Today I watched David Lynch’s Eraserhead. I don’t think of myself as a “film buff” but I did enjoy it thoroughly, I would like to try to collect my thoughts on it here. I view this film very spiritually. It’s my first introduction to Lynch’s movies, though I have started Twin Peaks and watched several of his short films. In this “review” I hope to gush about what all is so special about it, as well as how I have chosen to interpret it.
The film begins with a very long shot of the moon, with Henry’s head popping in and out of frame. this is followed by a scene—and one of the prettiest in the film, where a man of some sort looks out a window while Henry watches in horror, where then a sperm-like creature is extracted from his mouth, and then falls down a glass hole, which then becomes a recurring theme throughout the whole film. After this sequence, Henry stumbles his way through the industrial landscape that his home has spiraled into, with very little dialogue and beautiful, otherworldly sound and set design.
Once Henry reaches his apartment building, he’s stopped in the hallway by a neighbour who informs him that Mary, his girlfriend, has invited him over for dinner. His apartment is one of the most interesting sets in the whole film, it is filled with dirt and plants, un-potted. When he goes to dinner with her family, he attempts to make awkward conversation while they all twitch in various ways, Mary (the girlfriend) then appears to have a stress induced spasm, which is calmed by her mother’s hair brushing. A short while later, while eating dinner, which is Cornish chicken, the birds gush blood while writhing, which makes both Mary and her mother run out of the room. As Henry is trying to make conversation with the father, the mother comes back in to corner Henry, where she tries to kiss him, before she announces that Mary had gotten pregnant an had given birth to their baby, where then she required him to marry her.
The newly-weds then go into Henry’s apartment, where their new baby, as Henry finds out, is not human. But appears as a cross between E.T. and a sperm cell, very similar to the floating object extracted from his body earlier. The baby will not stop crying, and refuses all food, and so, Mary leaves for the night angrily while Henry continues to try to feed it, only for it to end up sick. As he attempts to sleep for the night, Henry begins to experience wild visions, including the “radiator lady”, as well as more sperm creatures from under his cover, next to Mary, who in this scene, looks sickly and covered in some substance.
During this sequence of visions, Henry also gets involved in intercourse with his next-door neighbour, where his bed used to be, now appears to be a tub, filled with seemingly semen. Henry’s visions continue, where the neighbour seemingly comes face to face with the baby’s head. The radiator lady then comes back again, this time singing of heaven. Upon the end of this performance, Henry goes up to see the radiator lady, where he reaches out to touch her, only to see a blinding light, this causes her to disappear and for him to break down into tears. After this, while still on the radiator’s stage, he sees the figure from the window yet again, where his head is then replaced by that of the baby, only to end with nothing at all. The baby crawling out from inside of him cries profusely at the sight of both the decapitated head and the rock formation that appears to mimic the birthing process.
His head, after falling from his apartment to the street, is grabbed by a child, who then brings it to a pencil factory, to be turned into erasers. After waking up from these visions, Henry wakes up to a silent* room, still alone and troubled by what he had witnessed. He then knocks on his neighbour’s door, where he is met by the sight of her with another man. This sends Henry into a state of panic, where he then grabs a pair of scissors to cut the baby’s clothing off, which reveals it to be practically its skin. Henry then cuts the baby’s lung(?) open, making its insides spill out and expand all over the room, turning the electricity off. The “baby” then turns into a massive creature, killing Henry. After his death, Henry is brought back to face the moon, and is then shown the creature from the beginning, who makes Henry’s vision consumed by white. The final scene of the movie involves the radiator lady, who hugs him in a white void, before the film fades to white.
This movie is undoubtedly terrifying, in a way that words struggle to describe. Quite frankly it was a tough watch, it veers on body horror in an almost subtle way. The atmosphere is unlike anything I have ever watched before, throughout the entire movie, even in moments where there should be silence, there is the sound of the radiator, creating a subtle sense of discomfort that makes any off-putting noise almost relieving. The sound design is so grand, and so ahead of its time. Science fiction is a hard genre to make well. This is especially the case for such a surreal film from the 1970s! This is truly a Lynchian masterpiece. I have no idea how these sounds were created, but they are truly haunting in such a beautiful way.
