Heartland

Greetings!

As some of you may already know, a bit of news was recently posted to the Dominion list that TSOM had added the lyrics from a few of their new songs to their official website. Unfortunately, the lyrics list is by no means comprehensive. Still, it's worth a look, imho. You can check it out at http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/lyrics/lyrindex.htm

still no "crash and burn" though....

so what is everyone's fave lyrics (old or new)?

my top 5 lyrics (independent of the accompanying music):

1) train
2) anaconda
3) romeo down
4) flood I
5) driven like the snow...

and what about the new stuff? anyone think they are better/worse/same as the old stuff?

there is a definite shift in style and focus, as there was with the floodland/vision thing material... maybe this is all down to whatever von's drug of choice happens to be at the time?

My top 5 lyrics are the following

1 - Rock and a Hard Place
2 - Floorshow
2 - Ribbons
3 - Flood II
4 - Dominion
5 - 1959

I dont have a faveorite song - i love them all

Top 5 lyrics IMHO...
(In no particular order):

1) Floorshow (For me, the First, the Last, the Always. Lyrically naive? Yeah, perhaps. But the words said/say it all...)
2) Body and Soul (Goff lyrics incarnate...Out 'n' Proud)
3) Valentine (Cuz it made me go 'What the hell's he on abaaaaht?' for the very first time...This question has perhaps been uttered a number of times since in relation to Herr Eldritch's lyrics...And surely we're all the better for it...)
4) Dominion/Mother Russia...The full version...Cuz the idea (lyrically) IS big and it IS clever (very). Hah!
5) Afterhours (Cuz the words and the music really are utterly inseparable. And rather jolly excellent...)

BONUS Track:

6) Gimme Shelter (Yes, I know...)

Question: surely it's impossible to look at/hear these songs purely from a lyrical p.o.v...Or IS IT???

I can see now that I cant count (it was really late or really early) So it my top six!

I have read the lytics purely as poetry - it great to do. Old (83/84/85) demos have different music to different lyrics.

I read that the band did the music first and the lyrics later (i could be wrong!)

Love the DA quote!

in that case, if we're allowed 6 then i *must* choose Good Things.

its one of my all time fave sisters tracks based on ANY criteria

and yeah, there are demos of many early songs with different words...

there are also a few tracks that ended up being mutated into something entirley different. "driver" for example sounds like an early prototype for "heartland", and the demo of "anaconda" is rather less "utterly bastard groovy" than the finished studio version!

there is quite a good bootleg from 84 where von has either forgotten the words to walk away, or just not finished writing them yet, and just repeats "and when the rain comes down..." for about 2 and a half minutes! very funny!

I forgot about "Good Things" I love that song. Great.

Do they do it "Live" nowadays?

not that i know of... such a shame too

have they ever done 'good things' live? even in 81-85?

Have been pondering this, to the point of only listening to sisters in the car for the last few days.

Still can't come to a conclusion.

I must admit, I rarely separate lyrics from music, and judge them in a different context, but "When You Don't See Me" is lyrically okay, but, for some reason, I hate the song as a whole.

Bah. Still can't decide on 5. ??:

B*gger...
That Quiffboy chappie's got a point, akcherly...I forgot about Good Things too!
What a classic...And, to return to what I know is a very old theme among stalwart Sisters fans, Why Was It Never Released As A Single.. ??:
Though I seem to recollect it was considered at some point, at least as a b-side, if not an a-side...Could be wrong...
So Bonus Track 2 on my 'Sisters Lyrics as Pure Poetry' CD would be that very song...
Thanks...
You Know It Makes Sense!

as far as i know (which is very little in the grand scheme of things, but there you go

anyway, as far as i know, 'good things' was purely a studio demo.

it didn't end up on a record till the frenzied 'press any recording, stick a grays anatomy head on it 'n' sell it very very quickly at a vastly inflated price' hit in the late eighties, but it was recorded much earlier than that (it sounds like an early incarnation of the good doctor, maybe 83ish?¿?).

i also have the much rarer (i believe, just don't ask me what ) demo/studio version of jolene which is kinda odd as it doesn't get mentioned anywhere, but is easily as listenable/releasable as anything else they did back then.

and what about 'red skies disappear' why, oh why, was that never released (oh yeah, coz the music became 'first, last 'n' always' and the lyrics became more or less 'marian', 2 for the price of one!!)

or 'driver'?¿?¿ compared with 'damage done' (same period) it's a fargon masterpiece!!!

anyway, that's most of todays rant over with buggerit buggerit

U not having a good day, then, Nearmeth??
I s'pose we all have the option of listening to t'Sisters to cheer us up...
Errrrrrmmmmmmm...

