Namesake

Writing a song for a good friend? Do it the way MGMT has. With Song For Dan Treacy; it's anything but ordinary. MGMT says of the man behind the muse: “We did a couple of tracks with him last fall in England, and now we kinda meet up with him in London whenever we go. And he’s written songs for lots of people – he likes writing about people, even though they’re usually not people that I know. So this was just a song for him.”

This is their tribute to the eccentric Dan Treacy, lead singer of the 1970s punk band, Television Personalities. I say eccentric in a good way because TVP's sonic quality distinguishes itself from the rest. Another reason being Dan Treacy has barely any digital footprint left by himself, despite the band being active from circa 2004-2011. What comes up when you Google him is rows and rows of searches that talk about his eccentricity and mystery. Song For Dan Treacy captures that and adds MGMT's own personal touch: 

He made his mind up

To get things done and overcome

He made his mind up

Yeah he's going to let it go

He made his mind up

In the park and at the station

He made his mind up

Dan Treacy battled with a lot of personal issues and heck, is so digitally untraceable that even Wikipedia doesn't have a page on him, except in the article about his band, where he is mentioned multiple times. Hermes writes, ""Song for Dan Treacy" pays tribute to the man who led the Eighties U.K. post-punk experimentalists Television Personalities before becoming a drug casualty. All snappy beats, Munchkin choirs and neon-flashing electronics, it's funny until you realize the story, about a dude wandering the streets "frozen in time," is pretty sad."

Despite this, his music and MGMT's crowning tribute to him will live on.  

Long live!