among other things, the focus on female bodies in the media. Being Amanda Palmer, she decided to remove her kimono part way through the performance, playing the rest of the song nude.

Contributor
Contributor

With a (nearly) useless degree in English literature and a personal trainer qualification he's never used, Freddie spends his times writing things that he hopes will somehow pay the rent. He's also a former professional singer, and plays the saxophone and ukulele. He's not really used to talking about himself in the third person, and would like to stop now, thanks.