The melancholy is almost overwhelming but I’ve heard it at least 50 times and will keep listening to it. I will ask for this song to be played at my funeral whenever that is.
Very nicely done! +1 subscriber! Glad you like the record, it took a few spins for the whole album to work but it's in heavy rotation and something I can start at track 1 and not need to do anything but listen. Simple Minds is my favorite band from the day I heard Love Song in 82 I've found something to bond with in each album. It's been quite a ride being a SM fan, being young and not understanding why people come and go and to present where you begrudgingly accept that SM is whoever is working on the music at the time. There are 3 occasions where the changes really hit me....Derek's departure, Michael's departure and the odd morphing out of the great lineup (losing Mel and Andy really stung) that put out 5x5 Live/Big Music and into the acoustic tour to now. I really thought they had finally regained that mojo in 2010-2012 and hoped they'd go on for a while but alas, it's not my band. You could sense a strong pulse with Black and White/Grafitti Soul and Big Music seemed to be that destination they'd been headed to. C'est la vie. That said, really like the last two albums that seem to have a foundation in what Jim calls "Charlie's Beat Box" with the sequencers and synth flourishes driving the tracks along with Charlie's ever present and amazing guitar work. Fair play to Jed and Charisse for finding ways to add just what is needed. "Signal and the Noise" and "Walk Between Worlds" jump off the album just like "Vision Thing", "First You Jump", "Human Traffic" "Who Killed Truth" and if I'm honest and admitting a bias, there are no bad songs on either album. I like how Direction of the Heart really reflects the times it was recorded in, the world changed dramatically extremely fast and many experienced tragic losses. Jim always was a keen observer and what he took in comes out for sure. It's difficult to watch bands you grew up with age at times but I think Jim and Charlie figured it out better than most and I'm just grateful for them, Jed, Charisse, Gordy and Sarah and with the addition of Erik who I hope will contribute to their next album, I predict good times ahead. Thank you for the review.
I think you've done a great job of explaining how the lyrics affect you and also the wider audience. This song gives me hope for the upcoming release. I can't wait, and I'll look forward to your further reactions. Dankeschön.
Every time the lyrics says “I’ve got one eye on a different world” appears the girl. For me is a love story, people that are in different “worlds” kind of platonic, its just another possible interpretation in my humble opinion! I love this song, is superb!
The story behind the sculpture that will figure on the album is amazing.... Robert Smith had in his library a book about a slovenian scupltor and finally found time to check on it... He saw that face in the rock sculpture and was like "tha's the one!... it has to be the artwork". He immediately check on internet to find the creator to ask about the rights but find out this guy died the same day he was trying to make contact. he finally asked to his widow who allowed him to use it for the artwork cover and... offered him the original statue.
The workload for the video was insane. The head was an animatronic unit, but the whole body was a string-puppet. There are some photos on the web from the hospital-set where you see the whole thing suspended in mid-air with several puppeteers operating some complex rigging to move the limbs from outside frame.
This definitely feels like the long elegiac tracks with long intros and a big payoff like 'Plainsong' . This is magical. I was never a big fan of Bloodflowers, but I sort of feel like this is what that album could have been. The sounds of 'Alone' with the big synths and oddly delayed guitar quirks takes me back to the Wish b-sides like 'This Twilight Garden' or 'Play' which was the zenith of their b-sides. It's like 'The Same Deep Water as You', 'This Twilight Garden' and 'The Dredd Song' (Seriously, the drums are more similar than you may think) came together to create an even greater song. As much as folks are quick to start screaming DISINTEGRATION! I feel that this is more like Wish-era magic filtered through a Bloodflowers lens. It is abject and real without the poetic playful prism of words that lead to songs like 'Lullaby'. It is in your face honesty. I adore it.
Really enjoyed your reaction, I saw one by a swedish singer and that guy lacked soul and knowledge of who the Cure are, it showed you have a heart and soul. Would love to see a cover of this song by Robert Plan and Zeppelin, just to get that sound in.
Song grew on me since my first listen. I love it. Definitely seems like a great intro song / first song on an album. Puts me in a great place...takes you somewhere...to a peaceful place
I would have suggested....."a missile NASA bought" instead of "Castro" - not sure how that fits in. Otherwise, very good vocal performance by Roland....his ode to Bowie?
4:59 5:18 It’s not just about personal loneliness, it’s about cosmic loneliness. It’s not just about the end of Robert Smith’s life approaching, it’s about the end of humanity as we know it. What is ‘it’ in ‘where did it go’?
Wonderful thoughts..where is the mankind the human asxwe knew it in the last thousand years? Will be stay and existence as human or do ee change towards a subhuman race?
I don't even know if it is all about loneliness as much as songwriting ability, etc. This is the end of every song we sing... combined with where did it go, the it could be his life, time, etc. His creativity. His time with Mary, or better yet, the time he didn't have with his parents and brother. Their loss is a profound part of the whole album and I think that it factors in here.
