Rufus Wainwright - April Fools

April Fool's Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The day is not a public holiday in any country except Odessa, Ukraine, where the first of April is an official city holiday. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbour has been relatively common in the world historically.

To highlight today's event a tune that reflects the fool would fit great and when I started to dig I found "April Fools", a song written and performed by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It originally appeared on his eponymous debut studio album, released by DreamWorks Records in May 1998. The song's music video was directed by Sophie Muller and features cameo appearances by Gwen Stefani and Melissa Auf der Maur.

"April Fools" is an approximately five minute long pop song written and performed by Wainwright. Produced by Jon Brion, the track features Wainwright's vocals and a "powerful" piano performance over a drum track by Jim Keltner. AllMusic's Matthew Greenwald described "April Fools" as "essentially a love song" that can be interpreted as being "about people in general, or a simple, two-person relationship". MTV's Kyle Anderson called the song "a bubbly little slice of cabaret rock that dances and swaggers". In a 2010 interview published by The Daily Telegraph, Wainwright said of the song and his songwriting process:

April Fools came to me when I was in the bath. I stood up naked and sang it. Songs come to me at odd times. The only thing they have in common is that, when they do come, the moment has to be theatrical."

During a 2020 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune's David L. Coddon, Wainwright referred to "April Fools" as "one of his greatest possible hits"

The music video for "April Fools", directed by Sophie Muller, was the first promoting Wainwright's debut album. It features the singer in Los Angeles "amidst a clique of classic opera characters" such as Madame Butterfly, attempting to prevent each of them from committing suicide. However, in each instance he arrives too late.

NO DOUBT's Gwen Stefani, a friend of Muller's, and Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, a high school acquaintance and former roommate of Wainwright's, make cameo appearances. Part of the video was filmed in Stefani's house. Wainwright said of their involvement:

I grew up with Melissa, in Montreal. We went to high school together, we were actually in love, when we were young, but we never consummated, we were always too shy to get together. But I thought she was fascinating when I was a kid and I still think she's fascinating. So that was that connection. We lived together for a long time in L.A. right before we made the video, and Gwen was friends with the director Sophie Mueller, and Gwen very graciously let us use her house, that's her house that it's filmed in, just cuz, whatever, she's a sweet, sweet girl.

Enjoy today tune "April Fools".



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