After signing to Arista in 1988, they saw their largest international success with the album Starfish and the American Top 40 hit "Under The Milky Way" which resurfaced on the soundtrack of the cult movie "Donnie Darko". Whilst the band remain feted by their peers, subsequent commercial success proved elusive: 1990s follow-up album "Gold Afternoon Fix" failed to capitalise on their success, and the band weathered several line-up changes after its release, first losing long-term drummer Richard Ploog, then Peter Koppes following 1992s "Priest = Aura". That album baffled and confused many fans upon its release as to what band The Church was considered to be, but is now considered a seminal album and one of the most revered by Church connoisseurs. The vacant drum-stool on Priest=Aura being occupied by Jay Dee Daugherty of Arista labelmate Patti Smiths group, and it was produced by Gavin MacKillop of Moose.
Reduced to a two-piece, Kilbey & Willson-Piper re-grouped with the assistance of drummer/producer Tim Powles to record 1994's "Sometime Anywhere", concluding their obligations to the Arista and Mushroom labels. The commercial decline, combined with the Church being ignored again by a music press more focused on the Nineties' music trends, could have brought about the demise of the band, had it not coincided with the breakthrough of the internet, thus enabling direct communication from the band to its passionate cult fanbase.
This brought about a new beginning for The Church, with Peter Koppes rejoining the band for recording 1996s "Magician Among The Spirits". The band (with Koppes back into the fold, and Powles now as the permanent drummer ), hit a re-newed creative surge and with regained selfconfidence, released "Hologram Of Baal" 2 years later, and toured Australia, the USA and Europe.
The first decade of the 21st century found the band releasing severeal highly critically acclaimed albums, like 2002's aptly named "After Everything Now this" and 2003's "Forget Yourself", the latter breaking new ground with bandmembers swapping instruments in the recording process. Live performances stray from high profile events like the 03 concerts at Sydney Opera House and the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, to low-profile gigs for smaller audiences, often confusing old 80s fans, surprised to find the band still playing, wrongly assuming the band just being one in the never-ending string of reunion acts.
2009's album "Untitled#23" marked yet another highlight.. its essence represented in just 10 songs, and with a strong less-is-more approach, the albums core identity being on par with Starfish, it also finds Steve Kilbey breaking new ground as a vocalist.
2010 saw their 30th anniversary, with extensive touring in the US and Australia. Their unique position and importance in the australian music scene was recognized with an ARIA award.
Their album, "Further Deeper", was released in 2014, and "man woman life death infinity" in 2017.
aura
The Church Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wish somebody would tell me the score
We raked old Poseidon over the coals
Shook his shells, shaked his shoals
Where can a soldier fix himself a drink
Forget the noise, forget the stink
And the opium is running pretty low
'Cause when the pain comes back, I don't want to know
Their ears are filled their teeth are pierced
But it's not their spears that spill your breath
They kill their enemies by loving them to death
We were on some battlefield
I felt something soft go through my shield
I felt something warm enter my guts
I was bleeding bad but there were no cuts
They captured three of us, took us back to their village
After a long long time I could decipher their language
They worshiped Baal, they worshiped the sun
They worshiped the son of the evil one
They were more than voracious, they sucked our ambition
They let me go on one condition
That was when I came back to my native shore
I tell you they don't want to play with us anymore
But a part of me will never be free
And the part that's free will never be me
But a thing of love and beauty is in my head
A message from my enemies, and here's what they said
They said that love = hate
And death = fate
An enemy always = an adorer
But priest = aura
And life = time
And time = space
And space = sublime
And human = race
Oh and woman = man
And pot = pan
The fauna ought to equal the flora
But priest = aura
And beginning = the end
The end always = the start
But straight = bent
The mind sometimes = the heart
And you = me
The land = the sea
Richer = poorer
And priest = aura
The Church's song "Aura" is a powerful and thought-provoking piece that delves deep into the psychological aftermath of war. The first stanza paints a grim picture of the scars left by war, physically and mentally. The singer longs for an escape from the pain and torture that he has experienced on the battlefield.
