#journal for plague lovers

[jesuisgourde]

Earlier this year, I interpreted all the Journal For Plague Lovers remixes as paper collage pieces, and then wrote about my thoughts on each remix, and what I thought they did well when it comes to expressing or reinterpreting the original tracks, and my collage process.

You can find my commentary for each collage/track here.

Peeled Apples - Andrew Weatherall remix

Jacking Collins Existential Question Time - St Etienne remix

Me And Stephen Hawking - Sea Power remix

This Joke Sport, Severed - Patrick Wolf remix

Journal For Plague Lovers - Optimo remix

She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach - Pariahs remix

Facing Page: Top Left - Adem remix

Marlon J.D. - New Young Pony Club remix

Doors Closing Slowly - The Horrors remix

All Is Vanity - Errors remix

Pretension/Repulsion - Four Tet remix

Virginia State Epileptic Colony - Fuck Buttons remix

William's Last Words - Underworld remix

Bag Lady - Jonathan Krisp remix

[fromdispair2where]

gonna make a virginia state epileptic colony bracelet

[iamtryingtobelieve]

She'd walk on broken glass for love

She thought burnt skin would please her lover

To keep love alive and lust beside

Kind people should never be treated like flies

Empty arms and an aching heart

The love she sought through faltering thought

Table for two, such a sweet delight

Whispers I love you my darling tonight

Love bathed her in a bath of bleach

Brush her hair no one else will

Don't hurt her anymore stop now

But salmon pink skinned Mary still caring

[nussywire]

Nicky Wire  @ EXIT festival, Serbia, 2009 [x]

[psychodollyuniverse]

MANIC STREET PREACERS - JOURNAL FOR PLAGUE LOVERS 

Journal for Plague Lovers is the ninth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released in May 2009 by record label Columbia. Recorded between October 2008 and February 2009 and produced by Steve Albini and Dave Eringa, it features exclusively posthumously published lyrics by Richey Edwards, who disappeared on 1 February 1995 and was presumed deceased in 2008. It is the only Manic Street Preachers album in which the lyrics for every song were written solely by Edwards.

[meta-squash]

Journal For Plague Lovers part 17

(Anything in brackets is either a word I cannot read at all, a fragment of a word that I can’t read, or my guess for what the word might be. If anyone can decipher those words let me know. Also, all spelling mistakes or weird abbreviations are whatever Richey wrote.)

[Description: bits of binder paper cut out and taped onto the outside back cover of the binder with wide black tape. The paper as well as the Bugs Bunny cover are painted over with a spiraling “sun’s rays”-type design with blue around the borders.]

B) Sredni Vashtar (a polecat kept by an affection-starved boy but she is eaten when in ‘Saki’ by H.H. Munro, polecat escapes. PERSECUTIONS/MONSTROSITIES                        BREVITY People who fail, mke them most persecuted VENDETTA, blunt edged self hate that cannot succeed, [flesh], TALKING THINKING NEVER ACTING Going to bed at 2, waking up at 2.30. He lives the life of an eremite lure of Mammon. AUTODIDACTIC impulse Shyness is seen as arrogance. I don’t know why I believe things. I’m not investing in men threatening me. Walking on spot. Evolution. Kind kind people shouldn’t be locked up. Unfair. Little Richards, BRAIN TRIPPERS.

CONVERSATIONS WITH MICK [H] Lt’d my intake. Don’t Worry About Me. I’ve gotta get to the Garden. I FEEL USED. Cigarette Boy Crime Increases as Rate Increases PHYSICS. DRUGS KEYS. EPIPHANY. CACTI. AS FRIEND. WONT HURT YOU. SEE INTO MAN. BECOME MAN. DIMINISH MAN. EXPECTATIONS INCREASE. EAT BIRTHDAY CAKE EVERYDAY. LEARN THAT REWARDS ARE BULLSHIT. DISCIPLINE IS JUSTified AS LONG AS IT’S YR DISCIPLINE and all around agree your discipline.

