The Music
What I hold closest to me is music.
It’s my life, my love, my dreams
And inspiration, the moment I go deaf
If the moment I throw myself off a building.
The important of music, music fuels the heart of me
Aside from the blood that flows inside of coarse.
Music speaks when you can’t
Music never lies, unless its sung by some cheap plastic pop whore (male and female alike).
We’re living in a disposable age, where music comes cheap
With iTunes, iPods, instant just-ad-water music apathy
I try my hardest to avoid anything that makes my skin crawl
I try to avoid disposable trash at any cost possible.
But some people like the trash, I don’t.
To me, music IS the most spiritual thing I can ever be connected to.
If spirituality exists and if we’re all connected to some electric pulse
That draws us closer (and distant) to the greater unknowns.
Music, its my everything and my nothing
All at once, and I’d like to express my love to some
Inspiration and distorted light that shines on me
Whenever the sounds of music is heard.
And I’ll do my best, to crack my head open
And invite you to my symphony of imagination.
I’ll do my best, with my imagination.
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Joy Division
To me, Joy Division are almost biblical, and I say that
Without the concept of religion.
The lyrics of Ian Curtis, simply amazing, haunting poetry
Of a man who saw his own end, loveless, tragic and beautiful
ICE AGE, DECADES and KOMAKINO – songs that I keep deep
Inside my heart, sometime music means more to me than most people
Given what day these emotions resonate.
The music of Joy Division has taught me a lot
About myself and how deep melancholy can go inside a person, as well as beauty
The depths of love, how fragile a heart can be. The darkness of the soul
And the light, oh how easy it is to diminish it
When love bleeds us all dry.
I’ve seen the darkness, and I’ve seen beauty just as well.
I know these lyrics too well, the music of Joy Division
Is more than “MUSIC”, it’s life
It’s love
And it’s death eternal, simply put.
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Crystal Castles
I’m not overly too fond of most electronic music that is out there.
But I’ve got so much love and respect for Crystal Castles
Their music seeps into my skin, like a needle, if I was a junkie
They’d be my dealer and my fix, trashy, dark electric vibrations
My mind is set on autopilot
As I was sink even deeper into the sounds of Crystal Castles
When I saw them live, they opened up for Nine Inch Nails,
In the summer of 2008, the bass was loud, and throbbing
I could feel a tingle up my spine, electric sounds pulsating in my brain
Amazing band, great songs, electric anarchy
Canadian Rebels
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Dead Man’s Bones
I have a great many respects for actor Ryan Gosling
His performance in Half Nelson fucking deserved the academy award,
Although I’d sooner die than watch The Notebook, not a fan of romance films.
Well a few weeks ago I heard some songs from his music project
Dead Man’s Bones,
And was blown away, the whole Gothic sound, it’s like Halloween is every day
And it’s time to go out and spread the spooky fun.
I love Goth Rock in any form it comes,
As long as the songs are good, the imagery is great,
Goth Rock can never go wrong
And with Dead Man’s Bones, Goth Rock has taken a huge leap forward with
This group’s Gothic-Rock and Roll/Folk wordplay, playing with childish imagery
Of Zombie Children and Witches and Ghosts
I am looking forward to hearing more from this great new music experience.
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Arcade Fire
My Body is a Cage, a song, for me, one of the greatest Gothic songs ever written
And performed, by the Arcade Fire, they remind me of Joy Division.
Their wordplay, Neon Bible is a masterpiece, INTERVENTION
Is one hell of a song, the use of church organs
At first puzzled me, their overly dark lyrics flirt with religious imagery
And being of no religion, I found this utterly interesting.
I love the Arcade fire, been a fan since 2004, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired
Of their music, in this day and age, music like this really matters,
It’s proof that good music HAS come out of this decade
of false poets and
Harlot pop trash.
