A key influence on industrial rock, their early music was described by critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and John Dougan as well as industrial metal and "quasi-metal, dancing to a tune of doom and gloom," which gradually evolved over the years, incorporating elements of electronic music, synth-pop, gothic rock, and alternative rock, though always emphasizing Coleman's "savagely strident vocals."
Finding modest commercial success, Killing Joke have influenced many later bands, such as Nirvana, Ministry, Amen, Lamb of God, Nine Inch Nails, Napalm Death, Amebix, Big Black, Godflesh, Tool, Prong, Metallica, Primus, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Faith No More, Blacklist, Shihad and Korn, all of whom have at some point cited some debt of gratitude to Killing Joke.
Wintergardens
Killing Joke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We are god children running, immortal child
Out on the chill horizon, shine morning stars
Configurations I'll remember herald one season always
Run, run, run, how we run
We cry like children
In wintergardens now.
Run, run, run, how we run
And play like children
In wintergardens now.
Cry for the pride in our wars, the tragedy
Lost in this blinding frenzy, all knowledge fades.
Crimes of humanity or courageous deeds?
No longer see injustice in self destruction always.
Visions of pna transforming, new heavens come
Eternal are the grey skies, gardens invert
Nightshades of Eden touch me, forever touch
No god has answered prayers here (except ourselves).
Run, run, run, how we run
We cry like children
In wintergardens now.
Run, run, run, how we run
And play like children
In wintergardens now.
The lyrics of Killing Joke's "Wintergardens" convey a sense of bleakness and hopelessness. The opening lines "Bleak are the hearts in summer, long wintertime" seem to suggest that even during the warm and bright months of summer, there is still a sense of coldness and darkness that permeates everything. The song then goes on to describe how we are all "god children running" and "immortal child" - perhaps suggesting that despite our apparent powerlessness in the face of such bleakness, we are still able to continue living, running, and playing like children.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become increasingly abstract and difficult to interpret. There are references to "configurations" and "herald[ing] one season always," which could be interpreted as alluding to the cyclical nature of life and death. There are also references to "crimes of humanity" and "self-destruction," which suggest that the song is grappling with some of the darker aspects of human nature. Yet despite these darker themes, there is also a sense of beauty and transcendence in the lyrics, particularly in lines like "Visions of pna transforming, new heavens come."
Overall, the lyrics of "Wintergardens" are open to interpretation, but they seem to convey a sense of existential despair and nihilism, tempered by moments of transcendent beauty and childlike wonder.
Line by Line Meaning
Bleak are the hearts in summer, long wintertime
Our hearts are always sad, even in the summer, because winter seems to last forever.
We are god children running, immortal child
We are like gods, with the power to run and play like children forever.
Out on the chill horizon, shine morning stars
Even though the horizon is cold, there is still hope and light in the form of morning stars shining.
Configurations I'll remember herald one season always
There are certain patterns we remember that herald the same season always.
Run, run, run, how we run
We run with all our might, trying to escape our sadness and troubles.
We cry like children
Despite our god-like abilities, we still feel pain and sadness, like crying children.
In wintergardens now.
But for now, we find solace and sanctuary in winter gardens.
Cry for the pride in our wars, the tragedy
We cry for the tragic pride we feel in our wars and conflicts.
Lost in this blinding frenzy, all knowledge fades.
In the midst of chaos and violence, our understanding and knowledge disappear.
Crimes of humanity or courageous deeds?
We question whether our actions are crimes or courageous deeds.
No longer see injustice in self destruction always.
We can no longer see the injustice in our self-destructive behavior.
Visions of pna transforming, new heavens come
We have visions of transformation and the arrival of new heavens.
Eternal are the grey skies, gardens invert
The grey skies seem to go on forever, and even the gardens seem to be upside down.
Nightshades of Eden touch me, forever touch
The darkness and danger of Eden has touched us, and it will always be a part of us.
No god has answered prayers here (except ourselves).
We realize that we must rely on ourselves, because no god has answered our prayers.
Run, run, run, how we run
Despite our struggles and questions, we continue to run with all our might.
We cry like children
We still feel pain and sadness, like crying children.
In wintergardens now.
But for now, we find solace and sanctuary in winter gardens.
Run, run, run, how we run
We continue to run with all our might, trying to escape our sadness and troubles.
And play like children
And we continue to play like children, enjoying the small moments of happiness we can find.
In wintergardens now.
All the while finding peace and comfort in the winter gardens.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JEREMY COLEMAN, MATTHEW FERGUSON, PAUL VINCENT RAVEN, KEVIN WALKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
RetroLongplayPit
Bleak are the hearts in summer, long wintertime
We are god-children running, immortal child
Out on the chill horizon, shine morning stars
Configurations I'll remember herald one season always
Run, run, run, how we run
We cry like children
In wintergardens now
Run, run, run, how we run
And play like children
In wintergardens now
Cry for the pride in our wars, the tragedy
Lost in this blinding frenzy, all knowledge fades
Crimes of humanity or courageous deeds?
No longer see injustice in self destruction always
Visions of pain transforming, new heavens come
Eternal are the grey skies, gardens invert
Nightshades of Eden touch me, forever touch
No god has answered prayers here (except ourselves)
Run, run, run, how we run
We cry like children
In wintergardens now
Run, run, run, how we run
And play like children
In wintergardens now
Run, run, run, how we run
We cry like children
In wintergardens now
Run, run, run, how we run
We play like children
In wintergardens now
Mark Anthony
This just has to be the most seriously underated Killing Joke song ever !
Why oh why do they never play it Live, is this madness - madness madness....
I live in hope though lm 108 now so this track may have passed me by Live.
Reminds me of my time as a Bluecoat Entertainer at Pontins Morecambe Bay when all other Bluecoats thought l was mad when l use to play this track at the Childrens Disco...
Got all the kids to do a Contempory Dance routine to Wintergardens ! (Weekly)
They absolutely loved it, believe me man...
KJ man...
Mark (the Poet) 1988
Season.
Silvarsofa
Epic, tragic, glorious, melancholy all at the same time. How is it even possible that a song this loud can be at the same time sadly beautiful. ❤️
julio espinoza
Exacto trágico y hermoso
Epitaphforyesterday
very compelling. a favorite of mine over here in jaz's netherlands; THE STATES (!!)
Andrea Lovasz
My Bloody Valentine are masters of this, too. Loveless is God tier.
Derek Holland
thats killing joke for you..always awesome.
Raymond Austin
Awesome killing joke is amazing
John Meowzer
Epic. Love the whole LP. The chord-changes in this are wicked-dark-cool.
John Hoffman
Yes. In addition to the cool hooks and riffs, KILLING JOKE knows how to throw some surprises with either change of key or chord changes as you say. Good comment. Thank you.
Jan Helmle
Agreed. KJs chord progression is clever, twisted and shattering. Especially prominent on this record.
The Last Guitar Hero
Seriously underrated album...Geordie a big guitar hero of mine