ACK!!!

Boots? Demos? Unreleased tracks?!! Christ!! I guess I'm not a true Sisters fan after all, because I've got *none* of these (well, apart from a couple of mp3s I got from that short-lived FTP site posted to Dominion last year...)! :mad:

the only good things releases i can find are:

good things 7"(unofficial angel heart theme) cat #

Acoustics from the Beehive
#1/Body Politic/Lights/Anaconda/Driver/Good Things/Phantom/Burn/Kiss the Carpet/valentine #2/Flood I/Lucretia/Neverland/Untitled/Driven Like the Snow/Flood II
a. CD Beehive 184 BEE 1993
NOTES: Contents derived from Hard Reign and Kill the Lights bootlegs.
RECORDING NOTES:1-10 are portastudio demos
11-17 are floodland demoes
COVER ART: Picture of AE from TC video.

Before the Flood
Valentine 1/Body Politic/Lights/Anaconda/Driver/Good Things
Phantom/Burn/Kiss the Carpet/Valentine 2/Floorshow/Lights
Teachers-Adrenochrome/Damage Done/Watch
a. CD Portasound CDSIS 17
NOTES: CD version of Hard Reign see notes on it.
RECORDING NOTES: 1-10 labeled "portastudio demos"
11-13 demos for projected Floorshow ep
14-15 the first Sisters of Mercy single Sept 80
PACKAGING NOTES: Disc marked "for promotional use only. not for
sale" MR/WEA logo photocopied on back of box
COVER ART NOTES: Cover is photo of AE looking mean while the rest
look on. in side has AE with 'the Hat' and 'tune in,turn on,burn
out" back also has another shot of AE and 'the Hat'.


Good Things b/w 1969
a. 7" Dutch import
NOTES: Home studio recording quality

Good Things
a.7"
COVER ART NOTES: Comes in official looking glossy sleeve
proclaiming it to be the unofficial theme to Angel Heart with a
nice looking picture of Lucifer sitting in a chair holding a
cane.
RECORDING NOTES: Home studio quality sound. sounds slightly
better than one above.

Hard Reign
SIDE ONE: Valentine 1/Body Politic/Lights/Anaconda/Driver
SIDE TWO: Good Things/Phantom/Burn/Kiss the Carpet/Valentine 2
a. LP Portasound 1990
NOTES: Supposedly a promo item. Driver contains some music and
the first two lines of Heartland. Body Politic is really Fix,
Kiss the Carpet is really Burn and it is in instrumental version
Burn is a new song that contains the characteristic Burn drum
intro,as well as the lines "burn me/burn me/burn me/burn me
down" probably as _very_ early version of the Reptile House
song. It was used as the backwards part of the RH Burn. Lights
]s the Floorshow ep version. The two Valentines have no real
difference. Phantom is the same version that is on Studiouttakes
COVER ART NOTES: Pg 82 of the Heartland anthology.

Kill the Lights
Flood 1/Lucretia My Reflection/Neverland/Untitled/Driven Like
Snow/Flood 2/Afterhours/Lights/Fix/Good Things/Walk Away
a. LP Pallazzograssi 1990
NOTES: Untitled is a long guitar version. Walk Away is supposed
to be a dance mix, but is exactly the same as the FALAA version.
RECORDING NOTES: 1-6 are Floodland demos.
7-10 are demos 1983
11 is an alternate mix
COVER ART NOTES: Photo of AE in fencing outfit.

