Heartland

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.

Pista wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 14:51 Riever .
It's a very old word

Dr. Moody wrote: ↑02 Nov 2022, 19:21 "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.

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" ?

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

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

Fallon wrote: ↑29 Oct 2023, 13:21 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.

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

lazarus corporation wrote: ↑17 Nov 2023, 14:33 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 wrote: ↑18 Nov 2023, 03:56 I'm also fairly certain "believers in the bus" is a straightforward Brexit reference.