Father John Misty (4,122 views)

[Homelander]

Joshua Michael Tillman (born May 3, 1981)
Vocal Range: G2 - D5
Voice Type: Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Tenors)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}J. Tillman:

Untitled No. 1 (2003): B♭2 - E♭4 - A4 (tracks 2, 4, 8, and 9 unavailable)
I Will Return (2004): B2 - E4 - A4
Long May You Run (2006): B♭2 - D4 - A4
Minor Works (2006): B2 - E4 - B4
Cancer and Delirium (2007): C3 - G4 - A4
Vacilando Territory Blues (2009): B♭2 - F4 - B4
Year In the Kingdom (2009): B♭2 - F♯4 - C♯5
Singing Ax (2010): A2 - F4 - C♯5

Father John Misty:

Fear Fun (2012): C3 - F4 - D5
I Love You, Honeybear (2015): C3 - A4 - C5
Pure Comedy (2017): A2 - G4 - B♭4
God's Favorite Customer (2018): C3 - A4 - C♯5
Chloë and the Next 20th Century (2022): G2 - F♯4 - G♯4

Significant High Notes

D5 ("Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", "In the Drugs", "Generic Pop Song #16")
C♯5 ("Date Night", "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", "A Seat at the Table", "Though I Have Wronged You")
C5 ("Diamondback", "I Love You, Honeybear", "In the Drugs", "Generic Pop Song #16", "Hangout at the Gallows", "Nancy From Now On", "The Night Josh Tillman Came To Out Apt.", "This Is Sally Hatchet", "Tiny Dancer" live, "True Affection")
B4 ("Apples and Bananas" live, "Date Night", "Diamondback", "Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All", "First Born", "Hangout at the Gallows", "Misty's Nightmares 1 & 2", "O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me", "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong", "Restlessness", "This Is Sally Hatchet", "Trouble", "When You're Smiling and Astride Me")
B♭4 ("A Bigger Paper Bag", "Fallin' Rain", "In the Drugs", "I Went to the Store One Day", "Light of the Living", "Please Don't Die", "A Seat at the Table")
A4 ("All You See", "Apples and Bananas" live, "Ballad of the Dying Man", "Bored In the USA", "Come to Mama" demo, "Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All", "First Born", "Generic Pop Song #16", "Generic Pop Song #3", "God's Favorite Customer", "Hangout at the Gallows", "Howling Light", "I Love You, Honeybear", "In Twenty Years or So", "Just Dumb Enough to Try", "Misty's Nightmares 1 & 2", "Mr. Tillman", "Nancy From Now On", "The Night Josh Tillman Came To Out Apt.", "No Occasion", "Now I'm Learning to Love the War", "Only Son of the Ladiesman", "Please Don't Die", "The Queen of Swing", "Real Love Baby", "Restlessness", "Ribbons of Glass", "A Seat at the Table", "Smoochie", "So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain", "Strange Encounter", "There Is No Good In Me", "This Jealous Blood", "To S.", "True Affection", "Wayward Glance Blues", "We're Only People (And There's Not Much Anyone Can Do About That)", "When I Light Your Darkened Door")
G♯4 ("Above All Men", "Blank Space", "Crooked Roof", "Crosswinds", "Date Night", "Fallin' Rain", "For an Hour With You", "Funtimes In Babylon", "Olvidado (Otro Momento)", "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong", "Please Don't Die", "This Is Sally Hatchet", "This Jealous Blood", "Though I Have Wronged You", "Tiny Dancer" live, "Vessels", "Welcome to New York", "Well, You Can Do It Without Me")
G4 ("Ballad of the Dying Man", "A Bigger Paper Bag", "Birdie", "Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)", "Come to Mama" demo, "Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All", "Generic Pop Song #3", "A Hit Play", "In Twenty Years or So", "I Went to the Store One Day", "Mere Ornaments", "Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow", "O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me", "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong", "The Queen of Swing", "Real Love Baby", "A Seat at the Table", "So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain", "Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution", "This Is Sally Hatchet", "Tiny Dancer" live, "Under the Sun", "Welcome to New York", "We're Only People (And There's Not Much Anyone Can Do About That)", "When I Light Your Darkened Door",  "When You're Smiling and Astride Me")
F♯4 ("Blank Space", "A Hit Play", "Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All", "Hangout at the Gallows", "I Believe I Can Fly" live, "I'm Your Man" live, "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong", "Pure Comedy", "Q4", "Real Love Baby", "Strange Encounter", "There Is No Good In Me", "Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution", "Vessels", "When the God of Love Returns There'll Be Hell to Pay")
