on woods 5: grey skies and electric light
now this album holds a special place for me. i wanted to write about this for over a year now. i have finally gathered enough courage to attempt it. hope i do it justice.
this album was released 2 months after the death of david gold, the man behind woods of ypres. he suffered from depression and it still isn't clear if his death was suicide or an accident. still with his death i can't help but look at this album and the rest of woods of ypres' discography in a new light.
i don't want to talk about how depressing and sad this album is rather i want to talk about the optimism showing through the cracks. i think this is real, unfiltered, what you are experiencing right now sucks and that's ok, you are still alive and it's not the end of everything kind of optimism. he has been through stuff and you can tell. i think this is even more powerful.
one of my favourite songs from this album is "adora vivos". he talks about how we exist in a tiny sliver of time and our lives are so short. we will die one day, inevitably. but we should spend the limited time we have here by loving each other. not by dwelling on the past. you are here and you are alive. isn't that beautiful? isn't that so powerful?
and in "death is not an exit" he talks about how our lives are precious, priceless and we should protect it at all costs. he then goes on to "career suicide" where he says failure is not the end of everything. career suicide is not real suicide. you only have one life to live and you should do what makes you happy even if it means "failing". also i want to talk about the concept of failure in our society really quickly. what does it mean to fail exactly? if I for example opened a coffee shop that i've been dreaming of, run it for a couple of years then get bored and overwhelmed with all and want to move on to something else is my business failed? i did all that i wanted to do. i'm happy with myself. why is the determinant of success doing a thing forever?
another song i want to talk about is "travelling alone". this was written after a conversation david had with one of the locals in kuwait when he was teaching english there. in this song david's and locals views of the world collide. david is not a believer while the man he is talking to is. he talks about how the locals life is filled with evidences of god, he understands why the man believes. but he can not because he has none of those. he is isolated in a foreign country and does not fit in even in his own country. he yearns for a community. he then thinks about the pointlessness of it. why is he arguing? what good will his beliefs bring? i don't want to leave them miserable like me, he thinks. the song then ends in a rather bleak tone when the local says he doesn't see the evidence of god in the men from the west.
well what was the point of this? why did i write this post? you see, this post is a love letter. i love this band and this album. that's all. that's the point.
reply via email
liked this post? you can follow my rss feed for more. i'd also appreciate if you toasted this post below. 🍞