Radioland
1969[2:44]/Floorshow[3:23]/Good Things[3:35]/Alice[3:24]
Heartland[3:27]/Jolene[2:43]/Valentine[4:18]/Burn[3:43]/Poison
Door[3:30]/No Time to Cry[3:53]/Walk Away[3:27]/Emma[6:56]/Train
[7:09]/Floorshow[3:24]/Red Skies Disappear[3:43]/Kiss the Carpet
[5:24]/Garden of Delight[5:06]
a. CD Handmade HAM 010
NOTES: Red Skies Disappear is listed as Marian(demo). Kiss the
Carpet is listed as Kiss Me Carpet.
RECORDING NOTES: Track times listed are slightly off. Tracks 1
and 2 are indexed as one track.
1-4 Peel session 1982
5-8 Kid Jenson session 1983
9-12 Peel session 1984
13 demo 1984
14 is the Floorshow ep version
15 demo 1985
16 demo 1983
17 is Andrew Eldritch vocal
QUALITY NOTES: Many minor sound problems.
COVER ART NOTES: Cover is photo of AE in fencing garb against a
white background.
PACKAGING NOTES: Back is red lettering on a crimson background.
Total Running Time: 69:23 [listed as 70:05]

Saints + Martyrs
Red Skies Disappear/Good Things/Garden of Delight/Marian/Body
Electric/Dance on Glass/Burn/A Rock and a Hard Place/Dominion-
Mother Russia/When Spirits Fly
a. LP(2)
NOTES: Red Skies Disappear listed as First and Last and Always.
RECORDING NOTES: 2,6,9 are demos.
3 is AE vocal.
4 is an instrumental version.
5,7-8 are alternate mixes.
10 is a soundcheck.

the Shuttered Room
Heartland b/w Jolene
Valentine b/w Burn
a. 7"(2) FUNN8(9)
RECORDING NOTES: Kid Jensen session from 1983

the Sisters of Mercy Demos 1982
Lights/Teachers-Adrenochrome/the Damage Done/Watch/the Home of
the Hitmen/Floorshow/Alice/Floorshow/1969/Good Things/Phantom
Adrenochrome/Body Electric/Floorshow/Teachers
a. CS

8 CD Box Set
DISC FOUR:
Rare Obscurities MRCD4
Dance on Glass/Garden of Delight/Teachers-Adrenochrome/Red Skies
Disappear/Good Things/Marian/Body Electric/No Time to Cry/First
and Last and Always/a Rock and a Hard Place/Walk Away/Gimme
Gimme Gimme/Jolene/Spirits/Dominion
RECORDING NOTES: 1-5,16 are demos
6 is an instrumental version
8 is a rough mix
9-12 are alternative studio recordings
13-14 are early live recordings
15 is a soundcheck

Carmina Burana
Alice/Valentine/Anaconda/1969/Floorshow/Teachers-Adrenochrome
Ghostrider/Sister Ray/Good Things/Garden of Delight
a. LP
NOTES: Limited to 700 copies. 100 copies on colored vinyl.
RECORDING NOTES: 1-4 recorded in London at the Brixton Ace
3/17/83
5-7 from the Floorshow ep.
8-9 are studio medley (11 1/2 min.)
10 1982 demo
COVER ART NOTES: Drawing of Jesus surrounded by angels.

Saints + Martyrs
Red Skies Disappear/Good Things/Garden of Delight/Marian/Body
Electric/Dance on Glass/Burn/A Rock and a Hard Place/Dominion-
Mother Russia/When Spirits Fly
a. LP(2)
NOTES: Red Skies Disappear listed as First and Last and Always.
RECORDING NOTES: 2,6,9 are demos.
3 is AE vocal.
4 is an instrumental version.
5,7-8 are alternate mixes.
10 is a soundcheck.

