Kael and Heather married in 2005, and shortly thereafter moved to Irvine, CA, where they met John Williams, who was also in the area doing a PhD in comparative literature at UC Irvine. Heather was studying biology, and Kael was already hard at work creating music for film and TV projects. One afternoon in the fall of 2007, looking for a distraction from writing his dissertation, John suggested to Kael and Heather that they write some music together. Within three weeks they had written a few songs, and put them up online (on ye olde Myspace). The response from listeners was fast and overwhelming, so much so that they were motivated to continue writing and release a full album, Dynamo, in 2008. After playing some shows in southern California, the band won “Best Electronic Band” at the OC Music Awards, and was listed by the New York Post as a “new music must-have.” NPR called the band’s debut album “clever, intriguing . . . even beautiful.”
When John graduated and got a job at Yale, and Heather was accepted to medical school at UCLA, the band realized they’d either have to carry on via long-distance songwriting, or else end the band. With Dynamo doing so well, and many more songs still on their way, the band decided to try songwriting bi-coastally. John purchased some home-recording equipment to take with him to Connecticut, while Heather and Kael moved to Los Angeles, where Robot Repair built a beautiful studio space for Kael to work in. During the next three years, the band sent tracks back and forth online, video chatting, and emailing notes to write two more studio albums, New Medium (2010), and The Matter (2012). The band’s sound had matured by this point into something more powerful and intense. Alternately sparse and epic, harmonic and grinding, pensive and playful, FPF was clearly moving beyond their electro-pop beginnings.
By 2013, FPF’s music seemed to be circulating everywhere, with millions of plays on Spotify, LastFM, Hype Machine, and Pandora, and appearances on everything from ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” to MTV’s “The Real World,” NBCSports, and E! Then, just as the band was contemplating a fourth album Kael and Heather discovered that they were expecting a baby. Many fans wondered whether Faded Paper Figures would be able to maintain its songwriting work with so much going on. But very little seems to slow them down. If anything, the music now comes with even greater clarity and brilliance, and as a result, the band is now set to release their fourth studio album in August, 2014, titled “Relics.” This most recent album promises to be their most honest, sophisticated, and ambitious, spanning a vast musical and lyrical spectrum, from epic synth-pop anthems on questions of life and death, to quiet, intense meditations on the passage of time. The band seems to have fully mastered not only their signature sound (electronic beats, gorgeous guitar riffs, and beautiful harmonies), but accelerated full force into a brave new world of sitars, analog synths, and even more intense vocals. Whatever emotions and uncanny dreams those day jobs are creating, it seems to be paying off enormously in their musical lives.
Geneva's Gone
Faded Paper Figures Lyrics
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In a country sleeping warmly in the night.
We believe Exxon, we play along
The water getting blacker as we fight
Geneva's gone, like a faded song
An extra-legal table-turning dream
Where one record speaks and another dies,
We will hear again in the years ahead
You've no memory of these many crimes
But these microphones tell of missing bones
And cameras captured weapons in your mind
Geneva's gone, like a foreign song
Just how many held you cannot say
And when organs fail, it's a small detail
Your pious eyes are showing no dismay.
We will hear again in the years ahead
You've no memory of these many crimes
But these microphones tell of missing bones
And cameras captured weapons in your mind
The song "Geneva's Gone" by Faded Paper Figures is a poignant commentary on issues of corruption and environmental damage caused by large corporations. The song references Geneva, a city in Switzerland that is known for its international organizations and diplomatic efforts. The first verse speaks of how Geneva, like forgotten songs, is lost amidst the sleeping country in the night. The song suggests that while the world is buzzing along, we are losing sight of the larger moral and ethical implications of our actions. The line "We believe Exxon, we play along" suggests a sense of helplessness, where major corporations and players in politics have the power to shape and manipulate public opinion. The water getting blacker could be a metaphor for how our natural resources are being depleted and abused as we turn a blind eye to the consequences.
The second verse introduces the idea of an extra-legal table-turning dream, where there is injustice and people are not held accountable for their actions. Memos are written, but they are never as they seem, indicating that there is an attempt to cover up the truth. The song suggests that history will remember the injustices that are being committed, even if those in power try to sweep them under the rug. In the bridge, the song describes the physical evidence that will remain long after the crimes have been perpetrated - missing bones, captured weapons - indicating that damage has been done and cannot be undone.
Overall, "Geneva's Gone" is a thought-provoking song that asks us to consider the larger implications of our actions and the power dynamics at play in corporate and political environments.
Line by Line Meaning
Geneva's gone, like forgotten songs
Geneva is now forgotten, like songs that are long gone
In a country sleeping warmly in the night.
The country is unaware of what is happening, enjoying a peaceful night unaware of the harsh reality
We believe Exxon, we play along
We blindly trust corporations like Exxon, and play along with the lies they tell us
The water getting blacker as we fight
As we continue to fight and struggle, the water we rely on is becoming more and more polluted
Geneva's gone, like a faded song
Geneva is now long gone, a distant memory like a song that's faded from memory
An extra-legal table-turning dream
A dream of turning the tables through illegal means
Where one record speaks and another dies,
Where certain records and facts are ignored or covered up, while others are emphasized and emphasized till they die down
Writing memos that are never as they seem.
Writing memos and documents that are never what they appear to be, filled with falsehoods and lies
We will hear again in the years ahead
We will hear about this again in the years ahead
You've no memory of these many crimes
You have no recollection of the crimes committed
But these microphones tell of missing bones
The microphones that were hidden away reveal the truth about missing people and hidden bones
And cameras captured weapons in your mind
Cameras captured the violence and atrocities that were committed and are now embedded in people's minds
Geneva's gone, like a foreign song
Geneva is now foreign and distant, like a song from another country
Just how many held you cannot say
The number of people who were held captive and tortured will never be truly known
And when organs fail, it's a small detail
When people die from the torture they have endured, it's seen as a small detail
Your pious eyes are showing no dismay.
Despite everything that has happened, the people responsible still show no contrition or guilt
Contributed by Ryan N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.