It’s so wonderful. As a massive cure fan who has been almost universally disappointed with their output for nigh on 30 years, this sounds like a return to form. As with the best of the band’s material, it is bleak and dreary, but also beautiful. This feels like where the band that made disintegration would be at this late point in their career. I am hoping for a swan song.
The only problem I have with the song, and this is something that has been an issue with their releases since the mid 90s, and is apparent on their remasters - the songs are so hardwalled against the meter, that there are not a whole lot of dynamics. Yes, original albums were quieter, but this song already feels like it is gonna give me headphone fatigue.
@@rickg8015 Well, something like wish has the old version on there too, but sometimes the volume gain at least helps things be on an even level, and any playlist I had with Wish tracks on it simply disappeared when next to remastered tracks etc. There are remasters and such that don't give me headache fatigue but this song is mostly on. I guess I'll figure it out somehow?
First of all I'm really loving your TFF reviews, they are very insightful. Astronaut is a slow burner, the more I hear it, the more I love it, this is Roland's best vocal performance for a while, I agree the song isn't as catchy as The Girl That I Call home, but is a welcome addition to the TFF catalogue. In my opinion, this song is on the same lines as Radiohead's Creep, in the feeling of not belonging, TFF used to cover Creep in their live shows. I also think Astronaut sounds like Bowie in places. I hope you take a deep dive into the TFF back catalogue, I would love to hear your thoughts on some of their other songs, especially some of the album tracks, like Badman's Song, The Working Hour, and Who Killed Tangerine. Keep up the good work.
What a superb song! Great lyrics, thank you for mentioning the poem that are based on. Loved your review too, and the fact that you stop the song to talk about it, instead of speaking over it.
Really enjoyed your take on the song, and it is not very different from mine. Just having turned 60 recently, and having gone through so much in life already, we begin to reflect on the things and people that have touched us on that journey, and no longer exist or are with us... I listened to the song "Alone" the Day it was released, and must have heard at least a dozen times on repeat. It is a Real Emotional Trip..... Yes, there is a great reference to and inspiration from the poem Dregs, by Ernest Dowson. Since I can recall, I always had music in my life and still listen daily to lots of music, all different genres and styles. I was never a big fan of The Cure, but heard all the hits, but one album that stands out from the rest and is my favourite Cure album, is Disintegration, and I have a feeling this new album, Songs Of A Lost World, is going to be along similar lines. Just the title of the album, I think, says it all... Can't wait to hear it!!! 🖤🖤
Share a lot of what you say, turned sixty myself and thé Cure hâve accompagné ed my journey. Personally my favourite is Faith and this sounds as if it’s going down that route. I’ve not followed them on everything they’ve done but they’ve been like an old leather chair that I could relax on not when I needed. Maybe going back to that chair now
I knew this song from the lives, some fans have really good videos of the last concerts. But this lyric video is absolute amazing, the studio version is even better, I can't wait the album in November 1. Where did it go!!! Strong lyrics with Robert's vocals and fantastic music,long instrumental intro....A Masterpiece!!!! The endsong from the same album is even better but more sad. Great review!!!!!!!! The best i should say and i have see many till now!!!!
Thank you for your review and spot on with RS!!! Might be the best take i've seen so far as other folks were expecting a short pop single. Folks should do some research on the group before doing reviews. the ones saying Alone is too long and slow need to go back to Pornography (100 years), Kiss Me x's 3 (The Kiss), Wish (Open), Disintegration (Plainsong), Blood Flowers (Out of this World) up to 4:13 (Underneath The Stars). The song openers have been lengthy and appreciated. SOALW will be epic from a "Cure" point of view and not from a commercial POV.......
A genius songwriter, musician and in fact band who are able to take you to such a dark and foreboding place, yet have you smiling at their brilliance, and somehow filling you with joy at the same time. No words can describe how awesome this track is, having now listened to it a dozen times it has clawed its way through my skin and weaved itself into my soul. And yes I cried and am not ashamed. I lost my dad in April aged 94 years of age, and the title of the track hits home like a sledgehammer but I salute each of the band and everyone involved in the production of this track for its stunning beauty. He only lives about 10 miles from me and one day, if I ever bump into him, I feel that I should kneel at his feet in reverence to his mastery of his art. But seriously, the man is a genius.
Dregs by Ernest Dowson The fire is out, and spent the warmth thereof (This is the end of every song man sings!) The golden wine is drunk, the dregs remain, Bitter as wormwood and as salt as pain; And health and hope have gone the way of love Into the drear oblivion of lost things. Ghosts go along with us until the end; This was a mistress, this, perhaps, a friend. With pale, indifferent eyes, we sit and wait For the dropt curtain and the closing gate: This is the end of all the songs man sings.
