VNV Nation's inspiration was originally the clash of the modern and classical European cultures, where mythology and technology live in an uneasy fusion, but this has since broadened to encompass a world view. The music ranges from electronic dance music to ballads and classically inspired music. Inspirations are taken from a wide range of styles including contemporary underground club culture, industrial, trance and classical music. The lyrics draw on philosophy, religion, literature, art, politics and different forms of symbolism, although VNV Nation does not advocate any ideology. It is a metaphor for expression. The letters VNV stand for "Victory Not Vengeance". The meaning behind this stylised motto is that one should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret.
VNV Nation's first releases were in 1990 with two self produced vinyl releases, "Body Pulse" and "Strength of Youth" (which are now long deleted with Ronan Harris himself not having a copy). After working on some VNV Nation tracks and supporting Nitzer Ebb on tour whilst living in Toronto, Canada, Ronan returned to London and released some tracks on sampler CDs. This caught the interest of German label Discordia and in July 1995, "Advance and Follow" was released. At around about the same time, Mark Jackson joined the band.
In January 1998, VNV Nation signed with the German label, Off Beat Records, releasing their second album "Praise the Fallen" in June 1998 and the EP "Solitary EP" in September 1998. With VNV Nation increasing in popularity, they began their first headline tour in Germany in September 1998.
In 1999, the Off Beat label collapsed, leading to VNV Nation (along with other artists such as Covenant, Suicide Commando and Velvet Acid Christ) collaborating with Stefan Herwig (a former A&R manager with Off Beat) to create Dependent Records. In late 1999, the album "Empires" was released, staying at number 1 in the German Alternative Chart (DAC) for seven weeks, and winning the award for DAC Album of the Year.
From "Empires" two singles were released "Darkangel", which tops the DAC for 5 weeks in mid 1999 and "Standing", which stays at no.1 in the DAC for 8 weeks in early 2000 (the maximum a single can remain in the DAC) winning a German Alternative Music Award for most successful single of 2000 and sharing the place for most successful single in the DAC's history with the Chemical Brothers. A limited edition of the "Standing" single was also released entitled "Standing / Burning Empires" which contained alternate versions and remixes by VNV Nation of tracks from "Empires". This remains one of the most sought after VNV rarities, fetching large sums on auction sites, although it has recently been released on iTunes to allow casual listeners to purchase it.
In March 2001, "Advance and Follow v2" was released as a limited edition, which was a remastered and partially re-recorded version of the original 1995 album "Advance and Follow". The band were never particularly happy with the first album due to it being recorded in less than a week, so the release was seen by the band as a way to put that right.
In October 2001, VNV Nation embarked on their "Futureperfect" tour of Europe and North America, promoting the album "Futureperfect" which was released in January 2002. It reached number 25 in the full German Album Charts, with the single "Beloved" reaching number 60 in the full German Singles Chart. Following the release of "Beloved", VNV Nation part ways with Dependant and create their own label "Anachron Records".
In June 2003, the Honour 2003 EP is released, promoting the "Pastperfect" live DVD, which following many delays and problems was finally released in May 2004. Following this the rest of 2004 and beginning of 2005 was spent producing the album "Matter and Form", which was released in April 2005. Preceeding the album release, one of the tracks "Chrome" was sold in March 2005 as a download on the VNV Nation website, as well as iTunes.
In April 2007, the album "Judgement" was released, and an extensive world tour in support of the album followed. In January 2009, VNV Nation published their plans for 2009 on their website, indicating that the long delayed "Reformation" EP would be available, but now as a full "CD Pack". Also due for release in 2009 is the new album entitled "Of Faith, Power and Glory".
In November 2017 Mark Jackson left the band to "pursue other paths in life".
