Walker composed the songs for the album slowly over the eleven years soon after the release of 1995's Tilt beginning with "Cue", the longest song to complete, up until the album's recording. An early version of "Buzzers" was premièred at the Meltdown festival on 17 June 2000 under the title "Thimble Rigging". The album was recorded over a period of 17 months at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, London, with orchestra recorded in one day at George Martin's AIR Studios in Hampstead, London. Receiving good reviews from critics, the album was released as an LP and CD in May 2006. The artwork for the album was designed by Vaughan Oliver at v23 with assistance from Chris Bigg and photography by Marc Atkins.
Walker's first album composed entirely of new material since 1995's Tilt, The Drift forms the second installment of the "trilogy" that concluded with 2012's Bish Bosch (2012). In the years between Tilt and The Drift, Walker's released output comprised a few instrumental tracks on the soundtrack to the film Pola X and a track on the soundtrack to the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, as well as a few compilations of previously released material, including the retrospective box set 5 Easy Pieces.
The Drift has been cited by many critics and fans alike as a disturbing and complex album that departs from Scott Walker's previous albums while still remaining true to his experimental roots. French singer Vanessa Contenay-Quinones appears as the voice of Clara Petacci on "Clara".
The sound and subject matter for the album is unrelentingly dark and unsettling, often juxtaposing quiet sections with sudden loud noise to induce discomfort in the listener. Subjects include torture, disease, 9/11, and Elvis Presley.
The Drift received positive reviews by the majority of critics.
Mikael Åkerfeldt wanted his band Opeth to have their album Watershed be a heavy metal version of this album but "it proved to be impossible simply because his head is sicker than mine and I also love melodies and dynamics. There are however many parts on there directly inspired by Scott."
Cossacks Are
Scott Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For a vanished
Style of mind
A noble debut
Tackling vertiginous
Demands
Has absence ever
Sounded so
Eloquent
So sad
I doubt it?"
With an arm
Across the
Torso
Face on
The nails
With an arm
Across the
Torso
Face on
The pale
Monkey
Nails
"Touching the
Shattered lives
It unearths
A nocturne
Filled with
Glorious ideas
A chilling
Exploration
Of erotic consumption"
With an arm
Across the
Torso
Face on
The nails
With an arm
Across the
Torso
Face on
The pale
Monkey
Nails
Cossacks are
Charging in
Charging into
Fields of
White roses
Cossacks are
Charging in
Charging into
Fields of
White roses
"That's a nice suit"
"That's a swanky suit"
"Been a pope like no other"
"I'm looking for a good cowboy"
"A rare outcry makes you lead a larger life"
"You could easily picture this in the current top ten"
"Medieval savagery
Calculated cruelty"
"It's hard to pick the worst moment"
Calculated cruelty"
"It's hard to pick the worst moment"
With an arm
Across the
Torso
Face on
The nails
With an arm
Across the
Torso
Face on
The pale
Monkey
Nails
The song "Cossacks Are" by Scott Walker is a haunting and mysterious piece that is open to interpretation. The lyrics are evocative and poetic, painting vivid images in the listener's mind. The opening lines refer to a "vanished style of mind," which can be interpreted as a comment on the loss of a particular way of thinking or being. The singer then goes on to describe a "noble debut," perhaps referring to a performance or a grand gesture that is meant to impress.
The chorus of the song features the repeated lines "With an arm across the torso, face on the nails, with an arm across the torso, face on the pale monkey nails." It's unclear what this repetition symbolizes, but it adds to the overall sense of unease and tension in the song.
The final section of the song introduces the titular "Cossacks," who are charging into fields of white roses. The significance of this imagery is again open to interpretation, but it suggests a violent or chaotic event.
Overall, "Cossacks Are" is a complex and mysterious song that invites the listener to grapple with its meanings and symbols.
Line by Line Meaning
A moving aria
For a vanished
Style of mind
A noble debut
Tackling vertiginous
Demands
Has absence ever
Sounded so
Eloquent
So sad
I doubt it?
The song is an ode to a lost culture, tackling difficult emotions with grace and beauty. The absence of this culture is truly heartbreaking and unlikely to be replicated.
With an arm
Across the
Torso
Face on
The nails
With an arm
Across the
Torso
Face on
The pale
Monkey
Nails
The repeated image of an arm across the torso and face on nails signifies a sense of pain and agony, as if the singer is trying to hold themselves together amidst great suffering.
Touching the
Shattered lives
It unearths
A nocturne
Filled with
Glorious ideas
A chilling
Exploration
Of erotic consumption
The song dives into the deep, dark parts of the soul, bringing to light both beautiful and disturbing ideas about life and love. It is a haunting exploration of human desire and what we do to fulfill it.
Cossacks are
Charging in
Charging into
Fields of
White roses
Cossacks are
Charging in
Charging into
Fields of
White roses
The title of the song seems to evoke images of violence and chaos, with Cossacks charging into fields of white roses. The meaning here is somewhat obscure, but it seems to suggest a clash of beauty and ugliness, of grace and brutality.
"That's a nice suit"
"That's a swanky suit"
"Been a pope like no other"
"I'm looking for a good cowboy"
"A rare outcry makes you lead a larger life"
"You could easily picture this in the current top ten"
"Medieval savagery
Calculated cruelty"
"It's hard to pick the worst moment"
Calculated cruelty"
"It's hard to pick the worst moment"
These phrases appear disjointed and disconnected, but they all evoke a sense of despair and confusion about the world around us. The references to pop culture and history suggest that this is an ongoing, universal feeling that transcends time and space.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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