Is it right to construe that there’s something political about some New Pornographers’ songs?
CN: It’s kind of a vibe. I don’t know how political you can get in a pop song, though, because it kind of totally diminishes the message. Like a political nursery rhyme or something — it just doesn’t have a lot of power. Kathryn Calder: And you can’t make political songs too preachy or else people will just back right away from them. CN: Like one of our songs, “It’s Only Divine Right.” It’s basically a political song, but it’s also pretty much about the Bush girls trying to buy alcohol in Austin, Texas, which was in the news all the time a few years ago. So that was a springboard into the song, which has other metaphors in it and becomes kind of political. But, ultimately, it’s just a little imagistic snapshot. Just the whole idea of these two girls who are in Austin trying to buy beer and their dad was trying to dominate the world and invade Iraq. It seemed very decadent — like if Caesar’s children were out in ancient Rome trying to buy mead or whatever, driving their chariots drunk o
