Faded Flowers Lyrics
The sickness no one knows
No one is crying for us this time
Our shapes are blurring under miracles of snow
Weave a circle round him three times
You have to plan your moves at these times
Our hearts are breaking
One more song to go
This is a pure thing
These hands I kiss
Tragic as anything
These eyes are blind
Thi is a pure thing
All splash and hiss
Beyond my measuring
The main event remains
Shameful and naked, out there in the
Great cold outdoors
We have to do these things again
Bathe in this incandescent glow
The leap to something I don't know
There is no doubt upon us when
The greasy men come back again
This is a pure thing
These hands I kiss
Tragic as anything
These eyes are blind
Thi is a pure thing
All splash and hiss
Beyond my measuring
Precious as memory
A veil of cloud
Correct as energy
We had some good machines
But they don't work no more
I loved you once
Don't love you anymore
This is a pure thing
These hands I kiss
Tragic as anything
These eyes are blind
Thi is a pure thing
All splash and hiss
Beyond my measuring
Precious as memory
A veil of cloud
Correct as energy
We had some good machines
But they don't work no more
I loved you once
Don't love you anymore
Everything, and everyone, is ephemeral. We are to the gods as flies to wanton boys; a tiny speck in the interminable progress of history. Only Shriekback could make this sound so beautiful; this is perhaps one of the most touching and emotional songs I've ever heard; and it rivals "Tomorrow Wendy" by Concrete Blonde for sheer sadness.
A touching song based upon the acceptance of the notion of impermanence and the appreciation for, and admiration of human frailty and the untinged innocence that comes with naivity.
I love Barry's description of this song as having "the camp soul of a power ballad".
And it kind of does feel like it started as a big, cheesy power ballad written by someone who can't take them seriously, but then it gradually turned into a thing of actual ethereal beauty because Shriekback (at least up to Oil & Gold) had a hard time not doing that even when they tried not to. :)
From a December 2015 blog post by Barry Andrews himself:
"Well, yes, the old showstopper from Oily Gold, made for this sort of [piano-only] production of course. Or great big drums and guitars and Michael Bublé possibly: it has the camp soul of a Power Ballad but let us not dwell on that."