Working in the arts is often like playing a game of chicken with poverty and obscurity. There’s no guarantee for any artist that they’re going to be successful within their own lifetime. There is, however, always the off chance that you might make it big posthumously.
The latest single from Burry, “Yellow Paint” explores just that, alluding to the struggles of Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh, who committed suicide at the age of 37, after having long suffered from mental health issues, and failing to achieve commercial success during his lifetime.
Of course, you might be wondering how Burry gets from Point A to Point B, and lucky for you this song comes with a history lesson. Rather unsurprisingly, Van Gogh suffered from depression and he was rumoured to consume yellow paint as a means of coping.
“The title references Van Gogh’s desire to eat yellow paint, which he thought was a happy colour and thus might make him happy on the inside,” says Emma Burry.
While that would almost seem whimsical if it weren’t so tragic, it’s just as likely that Van Gogh was poisoning himself as the Chrome Yellow he regularly employed was also highly toxic.
“He worked hard to be a successful artist while fighting mental illness, addiction and the doubts of the people around him,” says Burry. “It wasn’t until long after he died that his artwork was appreciated by others, and in a way, I think that is beautifully sad and relatable for a lot of artists and musicians.”
While that hits home for a great number of people working in a very challenging field, most of whom might only see their efforts rewarded in beer tickets, there are marginalized groups that face challenges even beyond that. With “Yellow Paint” Burry relates Van Gogh’s fear of being left on the sidelines of history to those experienced by the LGBTQ2A+ community.
“The struggles that come with being a queer woman in the music industry, or a member of a marginalized community, and having your dreams doubted by the people around you are the experiences that inspired me to write this song,” says Burry.
While Van Gogh has had the least 130 years to have his work recognized – having fulfilled the deadlines of success and validation that Burry sings of long after he was gone – you have to imagine the great works that he, and so many other artists, might have created had they seen that support during their lifetimes.