References explanation:

“Sredni Vashtar” is a short story by H.H. Munro under the pseudonym “Saki”. In the story, a boy named Conradin lives with his cousin and guardian Mrs De Ropp, who is very strict and abusive. To cope and to rebel against her, Conradin invents a new religion for himself idolizing a ferret that he keeps in a shed, which he names Sredni Vashtar. As his guardian becomes more harsh, Conradin begins a ritual, asking “Do one thing for me Sredni Vashtar” every night. Eventually, Mrs De Ropp ransacks Conradin’s room to find the key to the shed, and goes to the shed. Conradin begins to accept defeat, but when she does not return, and the ferrett appears with jaws stained bloody, Conradin realizes that she has been killed by Sredni Vashtar. The ferret vanishes, a maid finds Mrs De Ropp’s body and screams, and Conradin calmly makes himself toast.

An eremite is a Christian hermit or recluse.

“Mammon” is an old Aramaic/Hebrew word meaning ‘money’ or ‘wealth/riches.’ It is used by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when he says “you cannot serve God and mammon,” meaning you cannot selfishly covet wealth or material things and also give your self to God. Later, he explains that desire for things like fame, beauty, or money are examples of vanity, and the people who encounter a stumbling block with regard to following God are those “who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing.”

Little Richard is a rock/R&B/gospel musician from the 1950s and 60s. His most famous songs include “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally”. In 1957 he decided to convert to a life of ministry and performed mostly gospel music. In 1984 he returned to rock n roll music. In 1984 he told a reporter he was “omnisexual” because he still felt that homosexuality was wrong. In 1995, in an interview with Penthouse, he came out as gay, saying that “God is a God of love, not hate.” Though ‘Little Richard’ was probably also Richey being self deprecating about himself and the medications he was on.

“Conversations with Mick [H]″. This is one where Richey’s handwriting is just barely too messy. It may refer to an address given by Gene Cook at Ricks College in 1988, in which Cook, a Mormon pastor, is sat next to Mick Jagger on a plane and has a conversation with him about sex and corruption and evil in/because of rock n roll music. There’s debate over whether or not this interaction actually happened. “Conversations with Mick H” might also be relevant to Mick Hucknall of the bands Simply Red and Faces (both influences of the Manics to some extent, or at least present in the music mags they were reading). It could also refer to Mick Hutson, a music photographer who photographed a number of Manics gigs from 1991 to 1994. However, I’m not sure if he was ever very close to the band the way others like Tom Sheehan or Mitch Ikeda were.

“I've gotta get myself back to the garden” is a lyric in Joni Mitchell's song “Woodstock”.

[discosdeladecada-2000-2009]

[keepthefrank]

US spotify not having bag lady on journal for plague lovers feels like a personal attack honestly

[jesuisgourde]

For fun, I interpreted all the Journal For Plague Lovers remixes as paper collage pieces, and then wrote about my thoughts on each remix, and what I thought they did well when it comes to expressing or reinterpreting the original tracks.

[selenoplexia]

Oh mummy, what’s a Sex Pistol?

[iamtryingtobelieve]

I am not dead I demand I know my rights I know my rights You cover illness with flowers And flowers die And flowers die

Walk in half view Of all mirrors It makes sense to me Makes sense to me Never let yourself out, I did It ruined me It ruined me

To be morally good Only rather to love A devil pretending to be a god Laws written on paper, and paper burns Eternity is not sunrise

[nussywire]

songs that peel you like an apple:

[meta-squash]

Journal For Plague Lovers part 16

William’s Last Words

Gracie Fields, lovely lady, lovely lady. Was I wrong, do I figure, you’re wrong If you think that..That’s bloody horrible that is, our attitudes. All queer and quaint. One more time let me sing a song. What was it. Queer and quaint us, know who,..we figure it out but it’s clear and crazy isn’t it? Die now. Finish it of now do I want to finish this song, wait a minute..oooolaaaaaa they were gentle really, even them…it’ll be a long time, maybe never, till I forgive them tho’. The biggest cock up since the great war, ahhh I’ll leave you now, it takes you a long time to realise you’re a gentleman, laaaaa, my god I love you all, yr (voice rising) all a credit. I’ll be waiting, all my cares are for you. Dreams enfold you, they leave and die. Goodnight sweetheart till we leave tonight. Hold me in your arms. Goodnight all, you’re all my friends…remember my wedding day, should’ve heard ole Bill singing, we’ll have a good old ding dong tomorrow, you’re lovely all of you, goodnight godbless I’ll always remember you, hope you liked the concert. I’ll go nice and quiet, I’ll just say cherio, here I go on my way, till we meet again, wish me luck as you wave me goodbye. Yr the best friends I ever had, yes, no, no I’m not a clever chap, I made a balls up again, first, second, third time but not on your time I hope, you’re a part of the world….oo be quiet old Bill, no applause, sleeptight, isn’t it lovely when the dawn brings the dew and I’ll be