Here is something I’ll leave you with about the Arcade Fire, back in March 2008,
While walking through a field, I had my headphones on,
A murder of crows, out of nowhere started to circle me, not attacking
But shielding me it seemed, MY BODY IS A CAGE was playing at the moment.
As I walked through the field, going home,
these birds flew with me until I reached
The other end of the field, as I reached my door, it was like a spiritual cleansing
All the rage and sadness I was feeling left as the murder flew away.
Funny how that song was playing, it was like a Gothic Musical had taken over
My life for that one moment, and I was the tragic harlequin
And the birds were my expression, as the song was playing on.
A silent film, but with music.
“…set my spirit free, set my body free..”
The birds did so for that one moment, they truly did.
(now how is that for using your imagination?)
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Neko Case
She is dark, despite her indie credibility, her album
FOX CONFESSOR BRINGS THE FLOOD,
Speaks on so many levels, she truly is a mystical being with her songs,
HOLD ON HOLD ON,
Perhaps THE darkest song I’ve ever heard, the nightmares its produced, the inspiration it bled.
The many nights I’ve found myself lost in that song,
Trying to figure out what it means to me, I even went through
Tarot to figure it out
But I still didn’t find all the answers
The music of Neko Case will always be a puzzling experience for me
She sings deeply about things that just get to me
On a level that pretty much almost no other artist can reach
Aside from a few others
If the Devil exists, than she has given us his embrace and welcomes
Us all down that dark highway, hitchhiking
To another lost town, filled with blurry faces. In the blood red moonlight.
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City and Colour
Dallas Green, he’s a songwriter and singer that I owe a lot to.
City and Colour and Alexisonfire, he’s one of my all time favorite singers
And songwriters, his emotion is pure, there is no bullshit with him
He speaks of beauty, heartbreak and life all around
I think Dallas is beautiful, he breaks my heart with his sorrowful voice.
It’s hard to dive into the music of City and Colour sometimes
The music has inspired a LOT out of me, you wont believe how much
Has come out of me because of this one man.
City and Colour’s album BRING ME YOUR LOVE was by far the best album
Of 2008, I have the deluxe special edition and the original version of the album
Only 5000 copies were made for the deluxe edition and I have one of them.
If you hear only one song by City and Colour it should be WHAT MAKES A MAN?
Or FAITHLESS, I’ve found myself lost in these so many times, it’s unreal.
One man and a guitar can shatter all if he dares to.
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Alkaline Trio
I love every album Alkaline Trio has put out,
Their love for bleak imagery really speaks to me, having been
Dealt with a fucked up deck of cards, my life has had
It’s many ups and downs, and whenever I get to the point of ending it all
Because it’s too much to take, I got music like Alkaline Trio
To pull me back and take a good look at the Skeleton in the mirror
Life isn’t easy and thank fuck this band exists, who wants to hear songs
About happiness and sunshine? I sure as hell don’t.
That’s not life, that’s not the way it is for most.
It’s been 12 years now for me since I got into the music of Alkaline Trio
They mean so much to me, Matt Skiba one hell of a songwriter.
All members being members of the church of Satan intrigues me,
Being a lover of darker things, I find this fucking great.
I am not religious, I’m not going to choose sides.
Like a tug-of-war in a schoolyard. I don’t need to choose light over dark
Or dark over light.
Who wants to be normal? I don’t. Thank Fuck for Alkaline Trio.
All my anger, all my sorrow, all my anarchy and all my past relationships
Disappear, whenever I put on one of their albums
I’m a Skeleton, and I’ve heard their call.
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Neverending White Lights
Gothic Victorian imagery, album concepts about angels and saints, blood and life
And the life force that is blood, Neverending White Lights,
is a musical experience
By Daniel Victor, a Canadian poet, master of Gothic delights, a harlequin
In dandy attire, beautiful lyrics, angelic songs, ambient synths,
THE GRACE, a song
That features Dallas Green on vocals,
his voice is almost other worldly on this one.
