Combining literary, socially engaged texts with innovative and genre-breaking music, she has covered every kind of style, while at the same time maintaining her own identity on each and every recording, whether it be the samples (before sampling became a concept) and electronically treated acoustics of The Sitting Room (1982), to the ground-breaking analogue synth classics of Sleeper In Metropolis (1983) and Our Darkness (1984).
Consistently looking for new ways of expression and communication through the emotion of music and language, Anne seeks to not only challenge herself but her audience also.
Going between extremes of the minimal Scandinavian jazz influences of Unstill Life (1991) to the pastoral and poetic interpretations and translations of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry on Just After Sunset (1997), to the full-on electronics and sparse acoustics of The Smallest Acts Of Kindness (2008), very few artists have covered such a wide spectrum over such a long and consistent career.
At the end of 2010, Anne Clark released the first chapter of a vibrant and on-going project Past & Future Tense, the first release on her own label, After Hours Productions.
Rather than turning out yet another compilation or collection of back catalogue, she decided, in this special anniversary year to invite young and innovative musicians, producers and DJs to take her material, all her material, not the most obvious numbers and to not just “remix” them but completely re-interpret them.
The result a fresh, exciting and contemporary view by a new generation of an artist who in her turn influenced them and their development in the endless possibilities of electronic music.
In January 2011 Anne contributed an arrangement of the Charles Baudelaire poem Enivrez-Vous (Be Drunk) to the audio book and radio play Die Künstliche Paradiese, (Hörbuch Hamburg/Radio Bremen).
Our Darkness
Anne Clark Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And we'd talk of it with idealistic assurance
That it wouldn't tear us apart
We'd keep our heads above the blackened water
But there's no room for ideals in this mechanical place
And you're gone now
Through a grimy window that I can't keep clean
You're nowhere to be seen
Do you think our desires still burn
I guess it was desires that tore us apart
There has to be passion
A passion for living, surviving
And that means detachment
Every-body has a weapon to fight you with
To beat you with when you are down
There were too many defence between us
Doubting all the time
Fearinf all the time
Doubting all the time
Fearinf all the time
That like these urban nightmares
We'd blacken each other skies
When we passed the subway we tried to ignore our fate there
Of written threats on endless walls
Unjustified crimes carried on stifled calls
Would you walk with me now through this pouring rain
It used to mingle with our tears then dry with the hopes
That we left behind
It rains even harder now .
Anne Clark's song "Our Darkness" is an introspective piece that speaks of two people that were once in each other's company. The lyrics are indicative of a fallout between two people, but the imagery used is vivid enough to invoke questions about the level of their relationship. Starting with depicting a city nightmare that they would walk through together, Anne Clark sets a tone that is both bleak and hopeless. The two people are then portrayed as having "idealistic assurance" that their relationship would not be destroyed. However, as the narrative progresses, the reality of the city that they lived creates a cruel mechanical place that does not allow for ideals. This leads to detachment, and gradually the two people drift apart. Even though Anne Clark asks if the desires still burn, the answer seems evident; it was their desires that tore them apart. The passion for living and surviving requires detachment, and this leads to a mechanistic approach to the world, which gradually eats away at their connection. The ending section is an emotional plea to get back to how things were, but it is equally evident that they cannot be.
The imagery used in the lyrics can be interpreted as symbolic. The city is portrayed as a blackened water world, with no room for ideals, and this reflects the corroding nature of modern society. It is a place where everyone has a weapon to fight with, before resorting to doubting and fearing everything, including each other. The use of the subway as a motif for an unjustified crime and written threats that were carried on stifled calls paints a bleak picture of the world as a dangerous place. The pouring rain is seen as a symbol of tears that were mingled with hopes, but they dry out eventually, leaving the couple adrift.
Line by Line Meaning
Through these city nightmares you'd walk with me
Amid the chaos of this city, you were my constant companion.
And we'd talk of it with idealistic assurance
We discussed the darkness of this place with hopeful optimism.
That it wouldn't tear us apart
We believed that our love would overcome the hardships of this city.
