Williams/Rufus Wainwright, 1. Family

Most of Rufus Wainwright’s songs contain an autobiographical element. When his subject is his family, he continues a long-established tradition. His father, folk singer Loudon Wainwright III and mother Kate McGarrigle, as well as sister Martha Wainwright have all expressed their relationships publicly through song—and in this chapter, I analyse songs that explain these relationships from Rufus’s perspective. Case studies include ‘Beauty Mark’, ‘Little Sister’, ‘Dinner At Eight’, and ‘Want’. More details about Rufus Wainwright can be found at Williams’ recent blogpost on Thinking About Music, available here.