As the song progresses, the listener is taken on a journey to a foreign land where the singer is held captive. Amidst the horrors of war, the singer discovers a "thing of love and beauty" that is in his head. A message from his enemies that states that love is hate, death is fate, and that an enemy always equals an adorer. These opposites, such as priest and aura, and the apparent contradictions that exist within the world are the focus of the song. It is a journey into the deepest recesses of the human psyche and the psyche of those caught up in the throes of war.
Line by Line Meaning
We all came back from the war
We have all returned from fighting a war.
I wish somebody would tell me the score
I wish someone would tell me the outcome or the tally of the war.
We raked old Poseidon over the coals
We were mad at Poseidon because of something he did, and we expressed our anger to him.
Shook his shells, shaked his shoals
We shook everything that belongs to Poseidon to show our dissatisfaction with him.
Where can a soldier fix himself a drink
Where can we find something to ease our minds and get some rest after the war?
Forget the noise, forget the stink
We want to forget the sounds and smells of the war.
And the opium is running pretty low
We're running out of medicine and painkillers.
'Cause when the pain comes back, I don't want to know
I don't want to feel the pain of the war again.
Across yonder ocean the natives are fierce
Over there, farther across the ocean, the indigenous people are fierce warriors.
Their ears are filled their teeth are pierced
They have earrings and piercings on their teeth.
But it's not their spears that spill your breath
The spears they have are not what causes death.
They kill their enemies by loving them to death
Their way of killing their enemies is by showing them so much love that it becomes overwhelming and suffocating.
We were on some battlefield
We were fighting on some battlefield.
I felt something soft go through my shield
Something penetrated my shield but it wasn't sharp or hard.
I felt something warm enter my guts
I felt warmth and a feeling of being penetrated in my stomach area.
I was bleeding bad but there were no cuts
I was hemorrhaging, but it's not from an external wound.
They captured three of us, took us back to their village
Three of us were captured and taken to their village.
After a long long time I could decipher their language
It took a long time, but eventually, I understood their language.
They worshiped Baal, they worshiped the sun
They have different gods that they worship, such as Baal and the sun.
They worshiped the son of the evil one
They worship the son of the devil.
They were more than voracious, they sucked our ambition
They were very aggressive and took away our desire to do great things.
They let me go on one condition
They allowed me to leave under one condition.
That was when I came back to my native shore
That was when I returned to my homeland.
I tell you they don't want to play with us anymore
They don't want to interact with us or fight with us anymore.
But a part of me will never be free
I will never feel completely free.
And the part that's free will never be me
The part of me that is free isn't really me.
But a thing of love and beauty is in my head
I have a beautiful memory of love in my head.
A message from my enemies, and here's what they said
My enemies sent me a message and this is what they said.
They said that love = hate
According to them, love is the same as hate.
And death = fate
They believe that death is destiny.
An enemy always = an adorer
My enemy will always adore me.
But priest = aura
A priest has a special energy around him called aura.
And life = time
Life is measured by time.
And time = space
Time and space are closely related.
And space = sublime
Space is exquisite and majestic.
And human = race
Humans belong to the same race.
Oh and woman = man
Women and men are equal.
And pot = pan
All pots and pans are the same.
The fauna ought to equal the flora
The animals should be the same as the plants.
But priest = aura
Priests have a unique aura surrounding them.
And beginning = the end
The beginning and the end are the same.
The end always = the start
The end of something is always the beginning of something else.
But straight = bent
Something that is straight can also be bent.
The mind sometimes = the heart
The mind and heart are sometimes the same.
And you = me
You and I are the same.
The land = the sea
The land and the sea are connected.
Richer = poorer
Rich people are the same as poor people.
And priest = aura
Priests have a distinct aura surrounding them.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid
Written by: DAUGHERTY, KILBEY, KOPPES, WILSON-PIPER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
BittersweetSymphony
on You're Still Beautiful
Sometimes I wonder if he is writing about himself