Monday 17 May 2010

[POEM OF THE WEEK] Meursault - A Fair Exchange


I've not done a 'Poem of the Week' in a while. This is not strictly a poem either, but fuck it. 'A Fair Exchange' completely encapsulates how I am feeling just now after the loss of a loved one.

Neil Pennycook demonstrated on 'Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues' that he is one of Scotland's finest lyricists and Meursault's upcoming release 'All Creatures Will Make Merry' reinforces this fact. Forget the whole production debate surrounding the album as no one can argue with how brilliant the songwriting is.

Neil described the orgin of the song to The Skinny;

I wrote the lyrics for this song when I was about 18, maybe younger, and I still feel it's one of the strongest things I've written. It comes from a story I once read about a monk who lived in a beautiful temple. He lived there alone and loved it dearly. Over time the temple began to age and became structurally unsound. The monk realized that he would rather live with the temple as a memory than watch it rot and decay, so he burned it to the ground.

The fact he wrote the song when he was 18 will always baffle and astound me.

A Fair Exchange

I will tear you down
and that way I'll stay new
A memory is better than a ruin
Somethings take time
Somethings time will take

Oh, I will choose
my best times and burn them down
It's better off in thin air than on thin ground
Somethings take time
Somethings time will take

A Fair Exchange



Meursault are playing Mono in Glasgow on the 19th and Sneaky Pete's on the 21st.

Sunday 16 May 2010

[VIDEO] There Will Be Fireworks - 'Ash Wednesday' + 'This Feels Like..'

Sorry I've not posted for a wee while. To kick start me off again is the newest installment of the brilliant They Shoot Music Don't They Scottish Special. Previous sessions featured Meursault, Withered Hand, Ballboy and Beerjacket. Now it is There Will Be Fireworks' turn.

Filmed on top of a Glaswegian rooftop, both songs feature a new sound for the band. A folk tinged, restrained approach had now been adopted in favour of their token post-rock quiet/loud sound. They mentioned previously that they were working on their follow-up and it was going in two directions and therefore producing two albums. I've been told that this is no longer the case. Perhaps this is the sound they have settled for?

Ash Wednesday


This Feels Like..