Next chunk of mopping-up, featuring my lowest score of the thread to date (and, I suspect, going forward) and accompanying complaining The third and final track in the strongest uninterrupted run on the album, I love the instrumentals (sample and all, the fact I now know it isn't entirely original doesn't impact my enjoyment one bit), the lyrics and the vocals, and as already noted when taken alongside the prior track as a single song it works even better. The combined video is fantastic too. 5/5 NO. Just...... NO. The worst track not only on this album, but the entire DC back catalogue, and as someone already noted a track I have complained about in the past. I remind you all of my words from a shade under a year ago: I saw it performed live in Manchester at the Albert Hall - the backing music was omitted, the vocoder track was even less intelligible than on the album version (especially during the chorus), and Neil lost track of the lyrics when it came to the list of bands at the end all of which added up to a few minutes where all the momentum of the concert thus far - the preceding song having been Something For The Weekend - was suddenly stripped away and replaced by a few minutes of near-silence whilst Neil randomly produced non-sequiturs in between strange bursts of electronic sound. As I recall, once the song finished there was a smattering of vague applause once the audience worked out the song *had* finished, and then Neil said something to the effect of "Well, that experiment is out of the way" and continued with the concert. 2020 may have been a terrible year, and 2021 hasn't been much better at times, but at least every moment has brought us further and further from those three minutes 0/5 Yeah, he didn't bother with that - he basically just leaned against the computer and sporadically gazed up at the ceiling whilst speaking. If you can say that Psychological Evaluation is "somewhat melodic and not actively unpleasant to listen to" I would aver that having a newborn baby crying at regular intervals may have damaged your hearing a tad Not a great song, by any means, but nonetheless far the superior to the track it follows.... I am quite honestly surprised that people have taken so strongly against this one, yet been relatively positive about Psychological Evaluation it's silly, and sticks out like a sore thumb, but it is at least fun. 2.5/5 A fun track, and one which worked pretty well live, but not one I feel the need to re-listen to all that often; certainly it is one I tend to skip when it comes up on shuffle. I quite like the first of the two demo versions too; I think the album version is the better choice as a live track, but possibly that demo version would work pretty well as the version on the album. 3.5/5 This one served as another momentum-destroyer at the aforementioned Manchester concert, albeit to a much lesser extent and mostly because at that stage in the tour Neil *was* attempting the falsetto on the album.... and failing. The combination of the sudden change in pace, and the strangeness of the vocals, didn't help matters. A pity, as the germ of a great track *is* present in this one. Don't enjoy it, don't dislike it, probably should have been worked on a little more. 2.5/5 After a fairly mixed and weaker patch on the album, we hit another good one. I really like this one, both musically and vocally, and it would have fit well on a number of previous albums with only minor alterations. This one was great live, for the reasons that have already been covered upthread. 4.5/5 Yep, that's definitely the album it would have worked best on - perhaps swapped out for Island Life or Can You Stand Upon One Leg?
Today's song is: Dark Days are Here Again I would like to share with you Neil's notes on this song from both 2019 and 2020, but unfortunately most of them contravene this forum's rules on political commentary. Suffice to say that Neil thought 2016 was a bit of a rubbish year and that's what this song is about [edit - ok actually this bit is ok:] Dark Days Are Here Again was a direct response to 2016. The words aren't clever or arch. Just angry. Angry and a bit sad. As the middle third shows, the song is, in essence, a sort of late-night bar room vamp. However, the doom is ratcheted up in the verses to epic proportions. We pitched my vocal up to make it sound odd, like Ian Curtis on Heart and Soul. And I put Tim's drums through a tape delay for that truly 'out of control' feeling. It's not often Tosh gets to turn it up to 11 in this band. He made hay while the sun shone. It all gets distinctly Fashion-era Fripp towards the end. One of my favourite moments on the whole record comes at 1.52; Tosh extracting a great upward wrench of despair from his gold sparkle Novo. That sound says more about the state of the world than all my lyrics put together.
Dark Days are Here Again - I find this one a bit boring to be honest. Neil's comments make it sound edgier than it actually is; in his mind it might sound like Nine Inch Nails but "truly out of control" isn't really how I'd describe this. The chord sequence is quite old fashioned also (not that that's a bad thing, but "old-fashioned" and "angry" don't really go together well. It also reminds me strongly of something else that I can't put a name to...) I don't think Neil does political songs very well to be honest; that Guantanamo one wasn't very good even if his heart was in the right place. The weird coda with the female backing singers is quite bizarre in the context of anything else. I can't give this more than 2 / 5.
