Music Monday: Editors
The Editors are one of my all time favourite bands and for this music monday I want to present a couple of my favourite songs.
I don't actually remember when I listened to them for the first time, but it must have been before 2010, because I remember listening to them before seeing them live at M'era Luna. I remember somebody from my festival crew pointing out that they were rather mainstream for the crowd that attends a gothic and alternative festival, but I had come to be a fan of their music already.
The fantastic vocals from Tom Smith and the frequently distinct and rocky instrumental parts make for a powerful combination. Overall the discography is pretty melancholic and deals with death, defeat and love a lot. The songs, musically bounce between pop rock and alternative rock.
The way it portraits society in a mocking way reminds of Genesis - Jesus he knows me at times. Over the years the Editors have become less rocky, but I think that's perfectly okay. There are the rough, loud and early tracks, the dark and epic ones and now at the music is a bit brighter and lighter on the recent albums.
From then to now a couple of my favourites:
In that moment you realise that something you thought would always be there, will die, like everything else.
These thoughts I must not think of, Dreams I can't make sense of, I need you to tell me it's OKWhen Anger Shows - Editors
The fragility of life, unfair challenges of society and love are topics that re-surface, also in The Racing Rats
Words spill from my drunken mouth, I just can't keep them all in, I keep up with the racing rats, and do my best to win.The "system" isn't frequently a topic in Editors songs, but I liked this one, because it catapults into your conciousness that you decide for a large part if you want to play the game or not. That you have a myriad of choices every day.
If there really was a god here, he'd have raised a hand by now Oh darling, you'll both get old and die here, well that's quite enough for me dear, we'll find our own way home somehow [...] and it kicks like a sleep twitchPapillon
Sleep twitches are fascinating and I think the metaphor is fitting when you imagine being in a state of sleep or passive flowing along and the sleep twitch jolts you out of your chair, out of your life and you feel something again. The idea itself is pretty symptomatic for recovering from a depression I guess, but that's not the only angle to look at the song, since the lyrics frequently are very abstract.
When I say the Editors sing about love, it's in a way that's similar to Florence + The Machine. It's overpowering, strong, manic and a bit like the rash heart of a Shakespearian character, shouting it out to the theatre.
For a moment, I felt the strength of your love, it was lightning, strike down, on me I'm a lump of meat, with a heartbeat, electricity, restarts me [...] Everyday I pray, that I'm the first to go, without you, I would be lostThe Weight
The de-valuation of the own existance, without the other part is a beautiful declaration of love to me, that not a lot of people can pull off, not in a song.
My world just expands, things just break in my hands, I'm a go-getterNo Harm