"Lost Property": Well, as one of the people promising zeroes for songs on this record, it's time to unveil one of them - oh sorry, wrong day. I will say that when I first heard this, I was strongly reminded of Radiohead's "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," mainly because of the piano line in this track and the guitar line in the Radiohead. Maybe the Godrich connection played a little into that as well. As others have said, it's the highlight of the record by miles, and the only song from it I ever include in personal playlists. That said, I feel like something is perhaps missing, as it begins to feel a little samey as it goes on, and I also don't feel any catharsis when the lost stuff is 'found' at the end. The lyrics play a part in that, as I don't feel a ton of sympathy about losing cigarettes, weed, t-shirts, and random other junk. I guess I feel like the song is trying to elicit an emotional reaction from me that is not merited by the lyrics. But the rest is good enough to overlook it for the most part. The backing vocals during the second verse are gorgeous though, and one of my favorite details about the song. 4/5
Apologies, I have been neglecting my “official scorekeeper” duties! Sunday... restate my assumptions: “Note to Self” scores 52 points from 18 votes for a preliminary score of 2.89 Correct
Lost Property Lovely piano and acoustic guitar combination; listening is a bit like floating peacefully on the air. The delicate layering of the vocals is what got my attention originally and pushed the song from pleasant to outstanding. And 20 years later it holds up. It hadn't occurred to me before reading comments here, but I would agree that there might have been a bit more to be done musically to mark the discovery of the lost items (although Neil does try to push it vocally, somewhat). Perhaps it was too obvious a move amidst this album of production-subtlety. Overall, a warm, dreamy/trance quality to the song, and one of the album's high points. Pleased that the scores for this one will be higher than I feared. 4.75/5
Lost Property Someone has to be the lone voice in the wilderness, but it'll have to be someone else than me. I think this track is pretty wonderful, with its melancholy sonics and a(nother) forlorn vocal from Neil. This song is all about the music - he might as well sing the telephone book, and that's just fine to me - but the music is great. Really good stuff. 4.9
Lost Property @Radiophonic_ already posted 97,5 % of my thoughts on this song (the Radiohead thing, gorgeous backing vocals, a bit samey) so I have no idea what to write apart from saying that I don’t think it’s the clear highlight of the album. I like the image of ”passing through a sheepskin screen”. It feels like something out of a Cronenberg film. Joby’s understated (almost to the point of being inaudible) string arrangement is a beautiful addition to the song. 4/5
Note To Self It's great that Neil left out a Sunday assumption. I also love his assumptions for Friday and Saturday: The writer writes for himself, not for you. A song is not a song until it’s listened to. The first one lays the emphasis on the author's intention via writing as a cathartic exercise whereas the second one shifts the importance to the listener Roland Barthes-style. Just to make sure: I liked this because I generally appreciate your providing the average, not because the average is too low. Sorry to disappoint you. It's not as great as the criminally underrated "Note To Self", but I do like it. Then again, I think my score for it is lower than everyone else's. Having another intertwining second vocal reminds me of "Victoria Falls". That trick doesn't get old. I must say I'm a bit surprised that this song fares so well given the previous statements of dislike of Coldplay, because the rolling piano motif that so many people have praised here makes this similar to Coldplay songs like "Clocks" or "Trouble". The electric guitar backing the "Possessions of a sentimental kind/They were mine, now they’re not" and "I found them all piled up into the sky/And I cried tears of joy" parts is reminiscent of Coldplay, too (although to be fair, they were inspired by Radiohead as well). That's exactly what I feel diminishes the song and keeps it from greatness. Yes, a good choice. I don't think it's the highlight of the album by a long stretch, but I agree with everything you wrote about why the lyrics don't merit such a strong emotional reaction. Well put. 3.5
Speaking only for myself here (obviously), I have plenty of appreciation for Coldplay, especially their earlier albums. Lots of underrated instrumental work, in my opinion.
