What makes this band different from The Magnetic Fields is that any glimmer of hope is absolutely extinguished.
Discography:
- The New Despair - EP - (Merge, November 1997)
- The Tragic Treasury: Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events - LP - (Nonesuch, October 2006)
The Tragic Treasury... is a collection of songs originally released as music for the audio book version of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events". There are thirteen songs corresponding to the 13 volumes in the series, plus two bonus tracks.
The Gothic Archies briefly toured to promote the album featuring Merritt on ukulele and Daniel Handler as Lemony Snicket on accordion.
The Gothic Archies have also produced music for the audio book of Neil Gaiman's "Coraline".
http://www.houseoftomorrow.com
Ever Falls the Twilight
The Gothic Archies Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
our pockets full and
never knowing hunger,
charmed like sleepwalkers on a precipice,
dreaming as one inside our chrysalis.
Out the summer windows,
in through winter doors,
on our jagged shores.
Where once was land
of rare and rolling mountains.
The sea came in through
all our golden fountains.
The truth is as sudden as a hailstorm
and guides weary sailors to the maelstrom.
Out the summer windows,
in through winter doors,
ever falls the twilight
on our jagged shores.
The lyrics of the song "Ever Falls the Twilight" by The Gothic Archies portrays a sense of nostalgia and loss in a melancholic tone. The first stanza starts with the possibility of the past being a simpler time when the singer and their loved ones were younger, having full pockets, and never knowing hunger. However, these memories seem to be fleeting as the singer describes the feeling of being charmed like sleepwalkers on a precipice, as if they were entranced by a dream that they knew could dissipate at any moment. The chrysalis metaphor that follows talks about being enclosed in a protective shelter, which could either refer to a personal or a more universal feeling of safety that is now lost.
The second stanza shifts to describing the changes that the singer has witnessed around them. The land that was once rare and rolling mountains has been replaced by the sea that has come through all their golden fountains. This sudden change is likened to a hailstorm, bringing about an abrupt and destructive force. The description indicates that they have been affected by a significant natural calamity, as well as suggests the cyclical nature of life and death, creation and destruction. The last two lines of the stanza contain a reference to mythology and the fabled maelstrom, revealing how the truth can be equally brutal in guiding sailors to their destruction.
The refrain of the song is a poignant reminder that time moves on regardless of whether we are ready for it, as "ever falls the twilight on our jagged shores". This line encapsulates the overarching theme of loss and acceptance, and the inevitability of change as a part of life.
Line by Line Meaning
It's possible that even we were younger,
Maybe we were young and naive at some point in the past,
our pockets full and never knowing hunger,
We had enough resources and never experienced real need,
charmed like sleepwalkers on a precipice,
Our innocence was fragile, like people not in control of their own actions,
dreaming as one inside our chrysalis.
We had big dreams and ideas, like caterpillars transforming inside a cocoon,
Out the summer windows,
During the summer months,
in through winter doors,
And during winter season,
ever falls the twilight
The light of day always turns into twilight,
on our jagged shores.
Which makes our rough and uneven coastline visible.
Where once was land of rare and rolling mountains.
The place we used to call home had unique and beautiful features.
The sea came in through all our golden fountains.
The ocean engulfed everything, including things that used to be precious and valuable.
The truth is as sudden as a hailstorm
Sometimes reality hits us like a sudden burst of adverse weather conditions.
and guides weary sailors to the maelstrom.
And this truth can lead people in distress to even more dangerous situations.
Contributed by Elizabeth H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.