We'd keep our heads above the blackened water
We strove to stay afloat in this sea of despair.
But there's no room for ideals in this mechanical place
However, this city is devoid of the idealism we had hoped for.
And you're gone now
You have left me behind in this oppressive city.
Through a grimy window that I can't keep clean
I peer out into this city through a dirty and obstructed view.
Through billowing smoke that's swallowed the sun
The smog and pollution have obscured the sun's light.
You're nowhere to be seen
You are no longer by my side.
Do you think our desires still burn
Do you believe that our passion for each other still exists?
I guess it was desires that tore us apart
Perhaps it was our passionate nature that ultimately led to our separation.
There has to be passion
However, passion is essential to living and surviving in this bleak city.
A passion for living, surviving
We must have a drive to carry on in the face of adversity.
And that means detachment
But this passion requires a level of detachment in order to persevere.
Every-body has a weapon to fight you with
Everyone in this city is armed with a way to bring you down.
To beat you with when you are down
They will not hesitate to attack you when you are at your weakest.
There were too many defence between us
The barriers we faced in this city were insurmountable.
Doubting all the time
We constantly questioned whether our love could endure.
Fearinf all the time
We lived in a constant state of fear and uncertainty.
That like these urban nightmares
Our relationship was like the nightmares that haunt us in this city.
We'd blacken each other skies
Our love would ultimately destroy us, like the pollution that taints this city.
When we passed the subway we tried to ignore our fate there
We deliberately avoided confronting the dangers that lurked in the subway.
Of written threats on endless walls
The subway walls were adorned with menacing messages and graffiti.
Unjustified crimes carried on stifled calls
Unspeakable crimes were committed in secrecy and hidden from the public eye.
Would you walk with me now through this pouring rain
If you were here with me, would you face this city's hardships by my side?
It used to mingle with our tears then dry with the hopes
The rain used to symbolize our shared emotions and the promise of better days ahead.
That we left behind
However, those hopes have since been abandoned.
It rains even harder now
The rain now serves as a reminder of the relentless oppression of this city.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Anne Charlotte Clark, David Harrow
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MrKhushrenada
This is most likely the most timeless song ever created.
Released in 1984 and 40 years later you can play this in a techno discotheque and it doesn't sound out of place. 😉🤘
Man, I love this track. ✌
@pedrojosegutierrezvelez5137
Reinaaaaaaaaa
@theman59dugrandnord.
Un grand bonjour de la France. Effectivement un morceau intemporelle que j'ai découvert en discothèque quand j'avais une vingtaine d'années j'en ai 56 toujours au top pour moi d'ailleurs j'ai toujours remix Maxi 33 tour. Aller une bonne ☯️👌🤘🤘
@kevinmullner4280
I´ve seen Anne Clark live in the PC 69 in the 80s, presumably 85.
We were so blessed in EastWestphalia/Germany with the PC69 in Bielefeld [the city that doesn´t exist], the Forum Enger [beating everything else in Germany, maybe sometimes Europe], the Hunky Dory in Detmold and the bright, but tiny Glashaus crowd, that would go off even with sometimes only five to ten concertgoers.
And today? I´m old, this generation has to find their own way of enlightment and happiness.
About this version; it sounds fresher than the older ones. It´s great.
@kgiv3763
i loved this song at 15 and love it at 52...great vocals and production. one the best songs of the 80s and there was a lot of great songs.
@user-uz2jr1dg7m
Was 18 now 55 one of my favourite if not the 1...❤
@hsoc2321
exactly the same here / soon getting 53
@user-um8ef7df9m
same here. im 1972 boy, french by the way, and i love Anne Clark, and Nina Hagen...
@heikojoerges8330
lol, went to a concert of Nina Hagen in Berlin around 2010, don’t remember the exact year ... Anne Clark was running in on of my favorite clubs in the old days, switching between Anne Clark and The Cure 😎 lots of people dressed in black over there
@user-um8ef7df9m
@@heikojoerges8330 lucky of you, if you love Nina and Anne , you know good stuff.