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
Your Long White Fingers
The Gothic Archies Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Slither and glide
No gloves will hold them
They cannot hide
They frighten children and
They make dogs howl
They glow in darkness and
Fill the faithful with doubt
Passion and grace.
Gesticulations
From some dark place.
They look unnatural
Faintly obscene
They loom large in
All the strangest of dreams.
The Gothic Archies's song Your Long White Fingers is a haunting piece that evokes a sense of unease and discomfort. The lyrics describe a pair of fingers that are unnaturally long and white, slithering and gliding their way through the world. This imagery is disturbing, and we can see why the fingers cause fear and disgust in people - they cannot be contained by gloves, they glow in darkness, and they fill people with doubt.
The lyrics also suggest that these fingers are associated with a dark and mysterious force. They are described as coming from "some dark place," suggesting that they are supernatural in origin. The gesticulations they make are described as "passion and grace," which is a strange contrast to the earlier descriptions of their unnatural and frightening qualities. This juxtaposition creates a sense of unease and unpredictability.
Overall, the song seems to be exploring the idea of something that is beautiful and unnerving at the same time. The fingers are both graceful and frightening, suggesting that beauty and ugliness can coexist in unexpected ways.
Line by Line Meaning
Your long white fingers
Your extended pale digits
Slither and glide
Moving fluidly and seamlessly
No gloves will hold them
Even gloves cannot contain them
They cannot hide
It is impossible to conceal them
They frighten children and
They induce fear in young ones, and
They make dogs howl
They cause dogs to wail
They glow in darkness and
They emit a luminous radiance in the absence of light, and
Fill the faithful with doubt
They instill uncertainty in the believers
Your long white fingers
Your lengthy pale appendages
Passion and grace.
Exhibiting ardor and elegance.
Gesticulations
Expressive hand movements
From some dark place.
Emerging from a mysterious origin.
They look unnatural
Appearing abnormal
Faintly obscene
Slightly offensive
They loom large in
They have immense presence in
All the strangest of dreams.
All the most unusual reveries.
Contributed by Alyssa F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.