On the Beach

[H. Blackrose]

If Andrew's on the beach, I wouldn't worry about him. He's got his spade and (luckily) a very big bucket. Probably building a nice new castle, away from the salt-water, above the tidemark. You're still wondering sadly what happened to the first one. Go figure. I'm man enough to call a spade a weapon, but I'm certainly not inclined to get back in the riptide as long as you're splashing around in the shallows, playing frisbee with your brain.

--- , UTR 14, 1995

Also: Nevil Shute and Neil Young

[Being645]

Seems there is a typo in the lyrics on the website ... or maybe it's just me, but I don't know and can't find the word "rievers" in any dictionary ...

ON THE BEACH (2020)

in the fever dreams of alice I have seen the walking dead
I have been there at the border whither malice goons are led
I have seen them dig their boonies where the ignorants are bred
do them in the head

we are rievers by conviction, we're believers in the bus
we will steal what we cannot buy when all is stole from us
we are whole in our fracture, we are even in our each
when dog eat dog we're honoured on the beach

a thousand thousand souls have never seen the sea
you'll never hurt more as damnation's hi-viz entity
transaction's tabard's not a thing to keep you keep afloat
the chevaliers are on a boat
it's not your boat

all states have a border
that's the reason
that's the order
inside and outside, on the beach

we're parked and yet we're not
we're on the sand
this can go two ways
understand

[Pista]

Riever .
It's a very old word

[Being645]

Riever .
It's a very old word

Thank you very much ... ...

[iesus]

This is archaic for goat thieves?

[Kutan]

You rieve what you sow...

[kafka]

Does anyone else think the last two lines might be a pointer that the lyric can be read backwards - thus:

understand
this can go two ways
we're on the sand
we're parked and yet we're not
inside and outside, on the beach
that's the order
that's the reason
all states have a border

it's not your boat
the chevaliers are on a boat
transaction's tabard's not a thing to keep you keep afloat
you'll never hurt more as damnation's hi-viz entity
a thousand thousand souls have never seen the sea

when dog eat dog we're honoured on the beach
we are whole in our fracture, we are even in our each
we will steal what we cannot buy when all is stole from us
we are rievers by conviction, we're believers in the bus

do them in the head
I have seen them dig their boonies where the ignorants are bred
I have been there at the border whither malice goons are led
in the fever dreams of alice I have seen the walking dead

[Being645]

Good idea, kafka ...

[Dr. Moody]

What is "The Reivers" about?

One of Faulkner's comic masterpieces, The Reivers is a picaresque that tells of three unlikely car thieves from rural Mississippi. Eleven-year-old Lucius Priest is persuaded by Boon Hogganbeck, one of his family's retainers, to steal his grandfather's car and make a trip to Memphis.


Also nice one Kafka, very crossword clue, very

[H. Blackrose]

So many layers to this one:
- the semi-obvious political one about migration
- the slightly deeper one about the band itself; "believers in the bus"; Eldritch's 1995 quote above, which uses "on the beach" in the old Navy sense to mean "retired". We're parked and yet we're not. Indeed.
- the one about global nuclear holocaust (Neville Shute)

[Dr. Moody]

"we're parked and yet we're not"

It sounds like they're singing "we're stained and yet we're not" it's something other than parked anyway.
Hope another recording turns up. It's a keeper.

[Eighthcircle]

It also sounds like the "honoured on the beach" line has been altered love to "honoured in the breach" and we know Von enjoys a reference to the bard's works

[Jeremiah]

"we're parked and yet we're not"

It sounds like they're singing "we're stained and yet we're not" it's something other than parked anyway.
Hope another recording turns up. It's a keeper.

It sounds like "parked" the first time, but something else the second time.
Perhaps "We're fading yet we're not"?

[iesus]

I was having some time to kill with an AI and had that conversation about Tsom, "On The Beach" and chords, lyrics.
Got this... Enjoy!!

the song in the link is by "The Sisters of Mercy" , it is called "On The Beach" but it is a genuine not a cover of "Cat Steven" or "The Beach Boys", can you provide the chords for the on by the band "The Sisters of Mercy" ?

Answer

Sure, here are the chords for the song "On the Beach" by the band "The Sisters of Mercy":

Verse: Em, D, C, D
Chorus: G, Em, D, C, D
Bridge: Em, D, C, D
Outro: Em, D, C, D

The song is in the key of Em, and the chords are all triads, which means that they are made up of three notes. The song has a dark and brooding atmosphere, and the chords reflect this.

The verse chords are Em, D, and C. These chords are all in the key of Em, and they create a sense of tension and suspense. The chorus chords are G, Em, D, C, and D. These chords are also in the key of Em, but they are more upbeat and driving than the verse chords.

The bridge chords are the same as the verse chords, and they create a sense of return to the tension and suspense of the verse. The outro chords are also the same as the verse chords, and they bring the song to a close.

The song is relatively easy to play on the guitar, and the chords are all basic triads. However, the song's dark and brooding atmosphere can be difficult to capture. To play the song well, it is important to focus on the rhythm and dynamics. The verse chords should be played slowly and deliberately, while the chorus chords should be played with more energy and drive.