Editing is something that will always be the final piece in a movie, from any era. Eraserhead does it in such a stunning way that you could tell me it came out in this decade and I wouldn’t doubt you for a second. The transitions are both showstopping and subtle, especially during the dream sequence, which I find is a hard thing to make not abrasive to transition from. Though, I suppose when the whole film feels like a nightmare it isn’t too difficult.
The editing, however, pales in comparison to the set design. Every single scene in this film feels both claustrophobic and never-ending, which truly sets the tone for the dreamlike pyotline. The beginning sequence where Henry runs through an industrial wasteland feels too realistic. The style of the buildings was the first thing that truly creeped me out about this film.
Okay, now, I am going to try (and likely fail) to write how I interpreted this film, because it is a lot! I’m not sure if I am necessarily the most educated person to talk on such an important film, but I will certainly try. This movie seems so spiritual to me. There is obviously an underlying theme of sex, which, ignoring how society has morphed it over time, is truly a spiritual and natural thing, an this film handles it in such a way, as it is presented through the lens of a man like Henry, who is so bland and simple that he can be viewed as almost a blank example of any human being, but rather just trying to survive and make ends meet for his family. The opening scenes of the moon and sperm seem to me to be a very direct reference to impregnation, before being dropped back on “Earth” from a work trip, to tend to his pregnant girlfriend. I think that his horror in seeing her “moon” comes from his inherent fear of fatherhood, which is a recurring theme with all of his interactions with their baby. The reoccurring white light seems to indicate life and death.
Lynch’s work all tends to show a critical analysis of capitalism, in one way or another. This film is no exception. I think that the barren industrial world they live in shows the worst sides of our modern lives, just slightly exaggerated. The movie clearly is the furthest thing from natural, and Mary’s family is a prime example of this. While her mother is cooking their “fake” chicken, the older woman, who can be presumed to be her grandmother is being handed a cigarette. The father’s critique of the neighborhood, saying that it had turned from greenery to this in a matter of twenty years shows just how dire their area’s situation has become.
I view his visions as his attempt to escape from the new situation that he views himself as trapped in. The reappearance of the sperm can show that he is afraid of having more children. The affair with his neighbour can be viewed as an attempt to relive how amazing it felt in the moment, before he was tied down with this child that he saw as a monster. The radiator lady, while seemingly appearing as a fantasy seems to be something that drives him to death, which, while it appears in the film as being caused by their baby, was likely a suicide driven by fatherhood, with that interpretation it can also be inferred that the baby was less of a monster, and more of just a burden that Henry couldn’t deal with. Which of course, makes the murder all the more troubling.
The final scene, where Henry encounters the creature in front of the window for one last time, can be viewed as it disapproving of his death and parenthood, almost as a figure of death. After which, he can live in the fantasy he idealized for himself. Which of course, comes by being alongside the radiator lady for all of time.
In conclusion, Eraserhead is a troubling film, though certainly an interesting watch. While it was my introduction to Lynch, I doubt it’ll be my last film of his. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I imagine that I will continue to think about it for many many years. The film shows themes of anti-capitalism, the regret of parenthood, and a very spiritual look at sex and death.
Thank you for reading, I hope that you watch this film if you have not seen it yet.
Score: 9/10, word count: 1,752 , written 6/19/25
The Glow pt. 2 is one of my favorite albums of all time. It altered the way I listened to music entirely when I heard it for the first time ~3 years ago now. I have found it to be one of the best folk albums of the 21st century, and one of the most moving pieces of art I have ever experienced. It is a heavy diversion from other Microphones’ work, and I would most definitely consider it to be Phil Elverum’s greatest body of work. In this review I hope to explain the origins and history of the album as well as what makes it so special and important to me.
I believe that the album is best experienced at night during the late summer or autumn. it is a truly transcendental listen, especially for an album that presents itself as folk. the album features a variety of influences, all of which are especially noticeable when compared to the rest of Elverum’s catalog, as there is a clear shift from this album to those that came before it, including projects released under the alias ‘Mount Eerie’. the clearest influences you can hear even upon first listen are its borrowing of concepts from noise rock, ambient, and the musique-concrete movement.