the Sisters of Mercy Demos 1982
Lights/Teachers-Adrenochrome/the Damage Done/Watch/the Home of
the Hitmen/Floorshow/Alice/Floorshow/1969/Good Things/Phantom
Adrenochrome/Body Electric/Floorshow/Teachers
a. CS
Good Things + Two Live Tracks
Good Things b/w 1969/Sister Ray
a. 7" Pan Vox Records, Portugal
NOTES: Sequel to Damage Done + Three Live Tracks. Large center
hole on earlier pressings.
RECORDING NOTES: Recorded at York University 5/7/81
COVER ART NOTES: Pg 70 of Heartland anthology. First pressing is
B&W. Second pressing is purple and black. Third pressing is red
and black. Numeral '2' on the front cover.
Hand of God
Red Skies Disappear/Good Things/Garden of Delight/Hey Joe/Purple
Haze/Emma/Long Train/Louie,Louie/Damage Done/Knockin' on
Heaven's Door/Teachers-Adrenochrome/Dance on Glass/Sister Ray
Gimme Gimme Gimme(a Man After Midnight)/When Spirits Fly
Ghostrider/Watch/Stairway to Heaven
a. LP MR48052-1 1988
b. CD MR48052-4 1988
NOTES: Claims to be a WEA release, but obviously isn't. Emma is
listed as Emmaline.
Heartland
Teachers-Adrenochrome/Damage Done/Watch/Floorshow/Lights/Burn
Jolene/Good Things/Heartland/Emma/a Rock and a Hard Place/Red
Skies Disappear/Flood/Dominion-Mother Russia/Ghostrider
a. CD Handmade HAM 012
NOTES: Damage Done listed as Demage Done. Red Skies Disappear is
listed as Marian. Ghostrider is listed as Ghostriders.
RECORDING NOTES: 1-5 demos 1981
6-9 demos 1982/83
10-14 demos 1985/87
15 live 1985
QUALITY NOTES: Mostly pretty good 11 & 12 have a few squiggles.
COVER ART NOTES: Same as the Ohm and Possession.
Total Running Time: 68:01
Psychedelic Sessions
Good Things/1969/Alice/Floorshow/Poison Door/No Time to Cry/Emma
Walk Away/Burn/Jolene/Gimme Shelter/Adrenochrome
a. LP
NOTES: At least eight different pressings available.
RECORDING NOTES: 1-4 John Peel session 1982
5-8 John Peel session 1984
9-10 Kid Jensen session 1983
11-12 Recorded at the Paradiso, Amsterdam
8/28/83
QUALITY NOTES:Sound quality on live tracks is excellent.
COVER ART NOTES: Psychedelic looking.
Quality of Mercy
Nine While Nine/Ghostrider/Knockin' on Heaven's Door/Alice/Train
a Rock and a Hard Place/Marian/Good Things/1969/Sister Ray
Teachers-Adrenochrome/Jolene/Damage Done/Watch
a. CS Home of the Hitmen Productions 1988
NOTES: Came with the first 25 copies of the Quality of mercy
'zine.
RECORDING NOTES: 1-2 recorded in London at Tiffany's 3/13/85
3 recorded in London at the Royal Albert Hall
8/16/85
4 recorded in Stockholm at Kolingborg 5/17/85
5 recorded in Florence at the Tenax 1/5/85
6 recorded in Rome at the Teatro Espero 5/2/85
7 is the Whistle Test Studios performance
8 is a demo
9-10 recorded in York at the University 5/7/81
11-12 are Floorshow ep demos from 1981
13 recorded in Norwich at the Gala Hall 4/21/83
14-15 from the first single
Both sides include short snippets of the '84 WYNU and
Canadian interviews.
COVER ART NOTES: Pink with photo of the painting Dancer's Reward
by A. Beardsley.
Studiouttakes
Lights/Blood Money/Home of the Hitmen/Good Things/Phantom/1969
Sister Ray/Floorshow/Alice/1969/Heartland/Jolene/Valentine
Burn/Kiss the Carpet/Alice/Anaconda/Burn/Heartland/Jolene
Valentine/Adrenochrome/Floorshow/Gimme Shelter/Body Electric
a. CS Emerald Tapes
RECORDING NOTES: Mainly live material and most of the Peel
sessions with a few demos.
QUALITY NOTES: Ranges from dismally poor to bloody impressive.

UNTITLED
Good Things b/w 1969/Sister Ray
a. 7" ICM-the Collector series CM 802
RECORDING NOTES: A is a studio version.
B were recorded at York University 5/7/81
PACKAGE NOTES: Produced for Luxor Company, Madrid Spain by Sister
Productions.

so, as you can see, it's one of the most issued bootlegs tracks, but never recorded live?¿?¿

i don't think so, coz we know the von (for purely personal reasons of course) records 'most' of the sisters gigs, therefore i believe a live version must exist.

next, lets look at the live gigs, see if we can find it on a set list?¿?

