Coil spent the next period of its existence exploring visual media. In late 1984 they recorded a rendition of Tainted Love (originally recorded by Gloria Jones, but made popular by Soft Cell in the 80s), producing a widely banned, hallucinogenic video clip featuring Marc Almond as the Angel of Death; despite considerable controversy at home, the video ultimately found its way to the archives of the Museum of Modern Art. After spending several years working with filmmaker Derek Jarman on the feature The Angelic Conversation, Coil issued a remixed edition of their soundtrack. Following 1986’s Nightmare Culture, a collaboration with Boyd Rice produced as split release with Current 93, Christopherson and Balance invited Stephen Thrower to join the group in a full-time capacity. As a trio, they recorded 1986’s LP Horse Rotorvator, introducing orchestral, jazz, and middle Eastern textures into the mix; this album included The Anal Staircase.
In 1987, Coil issued The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser, a collection of atmospheric gothic instrumentals commissioned for but ultimately cut from the Clive Barker horror film, followed by compilation album Gold Is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders), a remixed history of the group’s first several years of work. Unnatural History, another career overview, effectively ended the first phase of the band’s career in 1990; when Coil resurfaced a year later with Love’s Secret Domain, their music reflected the strong influence of the acid house culture. Another long layoff brought on by financial difficulties ended in 1995, when the group - now consisting of Sleazy, Balance, and Drew McDowell - signed to Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor’s Nothing Records to release Backwards, an album which was never officially released, although it is available in a number of bootleg versions. Additionally, they recorded the LP Worship the Glitch, issued under the name ELpH, and in 1996 cut A Thousand Lights in a Darkened Room as Black Light District.
1998 marked a significant stylistic shift for Coil, as the group moved away from the industrial dance sound they pioneered in the first half of their career towards what Balance referred to as "Moon Musick". This began with the release of four seasonal EPs throughout that year, coinciding with the equinoxes and solstices; this marked the group making further forays into ambient and neoclassical styles. Lyrically, there was a push towards naturalistic, pagan imagery, and an emphasis on free form, improvisatory chants. All four of these releases were later collected and released as Moons Milk (in Four Phases) in 2002. Coil also put out a purely drone based project, Time Machines, under that alias the same year.
In 1999 Coil started to work with Thighpaulsandra, and with him released the chilling Musick to Play in the Dark, a dark, meditative work featuring mostly intoned vocals from Balance, and exploring deeper electronic textures and pitches. A second volume followed in 2000. After years of refusal to do so, Coil started to perform live again in 1999. They released a number of albums containing the various shows they did in the period 2000 - 2004. Coil have released a lot of material in very limited editions, and have distributed certain records only at concerts. In 2003 they started a project to re-issue these tracks. Amidst their sporadic touring, and growing internal tensions within the group, Black Antlers was released in 2004, consisting of many of the songs played in concert at the time. This would prove to be the last studio recording put out in Balance's lifetime.
Jhonn Balance’s long-time struggle with alcoholism led to his death on 13th November, 2004. He fell from the second floor window at his home, while drunk, and died a short time after. Coil’s last live performance took place at Dublin’s City Hall on 23 October 2004 and is expected to appear on the forthcoming DVD box set “Colour Sound Oblivion”. A number of songs that were (as good as) ready were released in autumn 2005 as a last farewell to Jhonn.
Peter Christopherson passed away peacefully in his sleep on November 25, 2010. Instead of sending flowers in memory of Peter Christopherson, people were asked to donate money to help children affected by AIDS in Thailand, the country he loved and died in.
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Blood From the Air
Coil Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
His wandering mind
Crossed over the border
A mind like a cemetery
Where the corpses
Are turning
Where the bodies
Twist deep
Of a dreamless sleep
Then the lowest
Comes up
Like a wreck
From the depths.
He hears night calling
And has dreams
Of waking
Here in this brightness
That burns like
Slow lightening
He sees words
Burnt in ice
Reads, "The World is
A Wound".
Effects of the animal -
Animal sound effects
He says, "Death
He is my friend
He promised me
A quick end".
Says, "The world is
In pain
And should be
Put down
And God is a sadist
And that he knows it".
The depths of the
Night sky
Reflects in his eye
He says,
"Everything changes
And everyone dies".
