Aside from collaborative albums with Isobel Campbell, and other collaboration projects including Soulsavers and The Gutter Twins, Blues Funeral is Mark Lanegan's first new material in eight years, since Bubblegum (2004) Upon its release, Blues Funeral received widespread critical acclaim and charted in six countries within the week of its release, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Background
Following extensive collaborations with Isobel Campbell, former vocalist and celloist of indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, Lanegan began working on Blues Funeral after the tour in promotion of their third collaborative studio album, Hawk (2010). The tour concluded on October 29, 2010 in Los Angeles, California and Lanegan subsequently began composing songs. In an interview with MOJO, Lanegan described his writing process for the album, saying that: " were written right before or during the period when we recorded" and "generally I write on the guitar, but this one I started a few with the keyboard and a drum machine, to do something different. With Al , I can show him something on acoustic guitar and give him a description and within a couple of hours it's done."
Composition
The Quietus described the album's sound as: "Blues Funeral incorporates beats marshalled by sequencers with grand cinematic sweeps and a rock & roll sensibility that reveals an artist refusing to paint himself into a corner." Lanegan also noted that "with this new record, because I use a lot of the elements of my influences that I haven't on previous record, I've made a record that's something more like I would personally listen to than some of the records that I’ve made before,"and listed the album's influences as The Gun Club's Miami, Joy Division's Closer and Roxy Music's Country Life amongst others.
Release
Lanegan's official website posted a press release on November 7, 2011 announcing that Blues Funeral was due to be released worldwide on February 6, 2012. The album was made available for pre-order on iTunes and domestic versions of the album on CD and double LP were made available through the 4AD Store and Amazon. Physical versions of the album were released a day later than the digital release. On January 21, 2012, Amazon previewed thirty-second clips of each songs on the album and on January 31, MOJO made the album available for stream in its entirety.
Tour
A two-leg tour was planned to accompany the release of Blues Funeral throughout spring 2012. Lanegan performed two shows in the United States—at the Bowery Ballroom in New York on February 7 and at Echoplex in Los Angeles, California on February 9— prior to the European tour which will last from February 24 to April 2. The tour will include Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal. Following the release of the album, Lanegan announced two further legs of the tour with five shows in Australia and New Zealand in April and with twelve shows in the United States, Mexico and Canada in May.
The Gravedigger's Song
Mark Lanegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I been dreaming of you
And the taste of your love so sweet
Honest its true
Through my heart flows sleep
And the dark heavy rain
Where the gravedigger’s sung his song
You’ve been torturing me
Tout est noir, mon amour
Tout est blanc
Je t’aime, mon amour
Comme j’aime la nuit
Love, is the medicine good?
Is the crow flying eight miles high?
Over wire and wood
Shovel down six feet
With a head heavy pain
But magnolia blooms so sweet
And it fades just the same
To the stars my love
To the sea
To the wheels my love
Till they roll all over me
Oh love, I been thinking of you
With razor white teeth so sharp
Honest its true
In my blood flows sleep
And the dark heavy rain
But magnolia blooms so sweet
Only torturing me
To the stars my love
To the sea
To the wheels my love
Till they roll all over me
The Gravedigger's Song by Mark Lanegan is a haunting ballad that speaks of the destructive power of love. The opening lines of the song paint a vivid picture of the singer's desire for his lover. He describes dreaming of her "with piranha teeth" and the "taste of your love so sweet." The intensity of his longing is palpable, and he suggests that his love for her is so strong that it is like a violently obsessive hunger that consumes him.
As the song progresses, it becomes clear that the object of the singer's desires is also the source of his pain. He speaks of being "tortured" by his lover, and of the "dark heavy rain" that flows through his heart. He juxtaposes the sweet fragrance of magnolias with the pain of digging graves, suggesting that love can be both beautiful and deadly.
Line by Line Meaning
With piranha teeth
I have been relentlessly yearning for you.
I been dreaming of you
You've been on my mind constantly.
And the taste of your love so sweet
Your love is what I crave and desire the most.
Honest its true
I'm not lying, my emotions are genuine.
Through my heart flows sleep
My heart is heavy with sorrow and longing.
And the dark heavy rain
My mood is melancholic just like the gloomy weather outside.
Where the gravedigger’s sung his song
The place where death is present, and my misery exists.
You’ve been torturing me
Your absence is painful, and it feels like torture.
Tout est noir, mon amour
My love, everything is black and dark.
Tout est blanc
Everything is blank and void, there's no light in my life.
Je t’aime, mon amour
I love you, my love.
Comme j’aime la nuit
Just like how I love the darkness of the night.
Love, is the medicine good?
Is love the cure for my pain and suffering?
Is the crow flying eight miles high?
Is there any hope or miracle to end my suffering?
Over wire and wood
Even if there's anything hopeful, it's unreachable and far.
Shovel down six feet
I'm buried deep in my sorrows.
With a head heavy pain
My mind is heavy with sadness, and it's unbearable.
But magnolia blooms so sweet
Yet, there's still beauty in life, even in my suffering.
And it fades just the same
But beauty is short-lived, and it fades as quickly as it appears.
To the stars my love
I long to escape from reality and reach the stars.
To the sea
And find solace in the vastness of the sea.
To the wheels my love
Or just ride the wheels of life and accept my fate.
Till they roll all over me
Until life finally consumes me and puts me out of my misery.
Oh love, I been thinking of you
I can't stop thinking about you and your love.
With razor white teeth so sharp
My longing for you is intense and painful, leaving me defenseless like prey.
In my blood flows sleep
My body is tired and wants to shut down, but my emotions keep me awake.
And the dark heavy rain
The rain continues to pour, echoing my melancholic mood.
But magnolia blooms so sweet
There's still beauty to be found in the world, even amidst my troubles.
Only torturing me
Yet, it's a reminder that my suffering continues.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind