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winstonsmith
14-05-2007, 01:33 PM
Out of curiousity, do we have many fans of the band Godspeed You! Black Emperor on this forum?

I think their music would resonate with a lot of people that come on here and I would highly recommend checking out their music if you haven't already.

Recommended songs: 'East Hastings' (featured on the soundtrack to '28 Days Later'), 'Blaise Bailey Finnegan III' (aka BBF3), 'Sleep'...

tru3
14-05-2007, 01:59 PM
Out of curiousity, do we have many fans of the band Godspeed You! Black Emperor on this forum?

I think their music would resonate with a lot of people that come on here and I would highly recommend checking out their music if you haven't already.

Recommended songs: 'East Hastings' (featured on the soundtrack to '28 Days Later'), 'Blaise Bailey Finnegan III' (aka BBF3), 'Sleep'...


post some lyrics in the "meaningful lyrics" thread mate. let's take a look. :)

winstonsmith
14-05-2007, 02:29 PM
Most of their music is instrumental with the occassional monologue dubbed over. Here's an example of one such monologue (taken from 'The Dead Flag Blues'), although to really appreciate what they're about you'd need to actually listen to them:

"the car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel
and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
and a dark wind blows
the government is corrupt
and we're on so many drugs
with the radio on and the curtains drawn

we're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
and the machine is bleeding to death

the sun has fallen down
and the billboards are all leering
and the flags are all dead at the top of their poles

it went like this:

the buildings tumbled in on themselves
mothers clutching babies picked through the rubble
and pulled out their hair

the skyline was beautiful on fire
all twisted metal stretching upwards
everything washed in a thin orange haze

i said: "kiss me, you're beautiful -
these are truly the last days"

you grabbed my hand and we fell into it
like a daydream or a fever

we woke up one morning and fell a little further down -
for sure it's the valley of death

i open up my wallet
and it's full of blood"

lumukanda
14-05-2007, 04:09 PM
this is all i know about them, i read this a while ago and for some reason the name stuck in my head :

Renowned Canadian nontet Godspeed You! Black Emperor were held for questioning as possible terrorists at an Oklahoma gas station on Saturday, while driving from a concert they'd played at Fort Worth, TX's Ridglea Theatre to a show to be held the following Monday at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO. According to Tom Windish, a representative for the band at The Billions Corporation, the band pulled their two vans and white-panel truck, which they use for toting equipment, into an area gas station to refuel. Upon seeing the motley crew of nine musicians, the station's attendant passed a note to a female customer which said that the band were terrorists. It asked her to call the police.

Before even having a chance to leave the station, the group was reportedly approached by police. FBI agents arrived soon after. Some members of the band were held for questioning for roughly three hours before finally being released as innocents. "They get hassled by The Man regularly," said Bruce Adams, co-founder of the Chicago-based label Kranky. "Police pulling them over, anything you can imagine. It's just the feeling in the country right now."
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/2003/03/24

thedame
14-05-2007, 04:26 PM
I would probably say it was their methodology and anti-authoritarian attitude which would resonate more than their music per se. I used to be a big fan but haven't listened to them or their myriad side-projects for a long time.

I met one of the guys at All Tomorrow's Parties, which is a UK indie festival, in 1999 (or 2000). They were headlining and he said he hated it.. said it was like an indie concentration camp!

They ARE a great group for symbolism in their artwork. Their first record came out on vinyl with an american coin (a nickle i think) which had been run over by a train. I love the idea of them sitting out there in the night watching a train run over loads of coins. Very strange, and probably symbolic of the 'resistance youth movement' crushing the old (masonic) symbols. Or something.

thedame