Also can you really not quote Neil saying something political, or is it just out of concern as to where the conversation might end up? I know politics is a divisive subject, but when it comes to 2016 most people here I suspect would see it much the same way as Neil does.
Dark Days are Here Again We're in masterpiece territory. In the last few years this has probably been my most-listened to Divine Comedy song. It was the right song at the right time. Sidestepping political comments as far as possible, I will say Neil comes across as naive in thinking things were OK before- but I suppose part of the point of the song is realising how naive he has been- "people seemed to share a common goal", not "people did share a common goal". In any case his experience of the political shifts in his lifetime is one clearly many people shared and continue to share. Speaks to me anyway. I guess I should speak about the music. Beautiful, swelling, infectious tune, simply gorgeous choral singing. I love it. Oddly soothing in its ominousness. 5/5
From the Forum rules: Edit: however, What is to be deemed political is a matter of interpretation, I would say. In a way everything is political, arguably. In my post above I tried to be non-commital about specific events or political parties, for example.
Dark Days Are Here Again This is an excellent song, continuing the upward trajectory of the album after those missteps in the middle. The doom and gloom is expressed quite nicely in the instrumentation and arrangement, and the effect on Neil's voice is appropriate. For me, 2016 was not only a poor year because of the things that I assume Neil are alluding to, but also of course because of the passing of my mother. So I like to bask in the depressing sounds of this tune whenever it comes on. 4.4
Dark Days Are Here Again A real upward swing from the last two tracks. Discussing it without the politics will be tricky, but here goes. When the album came out, it seemed fairly clear that Neil was reacting to events on a national and global scale, and his perspective very much chimed with mine. It felt like a song for its time, and it still does - I think. I remember posting it to my facebook page in December 2019 - no other song seemed quite as apt. As a track in its own right, I think it accomplishes its task really well. It has an anger that you rarely see from Neil - I can't really think of any other TDC track that matches this (apart from maybe Here Comes The Flood, but that's a very different style), and I like the old-fashioned instrumentation contrasting with the guitar squalls from Tosh (which do feel quite wild to me - just buried quite deeply in the mix). The crescendo ending is also very effective. I've also been increasingly enjoying the gospel backing vocals at the end - it's the Greek chorus effect again, I think. Neil sounds tortured and consumed by a mixture of anger and fear; the backing vocalists seem like dispassionate observers. "Dark days are here again" becomes a statement of fact. It seems hard to argue with that. 4/5
Hmm, perhaps in this thread most people might? (Though I wouldn't presume to know what any of you in this thread think about anything political, and neither would I probably want to...) On the forum as a whole, though? There are a loooot of people here. And let's not forget that both major political events in 2016 were close to being 50/50 votes.
But it's not just about what is deemed political, it's about how strictly you apply to the rule. While it's obvious that starting a thread entitled "What do you think about [insert name of controversial politician of your choice]?" is not allowed (rightly), is it also unacceptable to quote an artist giving their opinion on some political matter when it's clearly being quoted to add insight to a song of theirs under discussion? I'd think that would be a little over-zealous personally. But I haven't been here long enough to know where the line gets drawn in practice.
Oh I meant this thread specifically. If it was a thread about Ted Nugent then I certainly wouldn't assume it And I don't presume anything about other's opinions, it's just that I have my suspicions. Which could well be wrong
Dark Days Are Here Again I’m on Team @drykid here - and I’ll go further: this track actively annoys me. Where’s Neil’s subtlety gone? I’m not demanding jokes in the lyrics, and I appreciate that there’s a place for a song like this in a songwriter’s oeuvre, but there’s nothing really interesting or clever in the lyrics or in the music (until we get to the gospel singing at the end). The only musicians who can pull off something this blunt and cathartic are snarling singers or white-hot instrumentalists. In Neil’s hands it unfortunately comes out all a bit Broadway. 1/5 Maybe it’s just my personality - I prefer more subtle weapons. As @LivingForever said above, the things Neil’s railing against were supported by about 50% of each respective nation; some people who voted for them will be buying this record. If he had written a new Complete Banker-style song, exposing the silliness and/or hypocrisy involved, then perhaps he could have had an impact and changed a few minds. There’s certainly scope for doing so! Satire, wit and genuine emotional connections can become powerful weapons; snarling and hitting a guitar cannot. I’m still not enamoured, but I much prefer the lone-prophet-in-a-village-hall sound of the Early Version. Undercuts it with a bit of bathos. Makes it seem more like we’re peeking at Neil’s personal despair.
