Listen to Matthew French's Father's Day tribute, 'Man in the Yellow Chair'
by Luke Taylor
June 20, 2021
Minneapolis singer-songwriter Matthew French has released a new song and music video in time for Father's Day.
Entitled "Man in the Yellow Chair," the song finds its narrator reflecting on the memory of a deceased father and wishing he could have another conversation with him.
Concurrent with the song release is an accompanying music video, directed by David Dennison. Latching on to the nostalgic spirit of the song, Dennison incorporates the front porch of a Victorian house as well as a midcentury kitchen set comprising a cracked-ice, Formica-topped table and vinyl-upholstered chair — the song's eponymous yellow chair.
Notably the song and video contain references to a smoking habit, and although there are an untold number of causes of mortality, there is a tinge of remorse that pervades the song, seeming to suggest smoking may have cut short the unseen father's life. The aforementioned chair and table — with its accompanying ashtray — become symbols for the deceased paterfamilias.
Matthew French himself describes the song as a "tribute to my grandfather and all of the fathers, grandfathers, and father figures whose legacy of love and peace lives on in us." Listen to the song and watch the video in the player above.
External Link
Matthew French - official site
