Edgar Allan Poets’ Hollywood Backyard is a song about the vacuity of our society.
Celebrities sell us glamour, and they are always expected to do it with a smile. Actors light up the screen with dazzling examples of what we all think we want out of life. We feel like we live both through them and alongside them, wanting to absorb all aspects of their existence. Everyone thinks they own a piece of them, but they only show the world a piece of their true selves. We turn to them and their creations for an escape from our everyday lives, but these people cannot always escape their own. Try as they might, they can’t always make the personalities they sell us into their true realities. They too struggle with fear, insecurity and rejection and have to accept it with poise in the spotlight. Actors can put on a happy face to the world but can never fool themselves. We run to them seeking perfection and they can never hide.
What lies behind the facade of an idol, like the shadows falling behind the Hollywood sign? What happens when the performance is over? Edgar Allan Poets’ new single “Hollywood Backyard” explores the psyche of the actor when the curtains have closed, the lights have gone out and the audience has gone home. Like their sources of inspiration, the creations of Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Edgar Allan Poets use their distinctive Noir Rock style to explore the dark side of human nature and the emotional unrest that may lie behind a public smile. The song’s lyrics tell the story of an actor who must constantly shed their skin in favor of ever changing new faces, all while struggling to maintain the true person within. Like in the timeless tale of Dorian Gray, as the years pass, the shiny outer persona must remain intact even if the inner personality is crumbling. Edgar Allan Poets use the evocative mix of grunge guitars and classical strings that has become their signature sound to create this haunting ballad that represents the never ending revolving door of the euphoric highs of acceptance and crushing lows of rejection that is the life of a Hollywood actor. The video, directed by Chris Is, features incredible performances by Laura Fantuzzi and Javier Ortiz, who take us on a ride through the Hollywood circus while showing us a glimpse of its hidden loneliness.
In “Hollywood Backyard,” Edgar Allan Poets show us how the echoes of applause can resonate as loudly as screams. These echoes may drive those in the spotlight a bit mad sometimes but ultimately, like moths to a flame, those of us seeking fame, fortune or just a way to find ourselves will still always be drawn to the bright lights of Hollywood. Will you be ready to face what you become there in the mirror?
Edgar Allan Poets – Hollywood Backyard
Director: Chris Mariotti (Edgar Allan Poets)
Actress: Laura Fantuzzi
Actor: Javier Ortiz
Lyrics
I was an actor in L.A
they put a star under my name
and now is fading
as for the pic of Dorian Grey
If you scratch the surface
there you’ll see my tragic pain
Hollywood like anyone, like anyone I know
I’m not
like anyone I’m not
all for this hippie gypsy fame
I changed my skin for them
almost everyday
under my make up my wounds cry
unfaithful mirror
revealing all my lies
Hollywood like anyone, like anyone I know
I’m not
like anyone I’m not
I was an actor in L.A
a that’s my teardrop
for you my final scene