F4 ("Ballad of the Dying Man" / "Ballad of the Dying Man", "A Bigger Paper Bag", "Bored In the USA", "Buddy's Rendezvous", "Come to Mama" demo, "Diamondback", "Earthly Bodies", "(Everything But) Her Love", "First Born", "Generic Pop Song #16", "Generic Pop Song #9", "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", "Howling Light", "I Believe I Can Fly" live, "The Ideal Husband", "I Love You, Honeybear", "Just Dumb Enough to Try", "Kiss It Better" live, "Kiss Me (I Loved You)", "Laborless Land", "Lady With the Braid" live, "Misty's Nightmares 1 & 2", "Mr. Tillman", "Nancy From Now On", "No Occasion", "Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow", "Now I'm Learning to Love the War", "Only Son of the Ladiesman", "Please Don't Die", "So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain", "Ties That Bind", "This Is Sally Hatchet", "Though I Have Wronged You", "Tiny Dancer" live, "We Could Be Strangers", "Welcome to New York", "Well, You Can Do It Without Me", "We're Only People (And There's Not Much Anyone Can Do About That)", "When the God of Love Returns There'll Be Hell to Pay", "When I Light Your Darkened Door")
E4 ("Apples and Bananas" live, "Bored In the USA", "Buddy's Rendezvous", "Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)", "Come to Mama" demo, "Everyman Needs a Companion", "First Born", "Funtimes In Babylon", "Generic Pop Song #9", "Goodbye Mr. Blue", "Hangout at the Gallows", "A Hit Play", "Holy Shit", "I Believe I Can Fly" live, "The Ideal Husband", "I'm Writing a Novel", "In Twenty Years or So", "I Went to the Store One Day", "Jesse's Not a Sleeper", "Just Dumb Enough to Try", "Kiss Me (I Loved You)", "Marked In the Valley", "The Memo", "Mere Ornaments", "Misty's Nightmares 1 & 2", "New Imperial Grand Blues", "Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow", "O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me", "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong", "Pure Comedy", "Q4", "Ribbons of Glass", "The Songwriter", "Strange Encounter", "Tee Pees 1-12", "There Is No Good In Me", "Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution", "This Jealous Blood", "Tiny Dancer" live, "To S.", "Trail of Red, Bride In White", "True Affection", "Under the Sun", "Wayward Glance Blues", "We Could Be Strangers", "We're Only People (And There's Not Much Anyone Can Do About That)", "When I Light Your Darkened Door", "When You're Smiling and Astride Me", "Your Mother's Ghost")
E♭4 ("Anthem", "A Bigger Paper Bag", "Birdie", "Bored In the USA", "Chloë", "Earthly Bodies", "Fallin' Rain", "A Fine Suit", "First Born", "Funny Girl", "Funtimes In Babylon", "Generic Pop Song #9", "A Golden String For Your Nest", "The Heart Is a Valve", "Holy Shit", "I Love You, Honeybear", "I'm Writing a Novel", "In Twenty Years or So", "I Went to the Store One Day", "Kiss It Better" live, "Lady With the Braid" live, "Leaving LA", "Love No Less Worthy", "Now I'm Learning to Love the War", "Olvidado (Otro Momento)", "Our Beloved Tyrant", "Pure Comedy", "A Seat at the Table", "This Is Sally Hatchet", "Ties That Bind", "Tiny Dancer" live, "Under the Sun", "Welcome to New York", "Year In the Kingdom")
D4 ("Apples and Bananas" live, "Ballad of the Dying Man", "Barter Blues", "A Bigger Paper Bag", "Birdie", "Buddy's Rendezvous", "Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)", "Chloë", "Darling Night", "Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All", "(Everything But) Her Love", "Funny Girl", "Generic Pop Song #16", "Generic Pop Song #3", "God's Favorite Customer", "Hangout at the Gallows", "The Heart Is a Valve", "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", "Holy Shit", "Howling Light", "The Ideal Husband", "I Love You, Honeybear", "I'm Your Man" live, "In Twenty Years or So", "I Will Return", "Jesse's Not a Sleeper", "Just Dumb Enough to Try", "Kiss Me (I Loved You)", "Laborless Land", "Lady With the Braid" live, "Leaving LA", "Let Me Put You Under My Wing", "Love No Less Worthy", "Maria", "The Memo", "Mere Ornaments", "Misty's Nightmares 1 & 2", "Nancy From Now On", "New Imperial Grand Blues", "The Night Josh Tillman Came To Out Apt.", "No Occasion", "Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow", "Now I'm Learning to Love the War", "An Occurrence at the River Jordan", "O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me", "Olvidado (Otro Momento)", "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong", "One Task", "The Palace", "Please Don't Die", "Q4", "Real Love Baby", "Restlessness", "Ribbons of Glass", "A Seat at the Table", "Smoochie", "So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain", "Someone With Child", "The Songwriter", "Steel on Steel", "Strange Encounter", "Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution", "Ties That Bind", "Tiny Dancer" live, "Total Entertainment Forever", "To R.", "To S.", "Trouble", "Under the Sun", "Wayward Glance Blues", "We Could Be Strangers", "When the God of Love Returns There'll Be Hell to Pay", "When You're Smiling and Astride Me", "With Wolves")


