Latest revision as of 02:06, 8 October 2026

"Father And Son" is the fifth track on Boards of Canada's fifth studio album, Inferno.

Comments[edit]

• The vocal samples were likely processed by reversing the source audio, possibly applying AI voice enhancement, and reversing it back, creating an effect which makes it sound both forwards and backwards at the same time. This is likely also the reason for the other voice samples, which sound like incoherent babbling, which is common of enhancement models when applied to things like sound effects or music instead of voices. ^[1]
• The title of the track could be interpreted as referencing the Holy Trinity, Which consists of the two (Father, Son,) and the Holy Spirit

Samples / Lyrics[edit]

• From 0:34 onwards, chopped and manipulated vocals from an interaction between a "Teens for Christ" ("The Children of God", later "The Family") cult member and his concerned father sampled from the 1971 BBC documentary "Man Alive: The Jesus Trip".^[2][3]

I love you, but I love the Lord
More than I love any physical being
(Oh, but)
I think that's wonderful
(Uh huh)
But then why can't you bring that same feeling home?
(I would never)
I really wish that I could do that
(No one ever knew that that was atypical)
(Ooh, sweetie)
What makes you think you can't do it?
Well, He said, "A man's foes will be they of his own household"
Well, I hardly believe that your own father or mother or brother or sister would be your enemy

You're gonna call Him a liar?
No, I'm not calling Him a liar
Well, I can do all things through the Lord
Think you can't do it
You saw the way we lived and what we did, do you believe?
I really don't think so
(Uh, let's see, I've lost track)

More than I love any physical being
I think that's wonderful
Well, He said—
(I really don’t think so)
I love you, but I love the Lord
More than I love any physical being
I think that's wonderful
Well, He said—
(Get off the alpha)
More than I love any physical being
I think that's wonderful
(Uh huh)
Well, He said—
(I would never)

• At 0:26, what seems to be a child giggling can be faintly heard.

• A sample at 0:55 is possibly saying 'Allahu Akbar', which would fit thematically, though this is contentious as the sample is clipped/obscured.

Trivia[edit]

• The sample revolves around a father who traveled to their Los Angeles compound to talk to their son, who had abruptly cut all contact with the outside world to be a devoted member of the Children of God, the tension in the sample revolves around the group’s literal interpretation of Matthew 10:36 “And a man’s foes will be they of his own household.”, Which leaders of the Children of God had weaponized to isolate new recruits, convincing them that their parents were spiritually blind and agents of the enemy trying to pull them away from God.
• The drum beat in this track is similar to the drum beat that can be heard in Warp10-08.

Videos[edit]

Audio[edit]

See Also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

1. ↑ I realize "AI" is a concerning word to read about a Boards of Canada song, but hear me out. Back in 2023 or whenever it was Adobe first introduced that voice enhancement thing there was a surge of YouTube videos of people showing how it could be abused, by applying it to music and applying it multiple times etc. There's plenty of examples of this online. I saw a lot of these and even experimented myself at the time. To me that's what the processed voices in Father and Son sound like, and to prove that I ran the original sample through that filter in the way I thought they might have. The result can be heard below. I'm not condoning or endorsing the use of AI, I just want people to know that about the song based on my personal research. -Quants
2. ↑
3. ↑ https://childrenofgod.com/en/archives/video/collections/documentaries/