Fun fact. Tobias wrote the string section part in the beginning years before Prequelle was recorded. It was meant for Meliora but didn't fit in anywhere. Tobias actually had two records in his head when the follow up to Infestissuman was planned. One rock record (Meliora) and one theme record about the plague (Prequelle)He asked the producer Klas who is a close friend which one he wanted to do and he said the rock record. So Meliora was written and recorded and this orchestral part was left over for Prequelle. Pro Memoria is about the man in the Prequelle theme making a deal with the devil. That's why the part of don't you forget. He gets something but also later on Prequelle have to pay a price for it.
I don't mind the repetitive chorus, the song is still bone chilling. You say it's not evil sounding enough for you... I say you can't really appreciate the feeling you get, as a child being inside an imposing orthodox cathedral with its byzantine choirs, singing their chants in a major key (church specific scales) about how great and merciful God is, only to remind you at the end in a minor tone, of how He'll punish you if you're not doing what you should... quite intimidating. Trust me, when it comes to these kind of matters, major or minor keys, they all sound ominous and eerie to me. You can't get this feeling in a typical US church, they look like theater rooms.. I get that :) So, to fully understand what Tobias is doing here with his major chords, go to the nearest (true) catholic/orthodox church and listen their cheerful pipes and choirs, contemplating death while you're at it. ;)
Funny, This is one of my favorites off the album! It is a little repetitive though. The legend has it that there was once a Roman general who always had a someone following behind reminding him "momento mori". Literal translation "remember you must die". This is basically making Cardinal Copia/Papa IV the general with Lucifer whispering it as motivation to continue spreading evil. Thats what I get out of it at least lol.
Every time I hear that intro, it makes me think of the scene in the Ghost mini episodes they put up to announce their tour when this album came out, where Cardinal Copia is first introduced using that intro...he walks into the room carrying a boombox playing it like his own theme song. XD Those episodes are hilarious, and I thought it was a clever way to announce the tour. :)
Thought the same when I first heard it, that it felt so repetitive. But now that I don't analyze it I don't mind it, I just see it as a repeating mantra/percussive element. I think it works, kinda hooky. Also love everything else so damn much
Part of being a Ghost fan is saying the titles of the songs and albums differently every time you mention them using each possible pronunciation. This time it’s PREE-KWUL and next time it’s PRAY-KELL and next time it’s some other possible way of saying it. 😉😂 I love “Pro Memoria”, chorus and all. Hope the chorus grows on you more over time. 🤘 “Witch Image” Helvetesfonster” and “Life Eternal” are about to kick your ass. Helvetesfonster is a beautiful, epic, spooky instrumental featuring Mikael Akerfeldt on nylon string acoustic guitar and the other two are classic Ghost tracks that lyrically (while Helvetesfonster builds on it musically) build on Pro Memoria’s vibe/concept of wanting to deny the reality of death while death is closing in.
Just reiterating a lot of what I've seen other people mention: I love this instrumentally at first, where the lyrics felt overly cheesy. I still think they're cheesy today, but I've accepted it and love the song now, lol This is definitely one of their songs that took a bit to fully grow on me but now I look forward to it whenever I put this album on.
My cousin Beth ruined it for me by changing it to "Your friend Beth". I can't unhear it. But to be fair, I ruined Spirit for some friends I sometimes jam with by changing the first line to "Throw yourself... out of the window..." XD
@@breisagrapefruit Aren't misheard Ghost lyrics the best? I think my all time fave is one someone posted online from Ritual - "Our fallen angel Vic learned Spanish from this guy." I sing that one all the time now too! (Along with throwing yourself out of the window... into the shrubbery.)
I love watching you dig music! Try listening to Elizabeth on the demo tape, the production is low and the vocals are more upfront. Also cool to hear how some tracks changed a bit in the final cut. I love this band. I love my pretty Satan. Music.
Another great reaction! Keep it up! This song didn't hit for me right away either, it more grew on me like a fungus. It's still not one of my top Ghost songs, thanks to those lyrics in the chorus same as you. (Couldn't Tobias have come up with something a *little* better? He's written some truly brilliant lyrics for a guy whose first language is NOT English! ) Anyway, I kind-of love the rest of this one now - the melodies, the instrumentals, all the rest of the vocals... And it's strangely fun live, to have a big, pumped up crowd yelling along about how we're all going to die. 😈
You are entering the ballads territory! The chorus definitely could have used some different lyrics the second or third time around to keep things interesting. smart slight variations would suffice i think. But this song, like a few others, is all about the layers coming in. For example, Genesis is the same phrase repeated 4x, but every pass something is added or changed. In that sense, every Pro Memoria chorus is a step up from the previous one, by guitars/vocals/strings coming in, which culminate in an epic last chorus... but the repetition of the lyrics kind of get in the way of that, unfortunately... You are not wrong about that! Though you will totally get used it haahhaha Btw, you are saying Pro Memoria correctly. the next song is Helvetesfönster, which is Hell-vetes-feur-ster. Excited for you to get to Life Eternal! It's the best closure to an album so far!
I agree with your reaction. Personally this song is one that I either have to be in the mood for or else it's a skip. As you said the instrumentation of this track is awesome but the repetitiveness of this track specifically just doesn't click with me
This is my least favourite song on the album. Not that it's a bad song, the rest of the album is just on another level. Musically it's solid, the hook is just a bit cheese for me personally. But it's followed up by Witch Image, possibly my favourite song on the album. Great reviews man, keep it up
I agree with your assessment. I don't skip this track like I do with a couple others on the album. The line "You could have sold out too. Ain't that right, Sweet St. Peter?" is a personal dig at one of the former ghouls. I wish he'd avoided that throughout Prequelle. That said, this song starts to hammer home the album theme of plague and massive death. Witch Image is one of my favorites!
I have to admit, that line (which I've heard is actually "SWEDE St. Peter", making it even more pointed at that specific person)doesn't bother me much. It takes a bit of knowledge about the band's background and the Bible to figure out who he's even referring to, and I don't mine a covert jab if it sounds that good. Then again, "Death On Two Legs" is one of my favourite Queen songs too, so maybe I just love a good dis track.
Agreed. I can count Ghost skip-songs with my fingers on my right hand. This is one of them. Have to say overall though, my personal skip-song ratio for Ghost is incredibly low.
I’m with you, the chorus really lets this song down. Shame because I love the concept, I’ve always been fascinated by that idea of having a person whose sole job is to remind the top dog he will die like the rest of us and he’s just another mortal. To keep their power and ego in check. That’s badass. But yeah it’s kind of annoying in this chorus. Might have worked better if it was a little heavier on the chorus and just used one of those three death related lines. They’re all just too similar. Pro Memoria, See the Light and Life Eternal are three songs that really let this record down for me, even though they all grow on me at times. They’re all just lacking something, and they’re all spread out at key points on the record (right in the middle, and closing it out). Boy you’re in for a treat on ‘Witch Image’ though. Love your positivity and open mindedness even on the songs you don’t dig as much, man.
Hahaha that was me that commented that... Digging this Ghost journey with you man. 🤘 I agree, this is one of their 'weakest' songs lyrically and one of my least favorites.
