YMMV / Rufus Wainwright

• Anvilicious: "Going To A Town" is a very unsubtle jab at the Bush Administration (especially the music video for it) and at politicians in general for using homophobia for political gain.
• Awesome Music: "I Don't Know What It Is" is to date one of the most complicated songs he's done. And it's FABULOUS.
• Faux Symbolism: Pretty much the entirety of the video "Going to a Town", done very intentionally.
• Funny Moments:
  • In the middle of "Tulsa" he goes off on a random tangent to remind himself about an antique shop that he wants to go back to and visit when it's open, and then goes right back to the song.
  • He tends to include asides in his concert performances that are also very funny, and will often look at the audience with an exasperated expression if he screws up. A good example is his performance of "San Francisco".
  • "Slideshow": "And I better be prominently featured in your next slideshow / 'Cause I paid a lot of money to get you over here, you know?"
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
  "In Japan, they go crazy for me. One time I reached down to pick up a little present and about 10 of them grabbed me and wanted to eat me."
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • "Tiergarten" is about his boyfriend Jorn, and it's a very sweet song.
  • "Dinner at Eight" is an unintentional example, because Rufus wrote if after a particularly bad spat with his father intending for it to be a Take That!, but after some time had passed he realized that it's actually about wanting to reach out and connect with him.
• Nightmare Fuel: "Agnus Dei" starts out with a cello imitating the creak of an old rocking chair on rotting wooden floorboards, then is punctuated with a truly demented violin riff. Then comes a rolling, quiet but thunderous piano line with faint "Psycho" Strings in the background, and over it, an anguished One Man Wail courtesy of Rufus. In Latin.
• Periphery Demographic: A good chunk of his fans are straight men. Rufus was actually more popular with straight guys than with gay people earlier in his career.
• Refrain from Assuming: "Greek Song" is sometimes referred to as "You Turn Me On" after the phrase repeated seven times in the first verse.
• Tear Jerker:
  • "Memphis Skyline" probably won't make you cry on first listen, but the more you expose yourself to the song, the more emotional it gets. It's about Jeff Buckley, who was actually friends with Rufus during the last few months of his life. Warning: after about 3 listens you'll be crying your eyes out.
  • His cover of "Hallelujah".
  • The entirety of All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu
  • "Dinner At Eight" once you know that it's about his relationship with his father. Or hell, even if you don't know the context.
• The Woobie: Oh yes. His life has gotten better with the love of his family and his boyfriend, but for a while he had it rough. His first sexual experience was being raped by an older man. At age fourteen. And the only reason he didn't get killed was because he faked having a seizure.
  "I said I wanted to go to the park and see where this big concert was going on. I thought it was going to be a romantic walk in the park, but he raped me and robbed me afterwards and tried to strangle me."