this song has a profound effect on me. it's hard to describe. i've listened to all of the big post punk bands from this era, but this song is the purest and most poetic expression of that aesthetic i've ever encountered. it has a mystical, hypnotic quality. it's sort of melancholy but also energetic and powerful. it evokes a very nuanced emotional state. what's interesting is that so many random people think it is one of the best songs ever written. even 35 years later people come here and say they just discovered this band and second skin is one of the greatest songs they've heard in their lives. imagine having people say that about your art decades later, when in your own era you were relatively obscure outside of manchester. i hope they know how powerful their music is, and how long it has endured.
I agree! Just found this song and it’s 2020! The Chameleons are definitely an 80s hidden gem. I hope more people come across it, even generations later!
If you haven't read the Tempest, and Shakespeare's more mystical material , I recommend it in this context, it contains the same otherness. The following is quoted in part in the song of course... its fucking immense Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd; Bear with my weakness; my, brain is troubled: Be not disturb'd with my infirmity: If you be pleased, retire into my cell And there repose: a turn or two I'll walk, To still my beating mind.
Maybe because British bands stopped getting air space in USA due to dumb red tape contracts by music industries we often don't hear what's on brit airwaves.
@@vegettoblue8705 my favorite Asylum Party song is 'Together in the Fall' and 'Where Have You Gone My Friend'. Though I also do love the song you mention. Really they never wrote a single song I don't like.
Script of the bridge 1983 An album EVERYONE should hear before they die. 12 songs of melancholic cold post - punk from the eighties. From the punk/rock angry blast of melodic noise that is Don't Fall upto the haunting and sad melancholic slow gothic tone of View from a hill. The entire lp is art, a masterpiece and easily their best lp and one of the best albums EVER made. Chris was here in the summer of 2023
I was there and remember it all so clearly. Literally the stuff dreams are made of. That's me at 3.13 in on the shoulders of giants (i.e. my mate Stu. thanks for the memories Mark and Co. Beautiful song, happy times
Saw them on the same stage as Echo and the Bunnymen, The Sisters of Mercy, Spear of Destiny and The Redskins in York in 1984. The Chameleons were the best band of the day.
bit of a cold day that day. Lining up outside the racecourse to get in. Heard a haunting sound from across the racecourse and left my mates at the burger van to take a look Love em- saw them in Oxford before lockdown- still brilliant
In 2017, I saw ChameleonsVox in Brooklyn as they announced it was probably their last US tour... tears literally streamed down my face the whole night...
+pop gun I was amazed this concert was for rent on DVD at Netflix. They had a button you clicked for buying their "previewed DVD" but they wouldn't sell it, because they said out of the original 2 they had , they only had one left.
cant stop playing this in the morning while getting rweady for work then if I can get it played in the office :) only just discovered it days ago. between this and The Sound - Winning...man...I missed out on some epic moments but I'm feeling it :)
I was a guitarist in a California gothic rock band and a huge goth music fan during this time period. My fave bands were Sisters, Red Lorry, March Violets, etc but the Chameleons are really the ONLY band of all of them I can still listen to regularly now in my mid 50s and enjoy it as much as I did in 1985. Timeless music. The guitarists were a huge influence on me personally as they mesmerized with their guitar lines that wove together like the threads of a persian carpet.....Up The Down Escalator is probably my all time favorite of theirs but they truly didn't compose a bad song. The only song I didn't particularly like as much as the rest was the cover of John I'm Only Dancing....The Chameleons and The Mission are the only two "goth" bands I can still listen to these days and do with regularity. The others, especially with bands like Sisters or FOTN just seem outright silly to me now....the Chams did it right...
I wish I could have seen you guys play!! I'm still aggravated that its taken me this long to be able to talk to artists that were part of this sound, this movement that we have to thank for music today. so many people I want to thank and tell how much it meant to me to hear, and how hard it was to discover and hear the music. I found RLYL in 2004 in a really obscure way and immediately was on a mission to find more bands like that. Couldnt find anyone to recommend much that was relevant to what I wanted to hear, like that, and The Wake, and Joy Division. I like to put Talk about teh Weather on repeat some days. I've never met someone else that likes these bands to high five on youtube, so high five and hugs. Keep doing music, at least now we have ways to communicate and support digitally
I have the vinyl sleeve of Script of the bridge (1983) signed by two founders, Mark Burgess and Reginald Smithies. Incredible song influenced by The Shadows and The Beatles. I have chatted to Mark lots and he told me quite a bit.. Dave Fielding was influenced by The Shadows, you can clearly hear the sound in his guitar playing etc. Their influence can be heard in bands today from.. Interpol, Editors, The Killers. - C 12 - 08 - 23
I met my wife through MySpace due to a mutual love for The Chameleons - she's Mexican and I couldn't believe she knew who they were, as nobody in Northern Ireland did!
I first discovered post-punk music in 1987 when I heard this song on the radio. Little did I know that I would not ever hear a better song than that one in the 35 years that followed...
The days when good live music meant so much…So happy that I’ve experienced those days…And I still love this song and band very much….They are just as underrated as “The Sound”….
Qué banda hermosa, la puta madre!!!!!! No entiendo cómo no tuvo el reconocimiento que realmente merecieron. Mánchester, ciudad de bandas legendarias, sin lugar a duda.
The Chameleons were THE best band to come out of Manchester- as much as I love Joy Division, The Smiths, Stone Roses…….if I had a choice in the matter, I'd see Chameleons over any of them. I don't think they wrote a bad song in their entire career.
at 3:16 you can see a guy in the audience on someones shoulders swaying above the crowd with his arms out, at 3:19 you can see Mark have a chuckle (no doubt because of this ). Awesome live recording. Feel like your there, and always for me, always will be.
