The Legendary Pink Dots are a Netherlands-based band formed in August 1980 … Read Full Bio ↴The Legendary Pink Dots are a Netherlands-based band formed in August 1980 in the UK who, although distinctly underground, have been musically influential over the years. The band name was derived from pink dots of nail varnish on the piano in their squat, where founding members Edward and April lived. The band has as its focal point vocalist Edward Ka-Spel, who is, along with Phil "The Silverman" Knight, one of the original remaining members of the band. In the mid eighties the band resettled in the Netherlands, where they still reside today. Apart from Edward and Phil, the line-up has gone through many changes. Members such as Ryan Moore, a Canadian bass player, who joined in 1991 after the recordings of the Last Man to Fly with the Tear Garden (he joined as a session musician), went on to form their own labels and musical projects. See Twilight Circus and M Records. Their music is nothing if not original and it is difficult to categorise, but comparisons may be drawn with bands like Pink Floyd and Can.

Their sound has been described as an amalgamation of psychedelic rock, industrial, synth-pop and avant-garde. They have released over 40 records and continuously tour the world.

Members of the band have also collaborated with Nurse With Wound, The Dresden Dolls, Jarboe, HNAS, Jim O'Rourke, Skinny Puppy's cEvin Key, forming The Tear Garden. Ka Spel accompanied Skinny Puppy for a small part of their 1988 European 'Head Trauma' tour in Sweden. Key also appears on the 1994 album 9 Lives to Wonder.

Stigmata
The Legendary Pink Dots Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There's a space on Triumph Plaza that's waiting for a Queen...(They uprooted her on Martyr's Day and placed her in between the People's Palace and a carpark-in the resting place for Dreams.)

Out in the suburbs where it only rains and we will wait for ages for the bus to somewhere else... anywhere.

She's looking down with sadness. She knows I feel the same.
I'll retreat with her to better times and I will not ask her name.
Although they'll modernise her, re-align her, then leave her to the winds of change, I'll still recognise the young girl in her marble eyes...

Together we'll remain... oh, anywhere.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Legendary Pink Dots's Stigmata speak about a specific location called Triumph Plaza in which a queen was uprooted from her original resting place on Martyr's Day only to be placed between the People's Palace and a carpark which is a resting place for dreams. The song further mentions the suburbs, where the only thing that happens is the rain and waiting for buses to take them somewhere else. The queen, who is now a statue, is described as looking down with sadness and the singer claims to feel the same way.

Despite the changes that have been made to the statue and the place around it, the singer still recognizes the young girl in her marble eyes, and he pledges to remain with her no matter where. The song portrays the isolation and desolation that can exist in some suburbs while also focusing on the beauty and stillness of a woman, who while made of stone, still contains humanity and emotion.

Line by Line Meaning

There's a space on Triumph Plaza that's waiting for a Queen...
She was once a great symbol of the people, but now she is only a statue in an empty plaza.

Out in the suburbs where it only rains and we will wait for ages for the bus to somewhere else... anywhere.
Life outside of the city and its bustle is slow and depressing, and we yearn for any escape.

She's looking down with sadness. She knows I feel the same.
The statue represents sadness and despair, and the singer feels a connection with it.

I'll retreat with her to better times and I will not ask her name.
The singer wishes to escape with the statue to a better era, and doesn't need to know its name.

Although they'll modernise her, re-align her, then leave her to the winds of change, I'll still recognise the young girl in her marble eyes...
Despite the changing times, the statue will always represent the same young girl who is preserved in its eyes.

Together we'll remain... oh, anywhere.
The singer and the statue will stay together, even if it means leaving and going anywhere else.

Contributed by Eliana T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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