My love for angel imagery really comes out of me whenever I listen to NWL,
While drawing with charcoal, having no religion in my life has given
Me more freedom to enjoy the imagery of angels and saints without the whole
Idea of religion, this music doesn’t need religion getting in the way.
It’s about spirituality, and the light and the darkness
How we’re always thrown into both, how love can conquer all,
how death is not the end.
How our blood keeps us going, how the blood flows
and how we drain ourselves dry
Like vampires on the prey., THE LIVING, a song sung from the perspective
Of a ghost or a person dying, or even a vampire.
Lyrics written by a modern dandy.
A poet who’s wise beyond his artistic years,
music that deserves more recognition.
The Neverending White Lights take me to a place where I wish to stay and remain
The imagery of feathers falling from the sky,
the imagery of blooding pouring from
A white rose, Gothic and enchanting.
Melancholic beauty that never dies.
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Damien Rice
9 CRIMES pretty much describes one of the darkest periods of my life.
The point of no return kind of sadness that almost consumed me
Back in early 2008, it inspired my darkest poem CATHOLIC
And it sums up my relationship with Jordan.
It sums up all the depression that almost did me in. It sums up the healing
Process afterwards, it sums up the many nights I spent on my bed
With my headphones on. Looking for light.
Damien Rice makes intelligent music, I find it insulting how 9 CRIMES
Was put in the Shrek the 3rd movie, it doesn’t even
FUCKING SUITE THE GODDAMN MOVIE, it’s an insult to the song.
I often listen to Damien Rice late at night, his music has that midnight vibe
I often listen to him when I feel emotionally drained, to get life
Pumping again inside me when I feel lost, he’s just one man, which
Proves that one man can shatter all if he wants to, just like Dallas Green
And great singers like Elliott Smith and Johnny Cash.
9 CRIMES and COCONUT SKINS are
My two all time favorite songs by Damien Rice
The piano on 9 Crimes is like falling raindrops and the acoustic guitar
On Coconut Skins is beautiful. Damien is beautiful.
His honesty is beautiful and sad and hypnotic.
And 9 CRIMES is beyond what critics say
And what shitty movies its put in.
Damien Rice, much is owed to this poet, he is beyond his years.
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The Smashing Pumpkins
Now, I’ll do my best in trying to explain
What The Smashing Pumpkins mean to me.
They are above all, above most people, Billy Corgan,
If it wasn’t for his songs, his words, his sounds
I wouldn’t have walked this path that I do now.
I love The Smashing pumpkins, it’s something that has always
been there for me
And it will always be there.
People have come and go.
I let go of certain things, I’ve nearly died, I’ve been hurt
I’ve been tossed aside. But whatever I’ve been through
The music of The Smashing pumpkins has ALWAYS been there
You can’t ever take away from me the emotions that have
Come through me, when I’m listening to songs like
THE ROSE MARCH, FOR GOD AND COUNTRY, HONEYSPIDER, BLANK PAGE
(Just to name a few…)
You can’t ever take that feeling away
I believe in the positive healing of music,
I believe in the power that music can bring
And the power that it can take away
I believe in the music, because it has always been there for me.
The Smashing pumpkins mean so much to me, the music
Is the soundtrack to my life, same goes for any band
or singer that hits me deep
Inside they way The Smashing Pumpkins do.
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Afterthought
If I ever had anything worth calling a Religion
Music would be my religion.
Every singer would be my preacher, each song would be a hymn
My church would my bedroom, or anyplace I go.
With my headphones on, getting lost, in another song.
Another anthem, another poem.
Fucking off into another anarchist rant.
Music means the world to me, music is everything and nothing.
And in this disposable age we live in, I do my best
To stay true to the bands and singers that I hold close to me
I hope I’ve done my best, to explain
In the depths of imagination and surrealism, and strange realism
The imagination, the day dreaming, the days of my past life.
The sounds of beauty and anarchy, the sound of music
Locked away
In my heart.
-Jon Powder-
DandyJon 