Agree that this never gets old! This is one of the recurring elements I enjoy most about Neil's music. It's very pretty and enables him to essentially say two things at once - bonus! Good point! I'm one of the confessed dislikers of Coldplay . Its not the piano riffs I don't like - e.g. I quite like Clocks before the vocal comes in - and I'm not that keen on the electric guitar bit in Lost Property anyway
Lost Property I'm finding the Radiohead-isms of the production style bothering me on this listen through of Regeneration bugging me more than they ever have previously. I've always been a defender of this album, but I think there is something about the nature of our track by track review that is making me really aware of the sounds that now seem tacked on. I am finding myself wishing that Neil and company had found a way to grow and mature, even record this exact same group of songs, but had had the confidence to say no to some of Godrich's identikit production tactics. I should make clear - that's how I feel now, not at the time if release or for most of the last 20 years. Having said all that, this definitely one of the best songs on the album. I love the chords & melody, dueling vocals, subtle strings and surprisingly affecting lyrics. All the things everyone else has mentioned. 4/5 You beat me to it! Totally agree. I think I prefer the Air song, but they both evoke a similar mood.
I've got some time for Coldplay later on, but when I mentioned them I was really thinking of Regeneration-era Coldplay, specifically Yellow and Trouble (as I never bought Parachutes). And it's not so much them, but the 'criminal overrating' you mentioned the other day - I kind of liked Yellow at first, but then it seemed like that sound was everywhere, and it went on for such a long time - the nadir of this for me, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, is a full five years away. I agree it would make sense for Parachutes to influence Regeneration though - Yellow was in the Top 10 in the first week of the recording sessions. And that's another ding on the album for me - Neil jumping off the Britpop ship only to land in the next boat that came along. And - just thinking through the differences for myself - I think Lost Property is a vastly better song than Trouble, which bores me to tears from start to finish, wallowing in the spider's web, not even attempting to get out. The chorus repeating the same thought four times over the same two chords. Every aspect of Lost Property is richer and more sophisticated - the melody, the arrangement, the vocal - but the lyric especially, not only in its preference for specifics over banal generalities and mixed metaphors, but also its many depths: is it just a joke at Bryan's expense? Or about how we don't appreciate things when we have them? Or about how trivial objects contain whole worlds within them, easily lost, haunting us from museums? Or about how things pile up in our mind and refuse to leave? Or about the death of a loved one? Or about Neil's further debates with himself about whether Heaven and Hell exist? Or about him struggling with the legacy of the band ('Many rare and precious things I have tried to call mine - they were mine, now they're not')? Yes.
That is how I feel, but also how I felt at the time and ever since. I see that it was maybe a good idea to get an outside producer in to bring a new perspective, but I don't think Godrich was the man. As for Coldplay, I think some of their songs are good, but Chris Martin's vocals are unbearable, particularly when they dip in and out of falsetto.
Since this worked pretty well yesterday, I'm going to leave yesterday's scores until later in the day and see if we have any stragglers. So for now, on to: Eye of the Needle Track 6 on "Regeneration" and the last track on Side 1, if records and tapes are your bag. Fun fact - Miggy revealed in an interview with Rhythm magazine that it's actually Rob who pays the drums on this song! Here's what Neil had to say about it in his album rundown in the French "Newcomer" magazine in March 2001 (once again English - French - English) "No, I'm not admitting to a penchant for heroin! It's based on the Bible story: "It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle". And it's about all these people who go to church on Sunday, just to show off their riches or how clever they are, without listening to the message being given to them. It's quite ironic. We started it on the acoustic guitar, like all the songs on the album and Nigel added a great rhythm to it, which brings some originality to the song. He found it in just 20 minutes." And some more random press quotes: Elsewhere 'Eye Of The Needle' mournfully observes that "The cars in the churchyard/Are shiny and German/Completely at odds with/The theme of the sermon." When I mention that that's a rather strange sentiment coming from the son of a preacherman, Hannon denies he was bashing his Bishop (snigger). "It's more about me," he explains. "It comes from sitting in church when I was younger. I used to be in the choir and during communion, they passed us on either side on the way up to the communion rail so there would be a constant stream while we sort of sang an anthem or two. Sometimes we counted them all for our dad - to see how many people came in that day. "Basically, when I was thinking about it and writing the song, it just occurred to me that it was a bit like they were trying to squeeze themselves through the eye of a needle, you know, because - not so much in Fermanagh but certainly over here, you do see a lot of very nice automobiles outside churches, because it's a thing you do sociably. And I just wondered how many of them actually gave a toss about the whole thing." Do you still go to church? "No," he shakes his head. "But I'm not at all averse to religion, really I'm not. I definitely understand the concept of the soul, but the concept of God doesn't really work for me. I just think the whole universe is far too random for someone to be up there going, (hand on chin), 'hmmm, what's my next move?'" (Hot Press, March 2001) --- Dear Neil, what was your father's reaction about Eye of the needle ? The Divine Comedy replied: He hasn't given me one yet....I'm sure he'll be as fascinated as usual! (Webchat, March 2001) --- Lazarus: The intro for 'Eye of the Needle' sounds suspiciously similar to Pulp's 'This is Hardcore', right? TDC: I hadn't noticed it before, but I can see a similarity. Either way, it's pure coincidence. Speaking of which, we are big Pulp fans. (Webchat, March 2001) --- Here's the song:
Eye of the Needle On release, this song impressed me favourably, mostly for its lyric, I think. Whenever Neil sings about religion it feels very personal and important to him, due to his upbringing. I think it had an advantage of coming straight after a song I loved, so I was at my most receptive. Listening to it no, it's a bit of a dull old dirge, isn't it? So slow! Maybe it wouldn't matter so much on a more varied album. The tune is OK buried under all that drone and guitar whine. The organ solo is nice. I'm going to err on the side of positivity and give it a 3/5
Eye of the Needle Weetabix (with milk and apple sauce): + I like the hymn like organ entering at 3:53 and things get even better at 4:17 when the horns enter (trombone, I presume?), which adds to the solemn atmosphere + The typical Godrich production trick of spacy sounds works well here and fill out the rather barebones arrangement + The chord changes when Neil start singing about German cars + I find the subject matter interesting and the lyrics are simple and direct but well-written Marmite: - The vocal melody line is a bit monotonous, Neil sings it in his most tired/world-weary Regeneration voice and the overall feel of the song is a bit samey - This might sound weird, but this song reminds me of George Harrison’s early solo albums, stuff like ”Living in the Material World”. Several of Harrison’s song from that period have a hymn like feel but sometimes have the bad habit of coming across as somewhat preachy. I get a similar feel from some of the material on ”Regeneration”. On the other hand, in ”Eye of the Needle” Neil’s words are more that of an agnostic than a believer! I’ll give this one a 3/5.
Eye Of The Needle I have a feeling that this track won't score terribly well today, but I really connect with it. Lyrically it comes from a place I can relate to in my own upbringing, while the sparse instrumentation and resigned/weary vocal add up to a very compelling track for me. 5/5
Eye of the Needle I think this track keeps the album momentum going after the dull "Note to Self". Sure, it's very slow and ponderous, but I like the arrangement and the melody. There's another vibraphone, if I'm not mistaken, and the organ solo is excellent, as has already been said. This is one of the lyrics that I remember fairly well, probably because they echo my sentiments to a large extent. Probably a track that gains from being played in a playlist instead of during album play, because then it won't suffer from being slow on an album of slow songs... 4.1
Eye of the Needle Well, we had one “achingly beautiful” track yesterday, so now here’s one “unspeakably dull” one to balance things out on my 50/50 theory Actually I’m being unfair, it’s not *that* bad, it’s just that this is now the 3rd slow song in a row and especially when listening to the album as a whole, my patience is getting a bit stretched by this point. I was aiming to avoid using the “D” word, but @Vagabone did it first, so- yeah, this really is a dirge. Slow and ponderous and slightly self-pitying feeling (though much worse is to come on that front, at least lyrics-wise) - wait, I’ve just realised, I have the same reaction to this as I do to sitting through an actual church sermon. Maybe that’s the point... The main spot of enjoyment I get from this song is the little organ/tinkly instrumental in the middle which is quite reminiscent of church music (which once again, mirrors an actual church service in terms of being the only bit I used to find remotely enjoyable when I was made to go as a child...) Anyway, I can’t claim it’s a bad song; and it doesn’t make me as miserable as “Note to Self”, but it’s not far off. 2
Hello to all, I've been lurking here for weeks now (thank you for the link in the Facebook group !), I din't really have the time to comment and discuss every track, so I prefered not to intervene here - but it's been a great pleasure to rediscover the previous albums and songs with your point of view. I'll certainly be reading this thread 'till the end ! Reading LivingForever's comment, I just couldn't resist to try to convince him how great this song is, musically speaking. Listen to all the ending with the organ and the trombone, then listen to the ending of To The Rescue. Isn't it the same greatness ? It's like an hommage to the music of Bach, and knowing Neil's close relation to playing the organ, it just adds some more emotion to the song.
