Tannhäuser/Derivè Lyrics
You can find out a lot about what Refused's songs mean if you read their manifestos in the liner notes of The Shape of Punk to Come:
"A dream only lasts so long. Imagine the pyramids inhabited by aliens and the dark corridors and the dreams and the longing for better financial conditions. The sweat pours down your neck and you run and you run, heart beating, head pounding, alive tonight. The streets never sleep, they are glowing, vibrating with the echoes of laughter and joy, screams and curses. We just need to take the time and see what it can offer us and how we can break free from this boredom that the capitalist reign has forced upon us. Tonight we can be as mighty as tannhäuser and we can tumble excited down the labyrinths and the turns knowing that derive` is potent. So where do we go from here?"
loads of this song is missing.... Tannhauser is some ancent legendary poet, but I don't know what derive is...anybody?
Tannhauser was a German knight/singer/poet from the 13th century who apparently gave into his sinful lusts one night (i don't know the details) and later sought absolution for his sins. To derive is to trace to a source. Perhaps Dennis has a similar story, and wants to know exactly what made Tannhauser give in, so he can find out why HE did whatever he did. Even the scarce lyrics here support this theory. "Boredom won't get me tonight" "Let's bring this city to life - to light - tonight"
This song makes me wish that I learned how to play violin
Derivé is a situationist term. A lot of refused/t(i)nc lyrics borrow from situationist writings.
Theory of the Dérive by Guy Debord: http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/2.derive.htm
Introduction to the Situationists: the next badge of intellectual elitism: http://www.crimethinc.com/library/english/situa.html
Spectacular Times: http://www.cat.org.au/spectacular/
Situationist International on-line: http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/
i agree clicheguevera. and i love your name as well.
thanks for the links
lol ClicheGuevara, i can play the violin but not well, this violinist is amazing.
lol ClicheGuevara, i can play the violin but not well, this violinist is amazing.
I believe they were inspired by the situationists, and "Dérive" is a concept of that movement that seems to match the lyrics, here's an excerpt from the wikipedia article on "Dérive": "Dérive is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, on which the subtle aesthetic contours of the surrounding architecture and geography subconsciously direct the travellers, with the ultimate goal of encountering an entirely new and authentic experience." Seems to match lyrics about "bringing the city to life" and "there is no destination". Don't know about Tennhäuser tho, but it always makes me think of the "tears in rain"-speech given by Rutger Hauer at the end of blade runner.