•
Rating: A dance before the apocalypse?
Yes.
But let it be brief and intense, a sweet and poignant waltz on pointe and not, of abandonment.
Of memories.
Of ecstasy.
This and more on the stunning broadcasts of MTV and the like, where that video clip of Dancing with Tears in My Eyes found that unique space among the many (let's face it …) musical amenities offered at the time.
The appointment with the Apocalypse was set for Midnight, but could it be otherwise? That was and always has been the ideal time for such things; Armageddon, vampires rising from stinking graves, and American werewolves transplanted to London. But here Ure & C. outdid themselves, packing into a briefcase all that decadence of Edgar Allan Poe's literature, the darker imagination of Carl Theodor Dreyer, the romantic elegy of the maladjusted android and ex-punk cousins of Foxxian memory. With the graceful blend of all those flavorful ingredients, it all converted to the most integralist New Romantic faith.
It was precisely that transport of last desire, that sweet descent of the sheet over one's existence. Shadows and dust before disappearing forever.
The moment before vanishing into that white, blinding flash.
And we've also understood that this last dance was something beautiful and strange. A strong embrace before imploding with the madness of the world around, it was certainly not the dance before the Corn Flakes and of everyday life by Wang Chung, and even less The Politics of Dancing by Re-Flex. The 80s, ambiguous and perverse years, the unbearable lightness of being pop of Easy Lady, the swaying and gym-honed hips of Isla Bonita in unhappy coexistence with the New Wave and decadent esprit, which slowly and among shadows was quick to insinuate. That madeleine that had that bittersweet aftertaste and continued to roll on the pop hemisphere since the days of Hiroshima Mon Amour.
But Lament is also something else.
It is a deep immersion into the Stonehenge of the North, into that mysticism of the cover, which initially was supposed to be completely black. Yet, to once again recall the history of man, the choice prevailed to depict those millenary stones erected on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, renamed by the inhabitants as the stones na fir bhrèige, meaning the "false men".
Hand in hand, savoring the past, while we drink this gift for you. Hand in hand, savoring the past, while we drink from all this.
It is a vision of forgotten lands, of millenary Celtic deities haunting spectral on the skeletons of a Europe that will soon be looted of its Beauty. The road towards totalitarianisms had already been traced, gaining strength from the distraction of the masses, wrapped in all that glossy glaze and oceans of popcorn. But there is a thread of hope, we stand next to the Old Stones and a Celtic Goddess stands with us. And she weeps for Us and for our agonies (so say the lyrics!).
All the incredible spleen of this album is reduced to essence in the vibrant A Friend I Call Desire, a main track and manifesto that will set the standard and fortune of an entire straying generation of synthetic melancholics, great-grandchildren of Connie Plank, of cold performers like Martin Gore who will draw essential inspirations from this generation of original cyberpunk storytellers and retrospectively new romantics.
And that breathless run in the dimming metropolis to reach the beloved for the last time is all in the dark synth carpet of A Friend I Call Desire, amidst buildings and streets on the brink of whitening into nothingness, of dreams dissolving into eternity, between angelic and intertwined feminine vocals, have we traded our reason for our desires, our intellect for our wants, our soul for paltry goods? And, better yet, do we even know we’ve lost something?
In short, these 80s weren't exactly a walk in the park.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 White China (03:52)
When pale turns to pink
With a soft unnerving ease
And all you've built around
May just tumble to the ground
Will you stand or fall?
With your future in another's hands
Will you stand or fall?
When your life is not your own
When white turns to red
In the not too distant days
Will force and misery
Be the life you have to lead?
Will you stand or fall?
With your children in another's world
Will you stand or fall?
When your town is not your own
White China
White China
When crimson takes a hold
The lights go down on all you've ever known
And all you'll ever do is worked out for you
Will you stand or fall?
When the thoughts you have are not your own
Will you stand or fall?
