Versions: Mathilde

Speaking of triumphant horns, are there any as uplifting as those in Scott Walker's "Mathilde"? And have horns this triumphant ever been used to celebrate such assured imminent destruction? The same crazed, contrary feelings that have assured that John Darnielle will have his audiences begging for "No Children" at every show he plays for the rest of his life run rampant throughout this song. "My heart, stop being overjoyed/ Remember you were once destroyed/ By Mathilde who's come back to me." If you don't pay attention to the lyrics, it sounds like the happiest love song ever written. Crazed is the only word I can think of to describe the emotions being conveyed, knowing that Mathilde's horrible for you and will ruin your life, but unable to say no to her due to love.

"Mathilde" is such a great song and so different from the rest of Scott's work that I've had a hard time listening to anything else in his catalog. I should have guessed it was a cover. Last year when I was delving deeper into 60s French Pop, I downloaded Jacques Brel's greatest hits, "Quinze Ans d'Amour", and found out that my favorite Scott Walker song wasn't a Scott Walker song at all, but a Jacques Brel song. Rather than being upset, I was ecstatic. Two different versions of this amazing song? Yes! It reminds me of the old Matt Groening comic from Childhood Is Hell in which Bongo is happily playing with his new crayons at school when the bully walks in and breaks his crayons in half. After looking sadly at them for a minute he perks up and happily proclaims, "Now I have twice as many crayons!" That's how I feel about my two Mathildes.

Scott Walker's Mathilde

Jacques Brel's Mathilde