The opening track; “I Want Wind to Blow” is such a stupendous opener, it immediately confronts the listener with dissonant guitar picking, and Elverum’s quivering intimate vocals. The first verse begins with lyrics displaying his observations of nature, as well as an homage to his former band, “The Thunderclouds”, which without that context fits in with the rest of the lyrics. After this a panning drum section is brought in, muffled almost to a point of omission. He continues the song with verses displaying his disdain for city life and modern technology, hoping to be “swept away” by the wind. This comes before the final verse with the lyrics “But there’s no hope for me, I’ve been set free... There’s no ship on my sea” showing his dwindling faith in the concept of freedom from his everyday life, though it is all he yearns for. The instrumental after this is one of the most gratifying buildups in all of music in my opinion, and drew me further into this album. The picking pattern continues as the formerly quiet drums build up in volume before a distorted crash is introduced, leaning into their noise rock influence, while simultaneously building up to the second track.
The album title track features some of Phil’s rawest vocal performances, as well as some of the heaviest hitting instrumentation, all before he brings back his simple yet dreamy guitar melodies. I have always perceived this track to be his breaking point amidst a dreary life in the city. the opening lines of “I took my shirt off in the yard…Now it’s not…The glow is gone.” shows that he has all but given up on his dreams, furthering this with a beautiful poetic lyrical section about facing death, in a way that i have interpreted as an attempt at suicide as a means of escape. The fluttering organ in the background in this section furthers the emotional vulnerability, as had he passed, his funeral would have featured a similar organ player, while this may seem far-fetched, it has always been my personal interpretation. The final line in the song is that of “there’s no end” followed by a new guitar melody, showing that after accepting his living, he is willing to move on, which I believe to be displayed in the rest of the album.
“The Moon” has always stuck out to me. It is one of the most lyrically dense songs of the album, as well as the most popular. The first minute and 15 seconds contain a beautifully layered guitar section. I have found that depending on my mood I can spend an hour just listening to this part attempting to dissect the different guitar melodies. It is such a beautiful opening moment, just for the drums to begin counting down a minute and eleven seconds in. The song hits you with a wall of sound in the form of an organ, guitar, and drums. The lyrics detail Phil’s visiting places he went with his ex-girlfriend. It fills him with a certain sense of dread due to feeling alone in a place that used to seem so familiar with someone you loved. I view this song as Phil’s climax of reasoning with his existence. The first chorus saying “I went back to feel alone there I went back to wipe it clean” shows that while he expected to feel all of these emotions, he is prepared to have a blank slate once he is done. The next verse and chorus detail his openness in their relationship, singing “And under swaying trees, we fell asleep and had the same dream The stars were bright, we dream the same every night” showing that they had the same goals and aspirations once they reached a point of true honesty with one-another. Though he anticipated visiting these places to fill him with hope and a clean slate, it instead fills him with regret, as he remembers all of their shared intimacy. The final verse features an existential realization of the moon, showing that despite his own regret, he is tiny in the grand scheme of things, saying that “There’s nothing left except certain death” which I have viewed as despite his own regrets in the relationship, if he were to die him and his ex could relive the happy parts of their relationship. Despite his acceptance of death and change, Phil still tries to forget about all of his troubles by attempting to ground himself by going out and staring at the moon, which “just stared back at me”. The final lyric of the song “And in its light I saw my two feet on the ground” puts into perspective that he has nothing to blame his actions on, and that everything happened for a reason, and he must simply make peace with his existence, despite the absurdity.
“The Moon” is also the first song to feature this album's signature foghorn. Leitmotifs are one of my favorite elements in all of music. I adore when in a piece of music you can look for one certain element that ties the wholeness of a character/story together. This is very prominent on The Glow pt. 2. I have always viewed the prevalence of the horn sounds as showing that while Phil is grappling with his existence he is grounded by something as simple as a foghorn.