09.06.81 leeds, u.k. - futurama
iii floorshow/good things/watch
damage done/1969/teachers
adrenochrome/sister ray

the above is THE only recorded (as in written down, not actually recorded!!!) time the sisters actually played good things live, if you where there, you lucky lucky bastard, for the rest of us we can only dream unless the von wants to release 'good things (live bootleg).mp3' into the public domain (c'mon andy babes, you know you want to really)

most of the hardwork above must be creditted to scifi@cc.wwu.edu and the work can be found at:

http://www.vamp.org/Gothic/Text/sisters-discog.html

it makes most interesting bedtime reading

ps, sorry about the formatting, it's purely cut 'n' paste!

fav' lyrics:

1) Some kind of stranger
2) Temple of love (I love the methaphores, sorry)
3) Flood II
4) Floorshow
5) Lights

I can't choose only 5, not possible.

Ok, here are my top 5 in alphabetical order, so no song will be jealous of the other.

A rock and a heard place
the "and i didn't have the heart to tell her
why and there wasn't a part of me that didn't want to say goodbye" bit as a special meaning for me

Adrenochrome
Love it all

Alice
Yes i like it a lot

Amphetamine logic
I know you all love it too

Black Planet
It's special to me, the "it's so dark all over europe" thing is just too cool.

Body and soul
awwww i love it really. That seven veils thing makes me think about arabian nights and misterious girls and things like that, i know it's weird, but it just does. It has a certain sense of fluidity, calmness, i can't explain it "Give me ever the years you wept inside when cold all the sins and secrets never cried all the dreams you kept and the tears you sold" Isn't it lovely?awww yes it is

Body electric
Acid on the floor so she walk on the ceiling

Bury me deep
love it all

Dominion/mother russia
It's all great

Driven like the snow
It's all great

First and last and always
seems i wore this face for you far too long before, love it

Fix
Small but good

Floods
love them both

Floorshow
this is the floorshow the last ideal tt's populist got mass appeal the old religion redefined for the facile futile totally blind, ain't tha the truth?

Giving ground
not a Sistrers song per se but i'll included it anyway because i like this "what you have lost can never be found words are just dust in deserts of sound
everything is lost and your choice lies broken and the truth is drowned"

Good things
it's all great

Heartland
It's all great

I was wrong
not my favourite but i still like it

Lights
love it really

Lucretia
yeah, sons cities and dispossessed and empires down down down

Marian
love it all specially "marian, there's a weight above me and the pressure is all too strong
to breathe deep breathe long and hard
to take the water down and go to sleep to sink still further beneath the fatal wave
Marian i think i'm drowning
this sea is killing me awww, isn't it pretty

More
I want more, what else needs to be said?

Nine while nine
it's all great

No time to cry
it's all great

Possession
Specially this bit "stand these pictures on your shelf and wear your heart upon my sleeve,
wear a dress that you can see through, see yourself inside, i'll be your imagination, tear apart what you believe, make a mess of your conviction, take away my pride and leave nothing, but the debris"

Ribbons
it's all great

SKOS
It's all great

Something fast
Yeah, i like it

Temple of love
Ah c'mon, you all love it and you know it
In the temple of love you hide together believing pain and fear outside etc etc etc, it's great, i love it

This corrosion
I got nothing to say i ain't said before i bled all i can, i won't bleed no more
How can you not love it?

Torch
all of it

Under the gun
Yeah yeah yeah, i know i know bla bla bla
But that last bit is very cool and you know it

Valentine
it's all great

Vision Thing
Ok, i like it, one million points of light one billion dollar vision thing.

Walk Away
i like it all

We are the same suzanne
I like it

and finally
....

You could be the one
All gods children give good phone
i called Jesus, he's not home
so i'm so pleased to talk to you
trees and walks i love them too
threatened species they adore me,
flower children never bore me
How can you NOT love it?

Umm, i'm sure i'm forgetting some, but there you have it, my top 5

I have a soft spot for 'Giving Ground'

Oh and neverland..

had a ticket to syria, and a hand on the gun.. etc

short, but i love it

zigeunerweisen wrote:Ok, here are my top 5 in alphabetical order, so no song will be jealous of the other.

Missed that "Sesame St." chapter, Zig, Dear??

Count again!! You're still missing Anaconda...

Let it wrap itself around her

mmmmm

Ganith

Top 5 Lyrics, in no particular order...


1. Burn (ok, this one is in the rite order )
2. Valentine
3. Good Things
4. Poison Door
5. We Are The Same, Suzanne

And many, MAANY others...

IZZY.