They tapped into something really powerful with this song. There's something really special about it. Theres only a handful of songs ive heard in my life that evoke a feeling like this, and its songs ive never gotten tired of and will always feel like theyre being beamed right into my brain.
I discovered this band and second skin song accidentally some years ago, since then I feel it has an hypnotic rhythm that makes you wanting to listen and listen over and over again. Sometimes I detect as if it were two songs in one. The Chameleons and unique and totally underrated band.
I've listened to Second Skin upward of 4000 times in my life, and I never get tired of the celestially perfect synthesis of synth, strings and drum that make up its divinely untouchable melody. Between the intro that echoes a reflection of eternity, the instrumental build between verse 1 and verse 2 makes me envision the universe being made and then unmade by unknowable forces all at once, every time. And this is to say nothing of Mark's haunting lyrical monologue that beckons the dark pull of existential mystery.
What a great band they were. Such melodies. I was lucky to see them many times but my best memory was hitch hiking to Manchester from Surrey to see them at the Hacienda in 1982. It will live with me forever.
Lyrics: One cold damp evening The world stood still I watched as I held my breath A silhouette I thought I knew Came through, someone spoke to me Whispered in my ear This fantasy's for you Fantasy's are in this year My whole life flashed, before my eyes I thought, what they say is true I've shed my skin, and my disguise And cold on the naked eye Emerged from my cocoon And a half-remembered tune played softly in my head He said He turns smiling And says I realize a miracle, is due I dedicate this melody, to you I realize a miracle, is due I dedicate this melody, to you But is this the stuff dreams are made of? If this is the stuff dreams are made of No wonder I feel like I'm floating on air No wonder I feel like I'm floating on air I realize a miracle, is due I dedicate this melody, to you But is this the stuff dreams are made of? If this is the stuff dreams are made of No wonder I feel like I'm floating on air No wonder I feel like I'm floating on air No wonder I feel like I'm floating on air Everywhere Oh, it feels like I'm everywhere Like when you fail to make the connection, you know vital it is Oh when something slips through your fingers you know precious it is Oh and you reach the point when you know It's only your second skin It's only your second skin (Something's banging on my door) like when you fail to make the connection, you know vital it is (Someone's banging on my door) oh when something slips through your fingers you know precious it is (Something's banging on my door) or reach the point when you know it's only your second skin (Someone's banging on my door, something's banging on my door)
beloved.. i was 15 years old 1982 ..A FRIEND of my brother send from london 3 lps..U2 UNDER A BLOOD RED SKY THEATRE OF HATE DOYOU BELIEVE IN THE WESTWORLD AND SCRIPT OF THE BRIDGE CHAMELEONS..... now 53 still touching me inside...RESPECT
The Chameleons truly great artists who sonically and lyrically hit the heights. You must firstly find the truth , the truth within yourself ,and then you must believe in that truth ,and then you must be prepared to hold on tight to that truth, as everything in existence will try to make you loose your grip completely on that truth . Blessings to all brothers and sisters, you know who you are.
I went to see Chameleons Vox last night (3/6/18) for 35th anniversary of Script of the Bridge,the performance of Second Skin was as good as it is here and Mark's enthusiasm and voice hasn't changed. Sadly he didn't give any Ribena out this time :( I wasn't alive in 1985 but I might as well have been!
The audience is barely moving, as if they're frozen and *mesmerized* by this brilliance! I would give up a year in the future to be able to go back and be at this concert. Thank you 23D for sending it!
Fantastic, great ang good 80's song!!! It's like you fail to make the connection You know how vital it is Or when something slips through your fingers You know how precious it is Well you reach the point where you know It's only your second skin
What sounds were coming out of this band people weren't going to perfect until the 2000s.... Drums, bass, and even the guitar player were ahead of their time melodically and rhythmically....🖤🌹🌹✌️🤙🤙🍻🍺🍻
Script of the Bridge ~ i used to go to bed with fm radio on and push record then wake up and hear ehat i recorded. Jesus, that one night i recorded ultimate mix. The last song was "In Shreds." God, the raw guitar everything. Later i heard another song of%Chamelians on fm radio. I bought the LP ~ i floated in their music. I welcomed their meloncholy. It got me through a hard hard time in my 20's in DC.
How I would like to be borned in the early 60s in England, and had lived this age of music with all those great bands: The Chameleons, The Cure, The Comsat Angels, Play Dead, The Danse Society, Joy Division, Sad Lovers & Giants, and so many more...
I Love 80s at work I play the cure and a customer at the register casually reminisced, telling me how magical the 80's were. With such a beautiful look in her eye, went on to describe the music as full of romance and love. I could cry anytime someone mentions living during that time. How I yearn. 😭
I was 1962, saw them live at the tin can club, great gig. So many original bands back in the 80's. Used to love checking the gig list every Thursday in the NME to see who was playing where in the next ten days. Never big venues, capacity not much more than 4 to 500 usually except for bands like the Sisters of Mercy who played in slightly bigger arenas. Fun times.
Thank you for mentioning this, Uwe. Lever was one of the most powerful yet controlled drummers of any era in rock music. He was the backbone of this great band. He died much too young. R.I.P. John.
A lot of bands came out of the '80s, but for some reason this one connected with me the most. For me, the combination of moody atmospherics, psychedelic imagery, and intense guitar was magic and no other band could touch them. I think they were the best guitar band of of the '80s, including Spacemen 3.
One of my favourite songs of all time. 🖤 I finally had rhe pleasure of seeing The Chameleons live just 3 weeks ago, for the very first time, after 37 of listening to them. It was a magical performance and Mark sounds just as wonderful as always. They closed with this magnificent somg. 💙
