Appreciating the songs of Von

THE place for your Sisters-related comments, questions and snippets of Sisters information. For those who do not know, The Sisters of Mercy are a rock'n'roll band. And a pop band. And an industrial groove machine. Or so they say. They make records. Lots of records, apparently. But not in your galaxy. They play concerts. Lots of concerts, actually. But you still cannot see them. So what's it all about, Alfie? This is one of the few tightly-moderated forums on Heartland, so please keep on-topic. All off-topic posts will either be moved or deleted. Chairman Bux is the editor and the editor's decision is final. Danke.
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lsind
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Thanks Being.
Still doesn't work, but I'll keep trying.
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stufarq
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million voices wrote:He may be referencing Marina from Stingray - just a thought
Wayne did that with Severina.
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Llamatron
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This was one of the big things that hooked me on The Sisters years and years ago. The writing was much better than your average rock lyrics- especially stuff that tries to pass itself off as serious and winds up a giant bag of wank.
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playboy
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Hom_Corleone wrote:
playboy wrote:And Marian as an anagram reference to Miriam? Not sure about that. First And Last was called Marian in the beginning - Marian was a Andrews ex-girlfriend, she was from Hamburg (for a few years Andrew refused to sing that song in Hamburg.
I always though it was simply homage to Leonard Cohen.
Could be, though he had a girlfriend in germany called Marian, she lived in Hamburg and he has never played that song live in Hamburg and also often dropped it from the setlist on other German concerts as well since 1985.
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paint it black
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playboy wrote:
Hom_Corleone wrote:
playboy wrote:And Marian as an anagram reference to Miriam? Not sure about that. First And Last was called Marian in the beginning - Marian was a Andrews ex-girlfriend, she was from Hamburg (for a few years Andrew refused to sing that song in Hamburg.
I always though it was simply homage to Leonard Cohen.
Could be, though he had a girlfriend in germany called Marian, she lived in Hamburg and he has never played that song live in Hamburg and also often dropped it from the setlist on other German concerts as well since 1985.
nope, was missed in 1985 only and only at Hamburg. As she was allegedly in the crowd

(C: calls for marian) (E: I hate to see a man cry especially when it’s me)

eta: you're correct post 1985 Hamburg gigs
Goths have feelings too
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playboy
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paint it black wrote:
playboy wrote:
Hom_Corleone wrote: I always though it was simply homage to Leonard Cohen.
Could be, though he had a girlfriend in germany called Marian, she lived in Hamburg and he has never played that song live in Hamburg and also often dropped it from the setlist on other German concerts as well since 1985.
nope, was missed in 1985 only and only at Hamburg. As she was allegedly in the crowd

(C: calls for marian) (E: I hate to see a man cry especially when it’s me)

eta: you're correct post 1985 Hamburg gigs
Yeah, I was wrong, it was a long time ago so I remembered wrong.... I know now . Marian was not missed at all in 1985, they played it in Hamburg as well as the other shows.

It was dropped in november 1990 at both Hamburgs gigs, in Barcelona 1991 (I think) (for some reason), again in Hamburg 1991, also Munster 1991, again in Hamburg 2009 (it was played at all other shows 2009). So it has only been played once live in Hamburg and that was in 1985.
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paint it black
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no you were correct. played Nov 84, missed in 85. the quotation was from my source identifier for the 1985 show

and then missed in 1990 etc..
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RockNRoll Mercenary
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Great article, very true.

As much as I love FOTN, I did laugh at that 'car mechanics from Stevenage writing songs about Sergio Leone' jibe.
'Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future'- Oscar Wilde
I'll see you tomorrow.
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Nikolas Vitus Lagartija
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So let me get this straight. Sisters fans, castigated by :von: for their shallow appreciation of lyrics, think that the famous chorus of Marian is a subtextual cruciverbalist clue to a TS Eliot poem, whereas in fact the lyrical master has outdone them again with an incredible double bluff, as "I hear you calling, Marian, Across the water, across the wave" actually refers to the appeal of a girl called Marian who lives over the sea. :roll:
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stufarq
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Nikolas Vitus Lagartija wrote:So let me get this straight. Sisters fans, castigated by :von: for their shallow appreciation of lyrics, think that the famous chorus of Marian is a subtextual cruciverbalist clue to a TS Eliot poem, whereas in fact the lyrical master has outdone them again with an incredible double bluff, as "I hear you calling, Marian, Across the water, across the wave" actually refers to the appeal of a girl called Marian who lives over the sea. :roll:
They were probably thrown off by the German language verse. :innocent:
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paint it black
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http://www.myheartland.co.uk/viewtopic. ... ht=#435469

:innocent:
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million voices
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Is that the final decison then?
Marian is in fact an anagram of Marian?
And in this case T S Eliot is a red herring and just an anagram of toilets?
Well you must know something
'Cos we're dying of admiration here
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nowayjose
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million voices wrote:Is that the final decison then?
Marian is in fact an anagram of Marian?
And in this case T S Eliot is a red herring and just an anagram of toilets?
I've never suspected any deeper meaning behind those lyrics... am I too simplistic? I like the music, and that's that. I never expected a 20-something drug addict to be able to explain the world to me.
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stufarq
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stufarq wrote:
markfiend wrote:I must admit I'd never spotted the (rather obvious in retrospect) Marian / Marina thing. :oops:
Not convinced. Von's own explanation is completely different and doesn't mention Eliot:
http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/gen ... aqnorm.htm
:innocent:
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centurionofprix
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I don't think his themes, as such, are different from other writers'; the difference to most lyricists is rather in the refinement and precision of his way of talking about those themes, and the consequent power of his lyrics, as in the deluge metaphor he develops in Rain From Heaven and throughout Floodland, all the collected meanings seeming to come together in the climactic howl of Flood II. Or the cobalt salted UTG monologue. This, to me at least, is some sublime songwriting.
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