Significant Low Notes

D3 ("Age of Man", "Barter Blues", "Before We Retire", "Blank Space", "Bored In the USA", "Buddy's Rendezvous", "Darling Night", "Diamondback", "Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All", "(Everything But) Her Love", "Fireworks", "First Born", "Funny Girl", "Generic Pop Song #3", "God's Favorite Customer", "The Heart Is a Valve", "A Hit Play", "How Much Mystery", "I Love You, Honeybear", "In the Drugs", "In Twenty Years or So", "I Went to the Store One Day", "I Will Return", "Kiss Me (I Loved You)", "Love No Less Worthy", "Madness on the Mountain", "Mere Ornaments", "Milk White Air", "Mr. Tillman", "New Imperial Grand Blues", "The Next 20th Century", "The Night Josh Tillman Came To Out Apt.", "Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow", "Now I'm Learning to Love the War", "An Occurrence at the River Jordan", "Only a Fool", "The Queen of Swing", "Restlessness", "Ribbons of Glass", "Singing Ax", "Someone With Child", "Steel on Steel", "Strange Encounter", "Take Care", "There Is No Good In Me", "Ties That Bind", "Trail of Red, Bride In White", "Trouble's Always Free", "Under the Sun", "Wayward Glance Blues", "We Could Be Strangers", "When I Light Your Darkened Door", "When You're Smiling and Astride Me", "With Wolves")
C♯3 ("Above All Men", "Age of Man", "Anthem", "Casualties", "Cecille, My Love", "Crooked Roof", "Crosswinds", "Darling Night", "Date Night", "Earthly Bodies", "Evans and Falls", "Everyman Needs a Companion", "Every Word Was Split In Two", "Fallin' Rain", "A Fine Suit", "For an Hour With You", "A Golden String For Your Nest", "Goodbye Mr. Blue", "A Hit Play", "Holy Shit", "House Arms Built", "How Much Mystery", "If I Get to the Borderline", "I'm Your Man" live, "James Blues", "Jamestown Bridge", "Jesse's Not a Sleeper", "Let Me Put You Under My Wing", "Lilac Hem", "Love No Less Worthy", "Marked In the Valley", "Minor Works", "Mr. Tillman", "My Waking Days", "New Imperial Grand Blues", "Now You're Among Strangers", "An Occurrence at the River Jordan", "Olvidado (Otro Momento)", "Our Beloved Tyrant", "The Palace", "Pure Comedy", "Q4", "Seven States Across", "Strange Encounter", "Tee Pees 1-12", "There Is No Good In Me", "This Jealous Blood", "Though I Have Wronged You", "Three Sisters", "Tillman's Rag", "To R.", "To S.", "Two Years on Film", "Vacilando Territory", "Visions of a Troubled Mind", "When the God of Love Returns There'll Be Hell to Pay", "Year In the Kingdom", "Your Mother's Ghost")
C3 ("All You See", "Anthem", "Ballad of the Dying Man", "Before We Retire", "A Bigger Paper Bag", "Birdie", "Blank Space", "Buddy's Rendezvous", "Chloë", "Earthly Bodies", "(Everything But) Her Love", "Fallin' Rain", "Funny Girl", "Generic Pop Song #3", "God's Favorite Customer", "The Heart Is a Valve", "House Arms Built", "Howling Light", "The Ideal Husband", "Jamestown Bridge", "Kiss Me (I Loved You)", "Laborless Land", "Light of the Living", "Lilac Hem", "Madness on the Mountain", "Maria", "Master's House", "The Memo", "Nancy From Now On", "One Task", "Only a Fool", "Please Don't Die", "Restlessness", "Singing Ax", "Smoochie", "So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain", "The Songwriter", "Though I Have Wronged You", "Ties That Bind", "Total Entertainment Forever", "Trail of Red, Bride In White", "Trouble", "Trouble's Always Free", "Two Wildly Different Perspectives", "We Could Be Strangers", "Welcome to New York", "When I Light Your Darkened Door", "When You're Smiling and Astride Me", "Well, You Can Do It Without Me")
B2 ("A Hit Play", "Crosswinds", "For an Hour With You", "James Blues", "Lady With the Braid" live, "Let Me Put You Under My Wing", "Lilac Hem", "Marked In the Valley", "Minor Works", "This Jealous Blood", "Three Sisters", "Two Wildly Different Perspectives", "Wayward Glance Blues", "Year In the Kingdom", "Your Mother's Ghost")
B♭2 ("Chloë", "House Arms Built", "Jamestown Bridge", "Kiss Me (I Loved You)", "Light of the Living", "Love No Less Worthy", "One Task", "Our Beloved Tyrant", "The Queen of Swing", "Singing Ax", "Vessels", "Welcome to New York")
A2 ("Blank Space", "Goodbye Mr. Blue", "The Memo", "Mere Ornaments", "The Next 20th Century", "Only a Fool", "To R.")
G♯2 ("Olvidado (Otro Momento)")
G2 ("Olvidado (Otro Momento)")

