Saturday, November 04, 2006

Songs To Learn And Sing #4

Bringing along a favourite song you should know about today, from Silent Words Speak Loudest and The Art Of Noise, Ben Woolhead:

The Black Heart Procession - A Truth Quietly Told

Draw the curtains closed, grip the duvet tight, and let me begin.

Once upon a time (1997, to be precise), in a place far, far away (well, San Diego) two men by the names of Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel decided to put their band Three Mile Pilot on indefinite hiatus and try something new. Thus The Black Heart Procession were born.

With the help of a supporting cast of additional musicians and over the
course of two albums (called 1 and 2, for simplicity), the duo honed the sort of unique and unsettling sound that one might expect of musicians who claimed in an NME interview to be influenced equally by Black Sabbath and Eastern European folk music.

2 was followed by Three in 2000 - but not before the characteristically
self-explanatorily-titled 3 Songs EP had been sent blinking and cowering into the light of day. At first it was the second track, the instrumental 'Destroying The City Of Hearts', that held me transfixed in its thrall - but before long I had escaped its clutches only to find myself utterly, utterly possessed by the opener.

'A Truth Quietly Told' is, shall we say, a song that very definitely has something of the night about it. It starts with an eerily desolate
soundscape of chimes and saw (that most underrated of instruments) - and then in crashes one of the most archly melodramatic piano lines you'll ever hear. It's Tom Waits gone Hammer Horror.

And yet, for all its pantomimic excess and gothic flourish (complemented by the EP's cover art featuring cartoon bats and a man with a horse's head), there's something seriously unnerving about this song which gets right under the skin. Just listen to the crescendo at 2:30 and tell me your hair isn't standing on end.

And then there's the key lyric: the apparent "truth" that is being "quietly told" is that "I'll be there for you". Words that would ordinarily be a source of comfort and consolation instead assume a sinister and threatening shape in the context of the music to which they're set. He'll be there all right, lurking in the shadows, waiting and watching.

It tails off into the night as it began, with unsettling chimes and saw, and it's fairly safe to assume that no-one lived happily ever after. At very least, they will have woken up with bite marks to the neck.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

成人電影,情色,本土自拍, 美女交友, 嘟嘟成人網, 成人貼圖, 成人電影, A片, 豆豆聊天室, 聊天室, UT聊天室, 尋夢園聊天室, 男同志聊天室, UT男同志聊天室, 聊天室尋夢園, 080聊天室, 080苗栗人聊天室, 6K聊天室, 女同志聊天室, 小高聊天室, 情色論壇, 色情網站, 成人網站, 成人論壇, 免費A片, 上班族聊天室, 成人聊天室, 成人小說, 微風成人區, 色美媚部落格, 成人文章, 成人圖片區, 免費成人影片, 成人論壇, 情色聊天室, 寄情築園小遊戲, AV女優,成人電影,情色,本土自拍, A片下載, 日本A片, 麗的色遊戲, 色色網, ,嘟嘟情人色網, 色情網站, 成人網站, 正妹牆, 正妹百人斬, aio,伊莉, 伊莉討論區, 成人遊戲, 成人影城,
ut聊天室,
免費A片, AV女優, 美女視訊, 情色交友, 免費AV, 色情網站, 辣妹視訊, 美女交友, 色情影片 成人影片, 成人網站, A片,H漫, 18成人, 成人圖片, 成人漫畫, 情色網,
日本A片, 愛情公寓, 情色, 舊情人, 情色貼圖, 情色文學, 情色交友, 色情聊天室, 色情小說, 一葉情貼圖片區, 情色小說, 色情, 色情遊戲, 情色視訊, 情色電影, aio交友愛情館, 色情a片, 一夜情, 辣妹視訊, 視訊聊天室, 免費視訊聊天, 免費視訊, 視訊, 視訊美女, 美女視訊, 視訊交友, 視訊聊天, 免費視訊聊天室, 情人視訊網影音視訊聊天室, 視訊交友90739, 成人影片, 成人交友, 本土自拍, 免費A片下載, 性愛,
成人交友, 嘟嘟成人網, 成人電影, 成人, 成人貼圖, 成人小說, 成人文章, 成人圖片區, 免費成人影片, 成人遊戲, 微風成人, 愛情公寓, 情色, 情色貼圖, 情色文學, 做愛, 色情聊天室, 色情小說, 一葉情貼圖片區, 情色小說, 色情, 寄情築園小遊戲, 色情遊戲情色視訊, 情色電影, aio交友愛情館, 言情小說, 愛情小說, 色情A片, 情色論壇, 色情影片, 視訊聊天室, 免費視訊聊天, 免費視訊, 視訊美女, 視訊交友, 視訊聊天, 免費視訊聊天室, a片下載, aV, av片, A漫, av dvd, av成人網, 聊天室, 成人論壇, 本土自拍, 自拍, A片,成人電影,情色,本土自拍,