Eye of the Needle I've always liked this one, I really think the cars in the churchyard is a lovely neat metaphor for all forms of religious hypocrisy. Musically, I really like the bendy trombone, ethereal backing vocals and organ solo which lift it out of dirge territory. I actually think the really slow pace works here. However I do find the drum beat a bit incessant and the vocal a bit too bored-sounding at the beginning of the song. Listening just now, I noticed a subtle progression within both the lyrics and the music that I'd never noticed before - apologies if this is obvious! In the first half where young Neil is trying his dutiful best to believe, the cars are distinctly at odds with the sermon, and during communion he studies the people threading themselves through the eye of the needle. The trombone sustains a single (electronically assisted!) note throughout most of the 1st chorus, and I find myself anticipating it changing several times before it actually does. It creates a lovely sense of tension/anticipation. In the second half when he longs for a sign that doesn't appear and becomes more disillusioned, the cars are now completely at odds, and all through communion he stares at the people squeezing themselves through the eye of the needle (I like the way he sort of squeezes the word squeezing!). The trombone slides up and down several times rather than staying in one place, before the organ solo comes in. Score 4.0/5.0 He was being tossed about like ships on the ocean, and landed on a raging sea in a little row boat (trying not to be washed overboard...). He'll catch the overnight ferry by the skin of his teeth, and after days and days of water, is gathering in the oars... (How far can the Divine Comedy boat metaphor travel before some emmentaal needs to be tossed over the side to prevent it from sinking...? ) Good description! I find the lyrics often seem purpose-written to be scrawled on a blackboard in a trendy prosecco bar. There are a few similar 'banal generalities' coming up on Regeneration, and although I'm reserving zero scores for a couple of very special songs on later albums, there may be a few close calls here! I do agree with you, but I hate to be the one to tell you that you have your Weetabix and Marmite headings the wrong way around...
I love this song, I think the trombone is great, the way it fades in just before the chorus is glorious. The glokenspiel is perfect here, in godrich terms almost a bit of a forerunner to All I Need on In Rainbows. The way the trombone and the what I guess it's an e-bowed guitar mesh together is sublime, but the real highlight for me is the call and response interplay between the two ranks of the organ during the instrumental. It's pure nectar to my ears. A 5/5 for me, think there might only be a handful more of these to give out after this point! As an aside he played this at the first Divine Comedy gig I went to at St James' church I London in 2006 (where they also played Secret Garden, of all things), are there any recordings of it from that tour kicking around?
Eye of the needle As someone said earlier, listening to the songs individually outside the album may be to the benefit of some tracks, at least. And I can see, as James Cunningham and lazzaa have mentioned, how you could really take to this tune. There's something gloriously mellifluous about it. I also really like the organ interlude as mentioned by others : is this a classical piece? I guess it's just to give the sense of being in a church building. Lyrically, reminds me of the Cure's 'Holy Hour', if anyone's familiar with that. 3.5
