He already has an film and stage acting career, and a sexually explicit fragrance, so why shouldn’t Alan Cumming have his own solo album? I Bought a Blue Car Today drops Sept. 22, and will treat audiophiles to such, uh, covers as Cyndi Lauper’s Shine” and Hedwig and the Angry Inch‘s “Wig in a Box/Wicked Little Town.”
So what’s the record all about? “The album title comes from the naturalization test I took to become a citizen of the U S of A,” says Alan. “In the test, there is a bit where the man says a sentence and you have to write it down to prove your prowess in English. My sentence was ‘I bought a blue car today,’ which initially I thought was really sweet and childlike, but on closer examination I realized that it’s all about consumerism and gas guzzling, which rather brilliantly encapsulates America’s financial and energy crises in one fell swoop. [The album is] made up of songs and stories about my ten years living in the states culminating in my becoming a citizen.”
And conspiracy theories, evidently.
Fitz
I saw him at one of the Pride events a year or two ago. That little dwarf is as cute as a bug in a rug.
strumpetwindsock
@Fitz:
He was great in Julie Taymor’s film “Titus”, too.
Though my favourite artistic take on immigration forms was Zappa’s “welcome to the United States”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvUU5x1u3gs
ousslander
@strumpetwindsock: Agreed, Titus was very good.
It seems that every statement of his that I read on here, always knocks America.
edgyguy1426
Consumerism and gas guzzling. Hmmm.
Joanaroo
As a fan of PBS’s “Masterpiece Mystery” I see Alan announce and knew I had seen him in films but wow, what a resume! I love his essay to Dubya on his website! His last name became a marketing coup too! 🙂
strumpetwindsock
@ousslander:
Yeah. Though it depends on which America you are talking about. Like all big things it is complex and multi-faceted.
Besides, he’s a Scot. I think I can understand his inclination for taking blows against the empire.
I know. We also live in the shadow of a big power. You shouldn’t take it personally.