Driven Like The Snow

[pikkrong]

Sisters version of "Jolene" (at least most of them i've heard) is (are) ACE

heh, you haven't heard the Speed Kings version from Drogheda 1990 then. Glad that band haven't been heard of since. They were terrible

that makes me curious
wicked as i am

[kafka]

At the risk of getting this topic back, er, on-topic, just a suggestion: DLTS could well be both about a (breakdown of a) relationship (as I'm sure it is) and about drugs - it'd hardly be the first time. Isn't Von on record as saying that, like NWN, he won't play DLTS live because of all the baggage that it carries? And, well, all the references to 'crystal' and to 'snow' and all the rest of it can hardly be anything other than classic Sisters drug references..

Heck, this song is so dense with possible readings that it's really quite difficult to tackle - "away to the west" or "a way to the west"? "the sky meet the ground" or, Hendrix-stylee, "this guy meet the ground"? Is "the street fold round" a reference to a wrap? What's it all about? Buggered if I know.

--George

[MrChris]

It's generally seen as a Claire song, no?

[Rabbit]

without having any knowledge (if any of us really do) of Eldrich's relationships and that sort,

i always thought that the "you're" in the begining, ( ..."the ground is frozen through and you're driven, like the snow") was not a reference to another person, but more of a way of Eldritch explaining himself. In that context, the first seven or eight lines of the song seem to tie in alot better with the rest.

i think that it would be about his ex clair or whatever her name was, but if he wont play it on stage because its so personal, then it would seem that its more about himself... if that doesnt sound like too much s**t.

i never saw this as being another drug song.. but you cant ignore the "and the mist will wrap around us, and the crystal if you touch it" and so on.
and if all sisters songs were drugs songs, then i dont see how they would be much more than any other s**t junkie band screwing around with that kind of music.


i dont know about that 5th dimension stuff though..

[nick the stripper]

I just looked up this thread because I've been going through a phase lately where all I listen to is Driven like the Snow, Torch and Flood one & two.

I've always thought - or felt - that Driven like the Snow was about sex under the influence of methamphetamines or the break up of a relationship.

Meth greatly increases the pleasures of sex and is used for this purpose in the leather scene, so I've heard.

Am I the only person to think that Von had or still has a Meth problem?

Here is the lyrics.

still night, nothing for miles
a white curtain come down
kill the lights in the middle of the road
and take a look around ...
it don't help to be one of the chosen
one of the few to be sure
when the wheels are spinning around
and the ground is frozen through and you're
driven, like the snow
pure in heart
driven together
and given
away to the west
a white dress
'til the river don't run
a black dress
looking like mine
'til the sun don't shine no more
where the sky meet the ground
where the street fold round
where the voice you hold don't make no sound, look
snow on the river and two by two
took a lot to live a lot like you
I don't go there now but I hear they sung their
f**k me and marry me young
some wild idea and a big white bed
now you know better than that, I said
like a voice in the wind blow little crystals down
like brittle things will break before they turn
like lipstick on my cigarette
and the ice get harder overhead
like think it twice but never never learn

and the mist will wrap around us
and the crystal, if you touch it ...

and the cars
lost in the drift
are there
and the people that drive
lost in the drift
are there
and the cares I've
lost in the drift
are there
theirs, ours,
lost in the drift
are ...
driven
driven together
and driven apart

[doc P]

snow on the river and two by two
took a lot to live a lot like you
I don't go there now but I hear they sung their
f u c k me and marry me young

subliminal messages 4 !

[BasimMiL]

Man, this post and board got me listening to the Sisters again after years of not...

I always thought Driven Like the Snow was about the Americanization of people who aren't comfortable with these ideas... It really hit a nerve being a Pakistani Deathrocker in my highschool years!

snow on the river and two by two
took a lot to live a lot like you

OR

and given
away to the west
a white dress


Of course, you don't need to have the "correct" interpretation to enjoy a song. Afterall, all that matters is how I think of it. Not others.

~ B[/b]

[Quiff Boy]

Man, this post and board got me listening to the Sisters again after years of not...

...which is our raison d'être after all

von can thank me later...

Of course, you don't need to have the "correct" interpretation to enjoy a song. Afterall, all that matters is how I think of it. Not others.

absolutely. and your take on it is an interesting one!

welcome aboard

[mh]

Mondo thread bump city.

The lady in question was Not Claire.

The info is out there if you want it.

[robertzombie]

tell us more!

[mh]

Von himself has not wanted to say the name, so I'll respect that and won't post it. But it's already publicly available, so if you have a look here: http://www.spookhouse.net/tsom/afterflood2.html (scroll to the bottom) you'll find out.

[robertzombie]

and here is one of their singles...



he's sort of there.....

[mh]

Plus an interesting fact here: http://www.sleazegrinder.com/flashmetal ... merica.htm

[eotunun]

That may explain who Miss Detroit is?
Edit: Allthough, after all these years that would be a rather tragic case of being unhappily in love..

[nick the stripper]

So is 'Driven Like the Snow' basically saying "f**k, it's happened again"?*

*See 'Nine While Nine'.

[eotunun]

Another discovery that only took me two decades:
Can I read "Took a lot to live, a lot like you" as "Took a bunch like you to make me live"

[markfiend]

Yes you could

What's with all the thread necro going on at the moment?

[eotunun]

In the lyrics section, that's normal I guess. In the others, it's lack of inspiration. Both from inside and outside.

[Brace]

One of the things I really like about Sisters' lyrics is the imagery. It gives us, the listeners, a chance to make our own whole of all those images, scenes and atmosphere he portrays in his lyrics.
And those in return give great pleasure in enjoying this music.

[7anthea7]

In the lyrics section, that's normal I guess. In the others, it's lack of inspiration. Both from inside and outside.

It's also due to some new folks actually taking the time to explore the site instead of asking questions or starting discussions that have already been done to death...

[Joy]

RAM Magazine - 23 March, 1988

[Being645]

RAM Magazine - 23 March, 1988

Lovely, thank you for posting! ... ...

[AdrenaChris]

Sorry for the necro, but there are days I think this is genuinely the best thing Eldritch ever did. For me the CD version with the full keyboard intro is the best, the LP version feels neutered in comparison.

"Like brittle things will break before they turn" - never quite gotten over how poignant that line is, along with all the rest of it.

[Somekindadion]

I read somewhere that Von still believes in Father Xmas . He had a difficult childhood and this impacted his belief system . The result being he disregarded his fathers plea to understand the truth about Father Xmas . This influenced the song Driven like the snow and has a deep spiritual link to Rudolph the Red Nose Rein Deer . In fact if you look closely on the back of Floodland Rudolph and Santa are name checked .
Von puts a glass of wine and mince pie next to the lap tops at all live gigs in the hope Santa and Rudolph will Duet on Some Kinda Christmas Cracjer

[ruffers]

Nothing to do with the lyric but as we know if you listen to this on Spotify you get an abbreviated intro.

I've discovered if you listen to it on Spotify from a compilation album called Rad in the 80's you get much more of the intro moody atmosphere.

That is all.