I hope this helps!

can you provide me also with the lyrics available for it?

Sure, here are the lyrics to the song "On the Beach" by the band "The Sisters of Mercy":

On the beach, on the beach
Where the waves crash and the seagulls screech
You stand alone, in the cold grey light
And you stare out at the sea, through the endless night

On the beach, on the beach
Where the wind howls and the waves breach
You dream of a world that once was
And you wonder if it ever was

(Chorus)
On the beach, on the beach
Where the sands of time forever reach
You're lost in a world of your own
And you're never coming home

On the beach, on the beach
Where the ghosts of the past forever creep
You see their faces in the waves
And you hear their voices in the wind's rave

(Chorus)
On the beach, on the beach
Where the sands of time forever reach
You're lost in a world of your own
And you're never coming home

On the beach, on the beach
Where the sun never shines and the moon never gleams
You're trapped in a world of despair
And you'll never escape from there

(Chorus)
On the beach, on the beach
Where the sands of time forever reach
You're lost in a world of your own
And you're never coming home

On the beach, on the beach
Where the waves crash and the seagulls screech
You stand alone, in the cold grey light
And you stare out at the sea, through the endless night

[LyanvisAberrant]

It's just making s**t up really isnt it? Those arent the chords, nor the lyrics and i don't like when robots try too hard haha

[Icon]

Maybe someone should pass this on to Mr. Hussey. It would fit.

[Esoterica]

Oh, but then computers (with or w/o AI capability) only do what the humans tell them to do.

[Fallon]

Now stop me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs but like others, I'd assumed from the out that this song took its title from the Nevil Shute novel and the Stanley Kramer film adaptation - it gets interesting from there though.

"On the beach" was, at the time the novel was written, navy slang for no longer being in active service, or alternatively (and less common), being on shore leave. The novel's title is generally understood to be a double meaning: it's partly a reference to the naval phrase and partly a lift from Eliot's The Hollow Men, which the novel refers to pretty overtly (as does Eldritch throughout his career - doesn't everyone love The Hollow Men, though?):

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Note that The Hollow Men also plays a key part in Apocalypse Now - which Eldritch referred to in War On Drugs.

There seems to be a prevailing through-line in much of Eldritch's writing around Eliot, by way of cinema, by way of apocalypse or cataclysm. We know he loves a good classic SF film too, so novel and film are both likely to resonate with him.

The extent to which the Sisters song is 'based on' or 'about' any of these other works is never going to be clear because Eldritch tends to connect his own work fairly obliquely to its source material (and I love him for it), but tonally and thematically, they're compatible (though the band missed a trick by debuting it in Sydney rather than Melbourne, where much of the film and novel is set!).

In terms of specific subject matter: days I think that the song is about Trumpism (all the stuff about borders, including reivers, may refer to either the villainy of those who sought to build the wall, as in "border reivers" etc); on other days I think it may refer to a distaste or disillusionment with the band's audience. Sometimes I think it's about the end of the SIsters Of Mercy as an entity, and what may lie beyond it. They all carry a certain cataclysmic bleakness.

I don't suppose we'll ever know.

[sultan2075]

Now stop me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs but like others, I'd assumed from the out that this song took its title from the Nevil Shute novel and the Stanley Kramer film adaptation - it gets interesting from there though.

"On the beach" was, at the time the novel was written, navy slang for no longer being in active service, or alternatively (and less common), being on shore leave. The novel's title is generally understood to be a double meaning: it's partly a reference to the naval phrase and partly a lift from Eliot's The Hollow Men, which the novel refers to pretty overtly (as does Eldritch throughout his career - doesn't everyone love The Hollow Men, though?):

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Note that The Hollow Men also plays a key part in Apocalypse Now - which Eldritch referred to in War On Drugs.

There seems to be a prevailing through-line in much of Eldritch's writing around Eliot, by way of cinema, by way of apocalypse or cataclysm. We know he loves a good classic SF film too, so novel and film are both likely to resonate with him.

The extent to which the Sisters song is 'based on' or 'about' any of these other works is never going to be clear because Eldritch tends to connect his own work fairly obliquely to its source material (and I love him for it), but tonally and thematically, they're compatible (though the band missed a trick by debuting it in Sydney rather than Melbourne, where much of the film and novel is set!).

In terms of specific subject matter: days I think that the song is about Trumpism (all the stuff about borders, including reivers, may refer to either the villainy of those who sought to build the wall, as in "border reivers" etc); on other days I think it may refer to a distaste or disillusionment with the band's audience. Sometimes I think it's about the end of the SIsters Of Mercy as an entity, and what may lie beyond it. They all carry a certain cataclysmic bleakness.

I don't suppose we'll ever know.

I have to confess, I've always taken it as a song about the chickens of European colonialism coming home to roost, and the moral/political/psychological forces at play in the various involved parties. "This can go two ways" - i.e., violence is a possible outcome, but not the only one. "On the beach" - beaches are borders, and "all states have a border/that's the reason, that's the order/inside and outside" - i.e., inside and outside the state, inside and outside the border - "on the beach."

