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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Finite Bees
Coil Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last, When other petty griefs have done their spite
But in the onset come; so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune's might, And other strains of woe, which now seem woe, Compared with loss of thee will not seem so.
The lyrics of Coil's song "Finite Bees" are actually a segment from William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 90". The singer in this sonnet is asking his lover to hate him now when the world is against him and not wait to hate him later after he has overcome his suffering. The singer wants his lover to join forces with the "spite of fortune" and make him submit to his troubles. He implores his lover to not come in after the fact and prolong his misery with further grief. He asks that if his lover is going to leave him, to not wait until the end when all the other petty issues have come and gone, but instead to come at the very beginning so he can experience the full force of his pain and be able to recover from it.
This song is an interpretation of Shakespeare's poetry by Coil, with a focus on the themes of love, loss, and sorrow. It is a call for the lover to understand the complexity of the singer's emotions and to be present for them when they need it most. It is a reminder that even in times of struggle, the power of love can endure and help heal wounds.
Line by Line Meaning
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
If you're going to hate me, do it now rather than later.
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Do it while I'm already facing obstacles from the world.
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
Do it in conjunction with the bad luck I'm already experiencing so that it hits me harder.
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Don't wait until I've already suffered more losses before leaving me.
Ah, do not, when my heart hath 'scoped this sorrow,
Don't come at the tail end of my current sadness.
Come in the rearward of a conquer'd woe;
Don't wait until I've already gone through something difficult and come out the other side.
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
Don't make a bad situation worse by adding to it later on.
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
Don't delay my recovery by leaving me when I'm already down.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
If you're going to leave me, don't do it after everything else has already gone wrong.
When other petty griefs have done their spite
Don't wait until I've already experienced other small losses before adding to them.
But in the onset come; so shall I taste
Instead, leave me early on in my troubles so that I can learn to cope with them.
At first the very worst of fortune's might
I'll experience the full extent of my misfortunes at the beginning, rather than it being drawn out over time.
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Other hardships that may come later won't seem as bad compared to the loss of you.
Compared with loss of thee will not seem so.
Losing you will be the worst thing that can happen to me.
Contributed by Liliana D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
nostalgist
Dench + Shakespeare + Coil + Jarman = TREASURE