And the night
Slits her veins
And the
Darkness drains
And the void
Rumbles in
Like an
Underground train...
Forever comes closer
The world is in pain
We all must be shown
We must realise
That everyone changes
And everything dies.
The lyrics in Coil's "Blood from the Air" evoke a surrealist, dreamlike experience. The song describes a sleeping explorer whose mind wanders into a place where the corpses twist deep, frozen in a dreamless sleep. The explorer experiences a sense of waking, seeing words burnt in ice reading "The World is A Wound." Though his surroundings are bright and burning, the explorer's perception of the world is dark - he believes that death is his friend and that the world should be put down because it's in pain. He sees the world as transitory, everyone changing, and everything dying.
The song creates a mood of disorientation and confusion, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare. The explorer's experience could be interpreted as a journey through the unconscious mind, where he faces the conflicts of his desires and fears. The idea of the world as a wound represents the pain of existence, the suffering of living creatures, and the ultimately futile struggle to find meaning in life.
Overall, the song's lyrics are open to interpretation and can be seen as a reflection of the existential anxiety and disillusionment that arises from the recognition of life's limitations and transience.
Line by Line Meaning
A sleeping explorer
A person who is exploring their inner world and subconscious through sleep.
His wandering mind
His mind that is not resting and instead travels aimlessly.
Crossed over the border
Entered a place they don't belong to or is not familiar with.
A mind like a cemetery
A mind that is full of dead or forgotten things.
Where the corpses
Are turning
Where dormant memories and fears come back to life.
Where the bodies
Twist deep
In the frozen grip
Of a dreamless sleep
A state of extreme subconscious torpor where any hope of awakening is unthinkable.
Then the lowest
Comes up
Like a wreck
From the depths.
The most painful or unsettling thoughts and memories resurface, like a shipwreck emerging from the depths of the ocean.
He hears night calling
And has dreams
Of waking
The subconscious signals that it is time to wake up and face reality.
Here in this brightness
That burns like
Slow lightening
Awareness and understanding coming gradually, like a painful but necessary process.
He sees words
Burnt in ice
Reads, "The World is
A Wound".
The realization that the world is a flawed and painful place.
Effects of the animal -
Animal sound effects
Natural instincts, fears, and desires that human beings share with animals.
He says, "Death
He is my friend
He promised me
A quick end".
The acceptance of death as a relief and a way out of pain.
Says, "The world is
In pain
And should be
Put down
And God is a sadist
And that he knows it".
The conviction that the world is beyond repair and that its creator is cruel and indifferent.
The depths of the
Night sky
Reflects in his eye
The beauty of the universe contrasts with the ugliness of human existence.
He says,
"Everything changes
And everyone dies".
The inevitability of change and death.
And the night
Slits her veins
And the
Darkness drains
And the void
Rumbles in
Like an
Underground train...
A violent and chaotic end to the night, leaving behind a sense of emptiness and foreboding.
Forever comes closer
The world is in pain
We all must be shown
We must realise
That everyone changes
And everything dies.
The need to face the harsh reality of life, accept it, and find a way to grow and live in spite of it.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fennec
@luiscarlosp This, a thousand times this. I used to always say to my friend, "Coil puts every note, every sound, exactly where it should be to give off the atmosphere that they want."
Ru Kerbosch
The song itself is a vampire. It keeps on haunting me. Teeth in my neck, never loosening. Lord, have mercy.
payson terhune
Probably my favourite song of all time...utter surround sound perfection...
Dante Tomaselli
Atmospheric synth horror at its finest. Vivid...cinematic.
moldvox
please don't name the thing that should not be named
radi0n
Death, he is my friend. He promised me a quick end
Kostas Coil888
A sleeping explorer,his wandering mind,crossed over the border,a mind like a cemetery,where the corpses,are turning where the bodies twist deep in the frozen grip of a dreamless sleep then the lowest comes up like a wreck from the depths.He hears night calling and has dreams of waking here in this brightness that burns like slow lightening he sees words burnt in ice reads,
James Wilson
A diamond hidden in the mouth of a corpse.
payson terhune
Where all the treasures are hidden...
Fernonodon
ohhh...ABSOLUTELY!!!...kinda MINDwarping!!!