[H. Blackrose]

I mean, it's (on one level) about demonization and exclusion of migrants, which isn't just a Trump thing, it's very much a thing everywhere in the developed world including "Fortress Europe". But the beach is clearly the beach on which Alan Kurdi washed up (remember that poor little boy?)

But thinking about it more: "all states have a border". That's not just political states, it's any "state" of being. This is a song about liminal zones. On one level, it is a song about how The Sisters Of Mercy are, technically, and get this all you goths, undead. They are not dead, and yet not "alive" in the sense that most people would understand (making albums). They're parked and yet they're not. They exist in a twilight zone that no-one understands and Von thinks that's hilarious.

[Esoterica]

The goth subculture will always exist in one form or another, so it’ll just go along its merry way, like all others. What’s interesting, though, is that Eldritch said something in an earlier interview about creating a “United States of Europe,” a kind of federalist approach not currently on the docket. Some people like borders, some don’t—witness the latest Aussie interview with Nigel Farage. So yes, “this can go two ways,” only because those who prefer borders are likely to clash with those who don’t. Keep abreast of both sides, if only to reinforce your own.

[gjh]

There are other beaches and other ways to be on them in Eliot. Prufrock, for instance, "I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach." And from The Dry Salvages
The silent withering of autumn flowers
Dropping their petals and remaining motionless;
Where is there and end to the drifting wreckage,
The prayer of the bone on the beach, the unprayable
Prayer at the calamitous annunciation?

But most of all, and here I guess we also loop back to Shute, there's Walt Whitman.... https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/ ... h-at-night

[lazarus corporation]

Re. the phrase "the beach":

I am increasingly wondering if Eldritch is using "the beach" as a metaphor for being on stage at a gig.

Firstly, there's the line on the official site:

This website contains ninety-seven million words, which are
"REDEMPTION" and "BEACH"

...where the word BEACH links to the Live News page.

Secondly there's the similarities between a flat stage & roiling expense of the audience and the flat expanse of beach looking out over a sea (of faces) (yes, I'm very deliberately quoting Marian - I think this is where the metaphor first started to emerge, and Marian reads quite interestingly when read this way, especially if you read sea/water/wave as the audience at a gig, or an over-demanding string of gigs, which IIRC, very much was the case in 84/85 when that song was developed).

Coupled with what he said about BEACH in the interview with Mark Andrews, that points to a feeling of responsibility to tour and play gigs.

Eldritch also notes in that part of the interview that "it’s also about being stuck between worlds, not necessarily of one’s own volition", and a beach is certainly a liminal (and littoral) zone between the worlds of land and sea, comparable with the liminal state of touring, from city to city, hotel to hotel.

And so the line from the song - "we're believers in the bus" - becomes a tour bus (believing in the bus as a thing that must be done, and being believers inside the bus). Similarly all states (of mind) have a border, and there is a clear mental border between Eldritch performing at a gig (outside) and the more private person (inside)


As usual, I'm probably over-thinking things...

[Eighthcircle]

Re. the phrase "the beach":

I am increasingly wondering if Eldritch is using "the beach" as a metaphor for being on stage at a gig.

Firstly, there's the line on the official site:

This website contains ninety-seven million words, which are
"REDEMPTION" and "BEACH"

...where the word BEACH links to the Live News page.

Secondly there's the similarities between a flat stage & roiling expense of the audience and the flat expanse of beach looking out over a sea (of faces) (yes, I'm very deliberately quoting Marian - I think this is where the metaphor first started to emerge, and Marian reads quite interestingly when read this way, especially if you read sea/water/wave as the audience at a gig, or an over-demanding string of gigs, which IIRC, very much was the case in 84/85 when that song was developed).

Coupled with what he said about BEACH in the interview with Mark Andrews, that points to a feeling of responsibility to tour and play gigs.

Eldritch also notes in that part of the interview that "it’s also about being stuck between worlds, not necessarily of one’s own volition", and a beach is certainly a liminal (and littoral) zone between the worlds of land and sea, comparable with the liminal state of touring, from city to city, hotel to hotel.

And so the line from the song - "we're believers in the bus" - becomes a tour bus (believing in the bus as a thing that must be done, and being believers inside the bus). Similarly all states (of mind) have a border, and there is a clear mental border between Eldritch performing at a gig (outside) and the more private person (inside)


As usual, I'm probably over-thinking things...

If memory serves, the BEACH link originally linked to the live news page when all they had scheduled was a festival somewhere near or on a beach. I think in this instance it's the customary lack of website maintenance. Similarly the REDEMPTION link dates back to when St Pauli escaped the regional league underworld and I don't want to even think about how long ago that was.
I'm also fairly certain "believers in the bus" is a straightforward Brexit reference.

[lazarus corporation]

I'm also fairly certain "believers in the bus" is a straightforward Brexit reference.

I completely agree that it means that as well