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.
http://www.thresholdhouse.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coil_(band)
I Don't Want to Be the One
Coil Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When everyone has gone
When everyone is gone
I don't want to be the one
I don't want to be the one
I don't want to be the one
To see so far ahead
To see the skies turn red
I don't want to be the one
To play this dangerous game
To find out why they came
I don't want to be the one
When everyone has gone
When everyone is gone
I don't want to be the one
I don't want to be the one
I don't want to be the one
The lyrics of Coil's song "I Don't Want to be the One" express a deep sense of reluctance and apprehension towards a fate that is perhaps too unsettling to accept. The singer seems to be grappling with the idea of being left alone, abandoned by everyone they know and care for. They are haunted by the prospect of living a life of regret and lamenting the missed opportunities of the past. The imagery of the skies turning red suggests an impending doom, of the world coming to an end or a catastrophic event that will change everything forever.
The singer also expresses a desire to avoid the burden of being the one who has to play a dangerous game, perhaps a metaphor for taking risks and being responsible for the consequences. They don't want to find out why others came or what motivates them, as it could potentially lead to more harm than good.
The repetition of the phrase "I don't want to be the one" throughout the song emphasizes the singer's reluctance towards this ominous future. The overall tone of the song is melancholic and introspective, as if the singer is resigned to their fate but still struggling with accepting it.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't want to be the one
I refuse to take on this role
When everyone has gone
When every other person has moved on
When everyone is gone
When there is no one left around
I don't want to be the one
I don't want to be in that position
To see so far ahead
To have the ability to look too far into the future
I have to live life looking back
I am forced to dwell on the past in order to move forward
To see the skies turn red
To witness danger and chaos approaching
I don't want to be the one
I don't want to be responsible for that
To play this dangerous game
To be involved in an unpredictable and possibly deadly situation
To find out why they came
To uncover the motive behind their actions
I don't want to be the one
I don't wish to bear that burden
When everyone has gone
When all others have moved on or disappeared
When everyone is gone
When there is no longer anyone left
I don't want to be the one
I don't desire to be in that position
Contributed by Austin A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@johnsrome8459
Doubt you'll read this after 8 years but thank you AntiMusick for your homage anyway. I have followed Coil for about four decades - they never let me down, I was always excited about the next recording. Jhon & Sleazy. Beautiful! It's of no consequence to anybody but I will always regret a moment when Coil were hanging about the downstairs bar area after their gig at the Royal Festival Hall in 2000 (I think). For a moment Jhon & I stared into one another's eyes. I just wanted to go over & give him a big hug and thank him for all the inspiration he had given me over the decades. I bottled it. The chance never came round again. I did manage to thank Sleazy a few years later at a T.G. gig, though & I'm very glad I did. Both my heroes are gone now. As William Burroughs said, "nothing left but the recordings". So it goes. Thank you, Gentlemen. RIP.
@HaQebc
Danny and Steven are still around and Rose....Coil is timeless
@ahlvinvinter1404
I keep coming back to this. The lyrics and the way it is performed really touch me somehow.this is magickal
@simonecignini9535
I coil e musica che puo' capire soltanto chi ha un gran sentimento verso il genere di musica ambient dark......tanto di lode a te Dani.
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@djpsychotiker
I love Coil ( R.I.P ) :(
the song is VERY VERY VERY Gooooooooood !!!!!! :)
@AntiMusick
R.I.P. - COIL John Balance 'Jhon' 'Jhonn' - Geoffrey (Geff) Laurence Burton - 16 Feb 1962 - 13 Nov 2004 - 42 Years Old Peter Martin Christopherson, a.k.a. Sleazy - 27 Feb 1955 - 25 Nov 2010 - 55 years old
@freedompyrit
such strong emotion in a video, i bet it was 10x more powerful in person
@booncooks
2021 new fan of Coil and the work here is Beautiful ♥️
@HerrTelef
One of the best live vid of COIL! I´m not a fan of plastic spider experience but both guys did a fucking good job on stage. Jhon and Peter were incredible. Also the rest of the "band"
@Wscate
Thank you for posting this what an amazing performance.