After the first three tracks on this album, there is a noticeable shift. Not in quality or in the substance of the songs, but they seem much smaller and more intimate. I have always seen the first three tracks as Phil’s grappling with existence and his past from a perspective grander than his own. This changes with "Headless Horseman", which to me sounds like a campfire song Phil wrote after escaping into nature, which is furthered with the line “I returned from my trip to hell”. The hell in that context can be inferred as his former relationship, as well as his escape from his city life mentioned in “I Want Wind to Blow”. Despite wishing her the best of luck, he still misses his ex, saying it was “a precious thing we lost”. The simple instrumentation and Phil’s almost optimistic vocal performance make this song all the more devastating. The song almost sets up
“My Roots are Strong and Deep” is one of the most absurdist songs on the album lyrically. The lyrics detail his acknowledgement of his life and legacy, and the endless search for meaning in it. “My feet are on the ground, but compared to you I’m small” shows that while he makes attempts to ground himself in reality and cope with his own existence, he cannot help but acknowledge that his life is insignificant, especially with his ex out of his life. The second verse on this song begins with Phil singing “You’re wrapped around the earth” seemingly a metaphor for their dead relationship. “I wish you could sprout, but you can’t stick your neck out, I want you climbing up my limbs”. Despite his expanding perspective of his former relationship, he cannot help but wish that it hadn’t ended, though knowing that all things must come to an end seems to slightly comfort him as well.
The following instrumental track features a beautiful guitar melody, alongside an organ, and some light drumming. This is followed by “The Mansion”, which opens with the continuing motif of a foghorn, followed by lyrics detailing Phil’s uncertainty with his place in life. The instrumental is truly haunting, and one of the most suffocating on the album. Given the desolation and despair in these lyrics, the “mansion” can be viewed as Phil’s imagining of the afterlife, as there is “...no ceiling in the mansion”, “...no hesitation” and “Just an everlasting warming”.
The “Something” tracks contain no words, and no guitar melody, just very haunting crackling and organs. These tracks show an isolated example of Elverum’s musique concrete influences. Both of these tracks also prominently display the foghorn, which in the grander context of the album seems to signal a transition. The usage of field and tape recordings of what sounds like machines seems to show that even in the quietest moments of Phil’s life (after a seemingly depressive episode post-breakup) he cannot escape the noises that have plagued him and resulted in a removed perspective on the world.
”I’ll Not Contain You” is a return to the folk fingerpicking guitar and layered vocals that show Phil’s optimism in life. The song seems to show his realization that without moving on from his ex, neither of them will be at peace with their lives. Saying “Through lengthy talks I’ll not contain you” with an organ and drumline in the background which symbolizes his revitalization in life, which is strengthened by his singing “Through rotting skin I’ll leave my coffin”. He seems to have made peace with his life, by accepting the absurdity and uncertainty that is inescapable in life, by saying “Things are not concrete there and fastly glide.”. He will not contain his ex in his memory or heart, as she won’t either, bringing both of them peace.
”The Gleam pt. 2” is a track that builds off of “The Gleam” off of his album “It Was Hot we Stayed in the Water”. While the original Gleam seemingly shows Phil with someone he loves experiencing the heat of a beach. The closing lyric, where he sings that after such a happy day, he could “...just step into the gleam”, as the light is fleeting, as is his happiness during that moment. Part two of “The Gleam” begins with “I know you’ve been the billowy black”, admitting that while he was happy in the moment, he knows that the person he is spending time with has not always been this “bright”, and that the joy and brightness he feels is truly temporary, and just a gleam. After being “blinded by the gleam” phil takes time to reevaluate the happiness he felt during the relationship, realizing that he was happy in very sparse moments. The closing verse, ending with “I saw your future in my sleep” seems to be indicating that though their relationship is over, they will both have better futures as a result of its conclusion.
The following song, “Map” is one of the hardest hitting songs on the album. It begins with the foghorn motif yet again, and quickly crescendos into a distorted guitar that almost sounds like a screeching voice. It builds into heavy hitting drums, followed by singing with a group of people singing on top of each other. The lyrics contain a grand example of an appeal to anaphora. The lyrics seemingly describe things that Phil is experiencing in a moment in time, where he is both so much, but lacks meaning. After the beginning verse, one of my favorite sections in the entire album occurs, it is an organ playing heavy bass notes, accompanied by marching band-esque drums. This is all before rising yet again into the second verse, with even more distorted instrumentation, alongside lyrics describing Phil’s sense of loss and confusion.