watching over you. It was lovely singing to you, I won’t forget you. What can I say. Goodnight, sleeptight. The long day is through. That’s it, I knew I’d balls it up. Concerts over. You haven’t done bad Billy boy. Once loved now forgotten. Goodnight. Goodnight. You’re the best. You’ve been so kind, so sweet, so gentle and if we meet again the whole world smiles with you. Life is precious, I’ll just say no star no star, I’ll never forget you and say no star Bodine, I’ll remember you all, you’ll all be apart. I’ll leave so don’t be surprised if I come back. Sleeptight, goodnight. I’m just gonna close my eyes, think ‘bout my family, shed a little tear. We’re a land of singers. I’ve never had more pleasure singing to you tonight than my whole life. Come home again please. Goodnight Godbless, may all your kids be happy. Be thankfull for yr women; I’ve travelled the world and there’s nothing so special, what a lovely way to surprise you. Goodnight all..I’ll sing one more song (sings slurred national anthem). Please don’t keep me any longer oooowhat can I do now. I’ll try my best, how does it go, like a drummer boy..booombooombooooom..I was a drummer boy you know. You wouldn’t deprive a man…I don’t know when I’ll remember the words, I thought it was all cut and dried. Leave me go Jesus. I love you. I love you, I even love the devil and all even though he did me harm….all day…I’m ..it’s…it’s a…I’m really tired I’d really love to go to sleep and wake up happy, you can die happy but I wonder if you wake up happy, I’m hopeless. If I sing a song I’m down a scale or up a scale. I’ve come a long way, really, even for a tone deaf singer, if you want to know.

References explanations:

Gracie Fields was an actress, singer, and comedian in the 30s and 40s. She was a stage actress first and then film, but never enjoyed the process of making a film. In 1939, Fields suffered a breakdown and went to Capri to recuperate. During WWII she travelled to France to entertain the troops in the midst of air-raids, performing on the backs of open lorries and in war-torn areas. She was the first artist to play behind enemy lines in Berlin.

The Great War is another word for WWI.

[manicsfansus-blog]

Steve Albini on working with the Manic Street Preachers

“There’s one slightly nostalgic moment on the record, I forget which song, where James wanted a particularly fried guitar sound. The studio had a cassette recorder that was the same as one I had in college - I didn’t have an amp, so I’d plug my guitar into the cassette player, wear headphones and overdrive the cassette player. It had a particular raspy distortion that I became quite fond of. On a lark, I told him I used that exact cassette player as a fuzz pedal, so we did that with his guitar. It was nice to see this make-do solution applied in a fancy recording studio (Rockfield, Wales). It was a great opportunity to take something I’d learned by being broke and making it a feature of a major record.” 

[strawberrysweetcinnamon]

born - school drunk - fuck - work home - dole divorce - retire - die and then what and then what and then what and then what maybe's you realise it's all vanity baby all is vanity honey all is vanity all is vanity all is vanity all is vanity it's the facts o' life sunshine

Richey Edwards’ original lyrics to the Manic Street Preachers’ “All Is Vanity” (taken from the deluxe edition booklet of “Journal For Plague Lovers”)

[jesuisgourde]

I think I have sort of figured out the extra unused lyrics of Bag Lady, as heard in this alternative version from the making of JFPL documentary thing. I’ll italicize the new lines. Since the alternate version is totally different in terms of tune and arrangement of lines, I’ve sort of put the new ones where they’d go if they were in the album version.

What I’ve got is:

I am not dead, I demand I know my rights I know my rights You cover illness with flowers and flowers die, and flowers die Your tongue should help you, we will not destroy No caution destroys all your insides

I walk in half view of all mirrors it makes sense to me, makes sense to me Never let yourself out, I did it ruined me, it ruined me

To be morally good only rather to love a devil pretending to be a god Love’s written on paper, and paper burns

I have read books Eternity is not sunrise It is small pink balls in the sky It is small pink marbles in the sky

I have played fields in the garden I think I have a sickle I drew a picture of Christ once, half-right reality gives this much

To be morally good only rather to love a devil pretending to be a a god Love’s written on paper, and paper burns Eternity is not a sunrise