To read more about Ronan Harris and his motivations behind the band and 2009's "Of Faith, Power and Glory," please visit http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/interview-ronan-harris-of-vnv
Retaliate
VNV Nation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your heart in the darkness
How fast it is beating
How close you are to me
I can almost hear
How tensely you are breathing
Out there in the darkness
I can almost sense
Your skin on my fingers
Tension and the fear
Anticipating me
I can almost see you
Somewhere in the darkness
Praying for advantage
Clinging to a chance
Justice never wavers
It is my single purpose
Relentless the pursuit
I will find you where you hide
Counting on your indecision
Deciding when to strike
Calculating movement
The senses of the chase
The game of chess begins
The pieces moved in place
Your advantage growing slimmer
Your options running thin
The hunt is what defines us
Imminent defeat
The back of your shirt soaking
Fear all you can feel
One of us the hunter
One of us the prey
One of us the victor
One to walk away
One who's left remaining
One of us who stands
One who lies defeated
Beneath the other's hands
When the dust is settled
Only one of us will see
Which of us was worthy
Which of us was weak
And when this fight is over
Only one of us will say
Which of us the victor
And which of us the prey
One of us the hunter
One of us the prey
One of us the victor
One to walk away
One who's left remaining
One of us who stands
One who lies defeated
Beneath the other's hands
When the dust is settled
Only one of us will see
Which of us was worthy
Which of us was weak
And when this fight is over
Only one of us will say
Which of us the victor
And which of us the prey
The lyrics in VNV Nation's song Retaliate seem to describe a chase, a game of hunter and prey. The singer is the hunter and is describing how they feel, what they sense, and sense about their prey. The chase is almost palpable as the singer can "almost hear" the fast beating of the prey's heart in the darkness and "almost sense" their skin on their fingers. The singer seems confident about their abilities and their single purpose in pursuing and hunting their prey relentlessly. They describe how the prey is clinging to a chance or praying for an advantage, while justice never wavers. The hunt continues, and the chess game of the chase has begun. The prey's advantage is slipping, options running thin, as the singer calculates each move, senses the chase, and decides the right moment to strike. The prey's fear is all they can feel, and the back of their shirt is soaking as they run. The chorus repeats the game of hunter and prey, and the fight will end with only one standing, either the hunter or the prey.
The lyrics of Retaliate have an underlying message of determination, courage, and the desire to fight against what is unjust. The song can be interpreted not just as a chase or a game of hunter and prey, but also as a metaphor for standing up and fighting against something that is perceived to be wrong or unjust. The song encourages the listener to retaliate, to be determined, and to fight back relentlessly against one's fears and insecurities.
Line by Line Meaning
I can almost hear
I sense your existence, though you are currently out of sight
Your heart in the darkness
I feel your heart palpitate as your fear increases
How fast it is beating
I sense how anxious and scared you are
How close you are to me
I can tell you’re within my vicinity
How tensely you are breathing
I feel the anxiety with which you are breathing
Out there in the darkness
Somewhere in the darkness, you're out of my sight
Listening for me
You're trying to detect my presence
Your skin on my fingers
I can visualize touching you
Tension and the fear
You're nervous and scared
Anticipating me
You're waiting for me
Somewhere in the darkness
You're situated within the shadowy places
Praying for advantage
You're trying to gain an upper hand over me
Clinging to a chance
You're hopeful of having a slim possibility of succeeding
Justice never wavers
My sense of righteousness is unshakable
It is my single purpose
My only mission is to bring justice
Relentless the pursuit
I'm determined and persistent in finding you
I will find you where you hide
I'll track you down to wherever you're hiding
Counting on your indecision
I'm banking on you being unsure of what to do
Deciding when to strike
I'm calculating when the opportune moment is to attack
Calculating movement
I'm assessing every motion you make
The senses of the chase
This pursuit is all about instinct and feeling
The game of chess begins
This scenario is comparable to a game of chess
The pieces moved in place
Our tactics and plans are falling into position
Your advantage growing slimmer
Your chances of winning are becoming less likely
Your options running thin
You have limited choices available to you
The hunt is what defines us
This hunt is what separates us from one another
Imminent defeat
You're about to be defeated.
The back of your shirt soaking
You're sweating profusely due to the tension of the chase
Fear all you can feel
All you're capable of feeling is dread
One of us the hunter
One of us is doing the hunting
One of us the prey
One of us is being hunted
One of us the victor
One of us will win
One to walk away
The victorious one will leave unscathed
One who's left remaining
One of us will remain after the fight's over
One of us who stands
One of us will remain standing after the combat's done
One who lies defeated
One of us will be beaten and defeated
Beneath the other's hands
The victor will have triumphed over the loser
When the dust is settled
Once the fight is done and dust has cleared
Only one of us will see
Only one of us will remain alive to see the end result
Which of us was worthy
Whichever one of us was truly deserving
Which of us was weak
Whichever one of us was not strong enough to win
And when this fight is over
The end of the combat will result in...
Only one of us will say
The victorious one will be the only one to speak...
Which of us the victor
Indicating who the winner of the duel was...
And which of us the prey
Signifying which of us was overpowered and defeated
Contributed by Aubrey K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.