Angels of Light include many New York City collaborators, including Dana Schechter of Bee and Flower, Kid Congo Powers of The Cramps, Larry Mullins aka Toby Dammit, Bliss Blood of The Moonlighters and Pain Teens, Thor Harris of Shearwater, and most recently the Brooklyn band Akron/Family.
Gira talks about the Angels project :
I write the songs on acoustic guitar, then gather musicians and friends, and build up the orchestrations with them in the studio and in live performances. I guide the process, but solicit their creative contributions actively. Each recording contains the contributions of an ever-changing plethora of amazing musicians, whom I thank here heartily!
After many years (too many to comfortably contemplate!) of dwelling on "sonic overload" with Swans, I now concentrate on augmenting the songs I write with orchestrations that support the basic song, rather than the sound itself taking over.
My goal is to achieve the same sense of magic I experienced as a child listening to Burle Ives recordings of Brer Rabbit and other such marvels, including the early Disney children's records I listened to long ago.
I view the arrangements as little films created to make a context for the words and voice, so that one can drift off into the world the music creates. I produce the Angels recordings, and the production of the recordings is as important to me as the songs themselves.
Most of the instruments used in the recordings are acoustic, but not all. Electric guitars, bass and drums etc., are sometimes used (as well as an occasional electronic sound, or loop), but I intentionally steer clear of a "Rock" sound. It doesn't interest me at all any more.
However, I have no particular fealty to "The Song" as if it were some sacred codex. On the other hand, just sitting around my house, writing these things, and finally coming up with a statement that I think makes sense, I want to bring them to life as much as possible, in new and challenging ways for both myself and you, so I always strive to present them in a fresh and interesting context.
For this reason, I'm always changing the sonic approach from record to record.
All Angels of Light albums have been released on Michael Gira's label Young God Records.
The name Angels of Light was first used by the spiritual theater group founded by drag queen Hibiscus of The Cockettes. It is not known whether Gira's group was named in homage to Hibiscus's similarly metaphysically-minded group.
New York City In The Future
The Angels of Light Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The place where you lived.
The place where you rose,
Transparent, a ghost...
You were mine, you were mine...
Here, here's where you walked.
Different now, moonlight and chalk.
Shattered bone, brittle hand of a child...
were mine, you were mine...
Raise, raise me up,
Up from the ground.
Naked, transposed,
Wound like a rose.
Face painted with white,
Mouth full of black stone...
You were mine, you were mine...
Here, here it is,
Look at it shine,
Pure, polished and white.
Piercing the sky,
New towers of ice,
So lifeless and clean...
You were mine, you were mine...
The Angels of Light's song "New York City In The Future" is a hauntingly beautiful track that speaks of a relationship that was once strong and passionate, but is now just a distant memory. The lyrics describe a time when the couple lived together in New York City, where the singer mournfully reminisces about the place they once shared. The first verse speaks of the place where they both lived, rose, and the way the other person was transparent, like a ghost. The singer's pain is palpable when they say, "You were mine, you were mine..." as if trying to hold onto the memories of love that once was.
In the second verse, the singer describes how things have changed. The moonlight and chalk have transformed the once familiar streets. One can imagine that the singer passes by the same spots they once walked together, but the surroundings are different now. The polished white stone, bruised feet, shattered bone, and brittle hand of a child make the place sound more desolate now, and one wonders if the relationship ended with tragedy. Once again, the singer is trying to hold onto the past by saying, "You were mine, you were mine..."
Line by Line Meaning
Here, here it is,
The beginning of a journey and a nostalgic feeling of a past time.
The place where you lived.
The place where one has lived, struggled, and made a home.
The place where you rose,
The place where one has grown and evolved.
Transparent, a ghost...
A feeling of being invisible, overlooked or abandoned.
You were mine, you were mine...
A sense of ownership, desire or longing for a person or place.
Here, here's where you walked.
A sense of familiarity and comfort in revisiting one's footsteps.
Different now, moonlight and chalk.
The contrast between past and present, memories and reality.
Polished white stone, bruised feet,
A metaphor for a city's beauty and its casualties, its triumphs and its struggles.
Shattered bone, brittle hand of a child...
The vulnerability and fragility of life in a city, especially for the young.
Raise, raise me up,
A plea to be lifted up or saved from despair.
Up from the ground.
An escape from the mundane or the painful.
Naked, transposed,
A feeling of exposure, transformation or vulnerability.
Wound like a rose.
The beauty and pain of growth and evolution.
Face painted with white,
A metaphor for disguising or hiding one's true feelings or identity.
Mouth full of black stone...
The weight of silence and the inability to express oneself.
Here, here it is,
A reassurance or reminder of the present moment.
Look at it shine,
The awe and admiration of a city's progress and beauty.
Pure, polished and white.
The illusion of perfection and cleanliness.
Piercing the sky,
The grandeur and ambition of a city's architecture.
New towers of ice,
The coldness and sterility of modernity and progress.
So lifeless and clean...
The contradiction between appearances and reality, and the loss of humanity in a city's growth.
You were mine, you were mine...
The bittersweet nostalgia and longing for what was or what could have been.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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