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}F5 ("Ballad of the Dying Man" [2])
E5 ("When You're Smiling and Astride Me" [2])
E♭5 ("Crosswinds" [2] [4], "Everyman Needs a Companion" [2], "Funtimes In Babylon" [2])
D5 ("The Next 20th Century" [2], "True Affection" [2], "We Could Be Strangers" [2])
A4 ("When the God of Love Returns There'll Be Hell to Pay" [2] [4])
G4 ("I'm Your Man" live 01-08-2015 [1], "O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me" [2])

D3 ("One of Us Cannot Be Wrong" [5])
C3 ("In Twenty Years or So" [1])
B2 ("New Imperial Grand Blues" [5])
B♭2 ("Fallin' Rain" [1] [5], "Mr. Tillman" [5])
A2 ("Milk White Air" [1], "Minor Works" [1], "Pure Comedy" [1])
G♯2 ("A Bigger Paper Bag" [1], "Lilac Hem" [5], "Now You're Among Strangers" [1] [3])
G2 ("Welcome to New York" [1] [5])
F2 ("Blank Space" [5], "To R." [1] [5])
E2 ("Madness on the Mountain" [1], "Wayward Glance Blues" [4])
D2 ("Hangout at the Gallows" [5], "Wayward Glance Blues" [4])
C♯2 ("Date Night" [4] [5])
?? ("Smoochie" [2] [4])
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.

.......................................................
Blue marks notes sung in head voice or falsetto.
Green marks harsh, distorted, or screamed notes.
Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix or otherwise found in backing vocals.
Italics mark non-melodic or non-sung notes.
Bold marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.

Thank you to Electric Mami , BAZanine , and Seb for help with determining the pitch of many notes in this thread.

[CT]

My father, John was working out in a misty field and he said “Dee 3 times you’ve broken my trust”, I looked at him eyes filled with hate and I said the deforestation can not continue, then I hit him with a axe, his head deformed around the blade and I said “lick Dee’s nuts”

[Goober]

I have sad news guys, my grandma recently passed and her dying request was for Father John Misty’s thresholds to be changed to D3/D4

[analC***fan1000]

Why is he called Father John Misty if he isn’t even a father? This guy should be sent to a psych ward, Christ.

[Homelander]

Mar 23, 2024 21:18:33 GMT Goober said:

I have sad news guys, my grandma recently passed and her dying request was for Father John Misty’s thresholds to be changed to D3/D4

No.