”You’ll Be in the Air” very literally shows Phil’s ex flying away from him. The lyrics show his imagining of her flying away and experiencing life without him. “Over the cold river basin where we spent the night” shows her flying over where they first made love, though he feels as if she won’t think about it. One lyric that especially stands out to me is “Was it intense to smell my skin–And not lose yourself?” The experience of being in love to a point where just the smell of that individual fills you with an immense sense of happiness and desire is one of the most precious experiences in a loving relationship. While Phil felt this feeling to the highest degree, he feels as if his ex lacked this sense of desire and compassion. The entire song feels as if Phil is experiencing this loss all over again. He feels as if he has both lost a soul he truly connected to, as well as literally losing a battle of love.
The track ”I Want to Be Cold” is one of the most distorted and emotionally raw songs on the album. He sings about not wanting to breathe anymore, and swimming until his arms give out and he dies. This love for him was not just love, but something he physically depended on. Now that she is out of his life, and away, he wishes to die, and he wants the sadness to overcome him. The feelings are slowly becoming more and more overwhelming, as indicated by "I hope it happens soon, I can't deal with feeling this bad”. These feelings are something that his ex is aware of, and clearly tried to help him with. Wanting to be cold shows that he wishes for his body to be cold and devoid of life. Her flames potentially growing, which could “melt” his sadness, is not something he wants, as he wishes for her to not know of how he feels, though she likely attempted to help him with the heat they had together.
”I Am Bored” shows Phil singing about the emptiness he feels after his breakup. He realizes now just how many ups and downs their relationship had. The lyric “My bloody flow is slowed” is a direct reference to the album title track, where phil sings that his blood flows harshly. This change seems to have come after his breakup, as now he has little to live for, much less to move and make his blood flow for. The instrumentation is that of an upbeat guitar melody alongside fast drumming. The lyric “With glassy eyes locked in contact on the couch with you” shows that they both knew what was happening, and tried to have a discussion about it, this sentiment is echoed in the final line of the song: “Now we both know what we have to do”. I also view this song as a boredom of being depressed, as when you get so deep into a depressive episode you must accept that life cannot always be this miserable, which fits in with the themes of the album as Phil continues to grapple with his insignificance.
”I Felt My Size” seems like Phil finally coming to terms with his insignificance. The first verse details his building of a fire, and how the billowy flames lit up his face, though it was only his front that was cold, as his fire will never compare to that of the sun, thus making him an insignificant flame among others. The lyric “I turned my head, I closed my eyes, I felt my size” shows that he is comparing his fire to the entire solar system, which recontextualizes his existence. The song finishes with echoed vocals, a distorted guitar and piano, where it is sung that he is small and “Not a planet at all”. I view this song as a climax of sorts in the grand scheme of the album, as Phil finally comes to terms with the absurdity of his existence, though he can admit that his life is still hard. This song is followed by another “Instrumental” track, which has a major organ progression as well as a droney guitar creating an atmosphere of both emptiness and optimism.
The song “I Felt Your Shape” shows his thoughts on the shape of his ex. He sings that rather than feeling her shape, he felt falsely strong. This strength came from grabbing and holding on desperately, rather than a tender hug that would have brought them both comfort. He further adds that he had no sense of her size, which I believe to be his realization that they are both people of equal insignificance, despite how highly he clung to her. When he sings of hugging her loosely, he recalls that he could feel everything, and that his world was contained in her. Feeling her gusty blows, her lava flows, and her starry night, which all came from the gentle hug, that wasn’t full of desperation.
The penultimate track of the album “Samurai Sword” compares his ex to a polar bear, foraging for a kill. This song is used as a means of showing him “defeating” his ex in his mind, after she had already left his life. Saying that he has a samurai sword for her, he says “But I'm plummeting through branches towards you now” to forget her once and for all. He sings that “You aim to drag me back down underground to gorge” and that she “wants my blood all over her face”. This song is the most uneasy listen of the whole album, the instrumentation is heavy, though it is the quietest his voice is, which I view as his heart being tired of the agony he has been put through due to his breakup, and the instruments display his anger towards her, and just how ready he is to have it truly over and done with.
