Joseph Budenholzer grew up in Nebraska, immersed in the rural lore and reli… Read Full Bio ↴Joseph Budenholzer grew up in Nebraska, immersed in the rural lore and religious traditions of the region. As a boy he attended parochial school where he was taught by nuns to play guitar for folk Mass. In addition to leading a string of local bands, he also joined The Omaha Magic Theatre, an offshoot of The Open Theatre in New York, as composer in residence. He eventually left Nebraska and set out for New York City arriving in the East Village in the mid-1980s. Soon after he began participating in readings at St Mark's Poetry Project and before long he was collaborating with dance performer, Brian Moran (Blood Boy) creating sampled soundscapes for confrontational Actionist assaults. This led into the Cinema of Transgression scene where he worked with filmmakers Richard Kern, Beth B, and Tessa Hughs-Freeland, and musician J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus). Eventually a series of live collaborations with Lydia Lunch resulted, culminating in the double CD, Matrikamantra, a work of psycho-acoustic theatre in the form of a homage to Romanian philosopher/poet EM Cioran. In 1990 he enrolled in NYU's Gallatin Division, focusing on Eastern European theatre, traveling to study in Russia and Bulgaria, and later touring Poland and the Czech Republic.

Backworld was formed in 1993 owing to Budenholzer's growing passion for English folk music, minimalist classical composition, Christian mysticism, and a desire to make music that could reflect these interests and hopefully be as spiritual and beautiful.

Since joining forces with World Serpent Distribution (London) in 1995 four studio albums have resulted, Holy Fire (1996), Isles of the Blest (1997), Anthems from the Pleasure Park (1999), Of Silver Sleep (2001) and a live album, The Fourth Wall, recorded at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London 2001. And 2 moreLPs Good Infection (2007) and Come The Bells (2011) on his own Discalucla label

Backworld's albums and early performances at CBGB's 313 Gallery and the NYU Experimental Theatre Wing and more recent concerts at House Leipzig, Germany; Grandson Castle, Switzerland; Bloomsbury Theatre, and St. Olave's Church, London, have featured a changing roster of players but the course is still steered by Budenholzer's constant vision. Arrangements of guitar, strings, percussion, flutes, electronics, revolve around lyrics concerned with ecstatic religious yearnings and tales of otherworldly visions. Notably Jarboe (Swans) has been a recurring figure in this story as well. Her presence can be felt lurking around certain tracks on the second and third albums. Recently, while recording the upcoming album, Good Infection, he enlisted the talents of Isobel Campbell (Belle & Sebastian, Gentle Waves), David Tibet (Current 93) and Drew McDowall (Coil) to contribute vocals and other textures to the new songs.

God Against All
Backworld Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

We walk alone in a deep forest
Together, yet apart, we form a dark chorus
The leaves are turning into blood and gold
Jesus wept while the others slept and he was sold

Pale victim on a cross with steel gray eyes
With deep wounds in his hands and in his side
The wound in his side was a mouth wide with fear

Saying, "Abandon hope all ye who enter here"

Every man for himself
Every woman for herself
And god against all

The silhouette of crosses on the hill
They're reared against the grey sky standing still
The drops of precious blood fall to the ground
Striking the stones they make an awesome sound

We were there on Easter morning
Watching as the stone was rolled away
And in the depths we saw him
Lying, and it sank into our minds

Every man for himself

Every woman for herself
And god against all

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Backworld's song God Against All speak of a sense of detachment and loneliness, even when surrounded by others. The opening lines depict the feeling of walking alone in a forest, but still coming together with others to form a "dark chorus." This could symbolize a group of people who are together physically, but emotionally disconnected. The imagery of the leaves turning into "blood and gold" paints a picture of the changing seasons and the fleeting nature of life.

The second verse describes the image of Jesus on the cross, with "steel gray eyes" and wounds in his hands and side. The line "saying, 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here'" is a reference to Dante's Inferno and the inscription on the gates of hell. This could suggest a sense of hopelessness and despair, even with the presence of religious figures.

The final verse speaks of Easter morning and the discovery of Jesus lying in the depths, sinking into the minds of the listeners. The repetition of the line "every man for himself, every woman for herself, and god against all" emphasizes the feeling of isolation and individualism in a world where even religion may not bring people together.

Overall, the lyrics to Backworld's God Against All paint a bleak picture of the human experience, punctuated by moments of reckoning and realization.

Line by Line Meaning

We walk alone in a deep forest
We live in solitude despite being in the company of each other in a world filled with uncertainty.

Together, yet apart, we form a dark chorus
Even as we stand together, our individual struggles render our collective voice gloomy and hopeless.

The leaves are turning into blood and gold
The world is changing into a state of decay and decay feels like a gory end rather than a golden one.

Jesus wept while the others slept and he was sold
While the world stands by and watches, those with power take advantage of those without, until the only response is one of sorrow.

Pale victim on a cross with steel gray eyes
Looking upon the crucified figure, we are struck by the sense of finality and inevitability that it exudes.

With deep wounds in his hands and in his side
The severity of his injuries is a testament to the violence and brutality of the world around us.

The wound in his side was a mouth wide with fear
The gaping wound is a metaphor for the deep-seated fears that we all wrestle with in our daily lives.

Saying, "Abandon hope all ye who enter here"
The mouth of the wound speaks a warning that the world is a dark and unforgiving place, and that the only answer is despair.

Every man for himself
The only person you can truly rely on is yourself in this world.

Every woman for herself
The only person you can truly rely on is yourself in this world.

And god against all
The concept of a benevolent god is a lie in this harsh and unforgiving world that cares for no one.

The silhouette of crosses on the hill
The surrounding landscape is full of symbols of death, hopelessness and all-encompassing suffering.

They're reared against the grey sky standing still
The crosses loom over us, unmoving even as our world falls apart.

The drops of precious blood fall to the ground
The small amounts of hope that we cling to are slowly ebbing away into the uncertain future.

Striking the stones they make an awesome sound
The sounds of despair that are being heard around us are becoming more and more disturbing, as we all struggle to cope with our own pain.

We were there on Easter morning
We have been there before, at times of hopefulness, but that hope has always turned into despair.

Watching as the stone was rolled away
Even when the world gives the illusion of hope, it proves to be fleeting and unreliable.

And in the depths we saw him
In the depths of our own suffering, we find ourselves grasping for something to hold onto, whether it be faith, hope or some other belief.

Lying, and it sank into our minds
We lay there, desperate and broken, aware of our own mortality and the harshness of the world around us.

Contributed by Brayden B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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