Oh, when the freedom slips away
White China
White China
White China
White China
White China
White China
02 One Small Day (04:33)
If the stack is high against you
And the hammer's coming down
And the time that's yours lies heavy in your hands
Oh my sentimental friend
The fast much reach an end
Lying face down on the cold stone
And they give their all to you
But their all is slipping through your hands
Oh my sentimental friend
Your time will come again
Chorus:
One day where I didn't die a thousand times
Where I could satisfy this life of mine
One small day
One day where every hour could be a joy to me
And live a life the way it's meant to be
One small day
How many times has it turned against you
How many times will they walk away
How many times have you let depression win the fight
Oh my sentimental friend
We'll walk as one again
(Chorus)
How many times has it turned against you
How many times will they walk away
One day where I didn't die a thousand times
Where I could satisfy this life of mine
One day where every hour could be a joy to me
And live a life the way it's meant to be
One day where I wouldn't feel my senses die
Where nothing made me hang my head and cry
One day where I could see myself as others do
Where I could feel the strength of love at hand
One day where I didn't die a thousand times
Where I could satisfy this life of mine
One day where every hour could by a joy to me
And live a life the way it's meant to be
03 Dancing With Tears in My Eyes (04:44)
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Weeping for the memory of a life gone by
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Living out a memory of a love that died
It's five and I'm driving home again
It's hard to believe that it's my last time
The man on the wireless cries again
It's over, it's over
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Weeping for the memory of a life gone by
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Living out a memory of a love that died
It's late and I'm with my love alone
We drink to forget the coming storm
We love to the sound of our favourite song
Over and over
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Living out a memory of a love that died
It's time and we're in each other's arms
It's time but I don't think we really care
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Weeping for the memory of a life gone by
Dancing with tears in my eyes
Weeping for the memory of a life gone by
Dancing with tears in my eyes
04 Lament (04:44)
And just as my eyes start seeing
After all the pain
The twist in my life starts healing
Just to twist again
In stillness, in sorrow
Returns that softly sighing lament
And just as the smile's returning
After all the pain
The fire inside stops burning
Just to burn again
In moments of madness
Returns that softly sighing lament
08 Heart of the Country (05:09)
I was young and not deceived then
I believed in the heart of the country
How the words sound, how the truth lies
I was moved by the heart of the country
Oh, oh, then I saw through
The charade, the facade,
Now I've had it all
When they ask you who deprives you
You reply your heart of the country
I am older, I am wiser
I despise the heart of the country
Oh, oh, then I felt it
All the tears and the grief
I believed it all
Taking bad times, by the handful
Do what you can for the heart of the country
They dish the dirt out too hard to swallow
Just to follow the heart of the country
Oh, oh, heed the words
And learn the lines
I'll be fine when I have it all
09 When the Time Comes (05:00)
So you think it's over
So you think that down's
The only way out
A sad excuse for lovers
With your head held high
And your heart still full of doubt
It's just like you to scorn
The only one who'll mourn
The day he doesn't love you
Chorus:
When the time comes I'll cry
On the day you cut the thread
When my heart tears I'll cry
So you gave up giving
And you sit and smile
When the awkward silence falls
Deny the life you're living
Just a fleeting love
That you only half recall
It's just like you to make
A passion turned to hate
The day he doesn't love you
(Chorus)
Still we're here together
Feeling helpless as our heaven turns to hell
The taker and the giver
Washed in anger
When we think how far we fell
It's just like you to take
The step than makes the break
The day he doesn't love you
When the time comes I'll cry
When the time comes I'll cry
When the time comes I'll cry
When the time comes I'll cry
10 A Friend I Call Desire (05:12)
Desire (4X)
You live for love, I long for it
You give for love, I take from it
This friend of mine, desire
This lover's crime, desire
Emotion driving all the time
A burning need for things not mine
Desire (3X)
You need your love, I walk from it
You fight for love, I run from it
My enemy, desire
Caressing me, desire
The torch I carried burnt my hand
I can't control what I can't stand
Desire (3X)
You live for love, I lie for it
You give for love, I shy from it
And the pain, and the lust
And the want, and the hurt
And the lies, and the fear
And the urge, and the feel
And the touch, and it's all
A friend I call desire
You live for love, I lie for it
You give for love, I shy from it
And the pain, and the lies
And the touch, and it's all
A friend I call desire
Loading comments slowly