The final song, “My Warm Blood” is a nine minute track, it opens with fast drums and a piano that sets the stage for the end of Phil’s world he has created and lived through. The guitar melody is soft and gentle, while field recordings slowly build up in the back. “Oh, it's dark, the sun went down, the power's still out” shows that it is truly over. He is leaving the listener with what he has said. His blood is barely flowing now, indicating that he has been in a state of rest, whether he wants to or not. “Oh, I'm alone, except for the sound of insects flying
Around they know my red blood is warm still” shows that Phil has been left entirely alone, he has no one anymore, he has done his best to make peace but that is over now. After these sparse lyrics are sung, there is a slow and gentle heartbeat that slowly fades away, before the other six minutes of the song, which contains soft recordings that can almost be discerned, but not entirely. The foghorn is the only part that remains prevalent, his heartbeat comes back a few times, once at the very end of the song, showing that he is not dead, and that though he is alone, there is hope for him.
Okay! Wow, I wrote a lot more than I thought I would, I didn’t intend on writing a song by song analysis/review but here we are I suppose. I’m going to go over some of the overarching themes now that I didn’t discuss. Obviously the foghorn is the most obvious auditory motif, but I would amiss if I didn’t discuss the imagery that this album puts in your head. This album feels like fire, it feels like being around a campfire completely alone, where Phil is singing to you and you alone. He is unaware if anyone is listening as he is grappling with his existence at this time. The Glow pt. 2 feels like its own world, it is singular, even in The Microphones’ discography.
The album gets its name from the song “The Glow” from the preceding album "It was Hot, we Stayed in The Water”. It features similar themes to The Glow pt. 2, and clearly, the themes of heat and glowing were important enough to create a whole album out of haha. I view the usage of the term “glow” as both the heat of a fire as well as the glow that you can see radiating off of a person, or a group of people for that matter. Without digging into Phil’s personal life, I think that this album was made both as a coping mechanism, as well as a creation of a world full of what-ifs.
Overall, I view the album as telling a story of a man who is fed up with his life in a city after a breakup that disrupted his way of living. So he decided to flee for the wilderness, upon getting there he realized how much he had left to resolve. This is all by the time “The Moon” comes, it is meant to act as a resolve for Phil’s heartbreak, though it only makes him yearn for her more. As the tracklist continues, Phil, now in isolation continues to ruminate on his past, and falls into a deep depression, barely living. He comes out of this to watch her fly away, in “You’ll be In The Air”. He continues this depression, before he defeats her in his mind. This provides him the truest form of acceptance he will be able to reach. Most of the songs seem full of regret, as despite his anger towards her, he wishes he had done things better for both of their sakes. “My Warm Blood” is one of the most important closing tracks on an album, and in this case it signifies that Phil’s world of The Glow pt.2 is over. He can move on now, he has made peace. I find the story it tells to be so beautiful
This album came to me at a very peculiar time in my life, it was early 2023, I had just gotten out of a strange and toxic relationship, while I won’t go into that, this album was one of the main pieces of art that allowed me to cope. I have listened to it a lot since, it provides me a sense of comfort and grounding when things get tough, and Phil’s guitar playing has been nothing short of life-changing for how I have written and played. At some point I plan on writing on the rest of his discography, I even have a paper planned on writing about the repetition and continuing life story that his music tells, which is truly so beautiful.
I will not go into the way that this album was recorded, that may be an article for another day, but if you’ve read this far and you are interested, I highly recommend looking into it. Phil Elverum and the Anacortes, WA scene for that matter are very interesting. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this review, I hope to write tons more in the future. If you have not heard this album before I highly recommend checking it out, even just once.
Score: 10/10, word count: 4,000, written 6/15-6/16/25
here is where i will ramble & potentially even offer constructive criticism on pieces of media i have enjoyed (or not enjoyed)!