[Bink]

Alright imma lay it out straight, there is no way in hell this guy needs E3/B3 because he barely exerts any effort on anything below D4

[Goober]

it wasn't?

[Homelander]

Mar 23, 2024 23:04:16 GMT Goober said:

it wasn't?

No, I meant that I'm not changing the thresholds.

[Macca]

Mar 23, 2024 21:18:33 GMT Goober said:

I have sad news guys, my grandma recently passed and her dying request was for Father John Misty’s thresholds to be changed to D3/D4

I agree with your grandma

[BAZanine]

Basically no one with three octaves of range needs thresholds this close to each other. Hell, I can only think of a few instances of singers in general where this wouldn't be overinclusion. D3/D4 baybee.

[ellie]

Do not listen to them they are trying to delude you

[avi]

D2 - D3 low notes, D4 - D5 high notes. How could you pass that up

[Bink]

Alright, yeah personally I'm gonna open up this conversation once again. Father John Misty does not need E3/B3. I've listened to a few of his albums now and looking at some of the album ranges and just his general placement showing that he puts absolutely no effort into the upper third/lower fourth octave solidifies that he really does not need anything below D4. I can get why you would not want to go above that because after E4 it starts going quite thin in terms of high notes. But just because he isn't super range-y doesn't really justify his thresholds being that close together. He doesn't have any album ranges that have their highest note below D4 and the way he uses his voice I think can justify D4 as a high thresholds.

As for lows, I'm irked slightly less at the E3 placement. However, personally I think D3 would be just a bit better, because despite the thread going thin below C3, it kind of seems like he utilizes D3 as more of a "low note" overhead.

Plus: as BAZanine stated earlier, there are only a handful of singers in general who need these thresholds this close together, and FJM most definitely is not one of them.
Also personal asthetics, as stated above D2-D3, D4-D5, making an octave between SLN thresholds and the bottom of his range and vice versa. How can you pass that up?

[Homelander]

I would be willing to compromise on E♭3 and C♯4.

[Baronessa]

A solution which both sides find unsatisfying. I like it.

[rootyrootz]

He can't even sing a perfect fifth of comfortable range according to this...F3-B3 is like the vocal range of my fridge going through a cycle

[Yojojo]

wait what happened to Eb3 and C#4?

[Homelander]

May 2, 2024 21:27:18 GMT Yojojo said:

wait what happened to Eb3 and C#4?

I decided to change it back. The thresholds looked kinda ugly and C4 isn't not high for him.

[IhateMana]

nope, still D3/D4 or bust. Not sure what your hang up is with this incredibly normal voiced dude having normal thresholds.

[Homelander]

As someone who has listened to nearly every available recording this guy has made, I can say that E3 and C4 are perfectly reasonable thresholds. I'm not going to be bullied into changing it again, lol.

[IhateMana]

That's cool, it can just stay in WIP then

[Homelander]

Sounds fine to me. I don't really move them over anyway, lol.

[PerhapsXarb]

If a thread isn''t moved over then it isn't part of the official repository of information. Eb3/C#4 would be good I think, even if an octave apart is much more common. It's kind of just a community-set standards thing, so if people say thresholds are too close than they probably are; that's the point of peer review. I didn't want to get rid of Alex G's Eb4 but ultimately everyone else did and it was the right decision in retrospect even if annoyed me at the time. If FJM starts pulling a Phil Elverum tops at B3/C4 for five albums in a row, then things may change, but someone regularly topping in the F4 - A4 range in chest voice just doesn't need C4, and that's pretty much standard procedure on this site as far as I can tell. Nothing against the thread whatsoever

[avi]

^ agreed and I don't think anyone is bullying you to change it. We have a shared interest in creating the best information and following the best set of conventions, and we agree that the E3 and C4 sections are not significant enough information to be worth bogging the thread. It's a productive argument, imo, nobody is attacking you, and people have given very reasonable explanations for their criticisms.

Of course there's nothing stopping you from keeping it how it is, but I don't think it's fair to write off all of our criticism as bullying. (And I also don't think saying "I've notewatched his whole discography and this is how I feel" is fair. Quantity of notewatching doesn't necessarily equate to quality of notewatching.)

For what it's worth, this is a really high quality thread and I appreciate that you made it, but that's my take on the threshold discussion.

[Goober]

I got in contact with his estate, but I got ok'd so I never spoke to him again