Dark Days Are Here Again Well it's hard to avoid politics when a song like this comes out so strongly with a certain viewpoint, although the song itself doesn't actually specify the events, I suppose. I think it's a very strong song and, maybe because of the contrasts within it, I don't get tired of hearing it. Also, I do seem to gravitate towards the dystopian in my literature and film preferences, although I'm generally a very happy person, so it appeals to me in that way for reasons unknown. I did have the same thought. Bit like his seeming naivety in Guantanamo with 'sometimes I wonder if our leaders teally care'. Is it sarcastic? Or is it, as you say, realising he and many of us may have been naive and perhaps complacent? There's a nice contrast between the ominously quiet French resitance tango sections and the thrashing guitar sections. However muchnI enjoy this song, I do have two slight niggles with the album version which lead me to slightly preferring the alternate version. I seem to share these with @drykid I agree. I think it sounds much too tidy and careful - the 'rocky' thrashing guitar sections could have sounded a lot 'dirtier' for an even greater contrast with the very restrained accordion sections. As for the drum effect Neil mentions, I'm afraid I hadn't even noticed it. This annoys me as it comes out of nowhere right at the end. Because of these things, I really like the very restrained alternate version on the bonus disc, which almost does it better by repressing the anger througout the whole song. I think Neil does ominous and restrained an awful lot better than he does 'out of control'. I like your description of it, very apt! The album version is definitely more fun though, and it certainly provides a bang after the preceding slow songs, and that contrast really helps. Deducting 0.5 for the weird random gospel ending. 4.0/5
I'm not sure I read Sunrise as being angry as much as expressing hope for the future and regret at the futility of it all and the waste of life on all sides. Didn't he wait as long as he did to write it so as to avoid putting out an angry, reactive song on the subject? Dark Days... feels angrier somehow, but then it's still expressed as fairly restrained middle class anger (not that I doubt how genuine his feelings were/are on it).
It's the line "who cares what name you call a town..." where I feel I hear the anger coming through, but that's just my impression.
Early version: "The day the old turned their backs on the young" is a good line but this version is wholly lacking the brilliant chord progression in the chorus that is one of my favourite ever chord progressions. I should have mentioned that. In fact, I was a bit skimpy in my thoughts about the music of the finished version in general. The intro is great with that ominous minor chord progression. The rocking guitar in the verses is unexpected and very rousing. The tinkling piano is right out the world of the classic songbook (Porter, Coward, etc). The lead vocal is pretty biting. Oh, how I love accordion music. The soul-style answer vocal feels slightly out of place and, like The Turning Year, I don't love it. But it's not a deal breaker either. I suppose it stops the music being tied down to one particular retro period. And it helps maintain the forcefulness of the attack. .
Having listened to the early version I think it's better. Admittedly it doesn't sound like anything finished enough to be on the album, but nonetheless the arrangement seems sympathetic to the song itself. Which is not a vibe I get from the completed version. EDIT: oh and I think the song the chord sequence was reminding me of is Alan Price's "Don't Stop The Carnival" (the slow middle-eight section that is; it certainly doesn't sound like the main part!)
I think Neil has a tendency to think he's a bit more rock'n'roll than he actually is sometimes, I think it's possibly wishful thinking on his part maybe, or possibly there's a part of him that still hasn't quite put the indie-tastic TDC mk 1 line-up completely behind him. As I recall on A Secret History there's an early demo of The Certainty of Chance that Neil describes in the sleeve notes as sounding like Spacemen 3. It really doesn't!
Haha I think you're right about that. It is quite amusing, and reminds me of my father-in-law playing blues guitar and thinking he sounds like Robert Johnson, when he really sounds like a retired GP from the Midlands...! But he's enjoying himself! I don't think Neil's really ever done much 'rocking' - maybe the closest could be Thrillseeker but even then... it's that flute solo that makes it really rock 'n' roll! In my book that's a good thing as guitar-driven rock music generally does little for me. I'm not even sure I know what makes something 'rock' music or not...
