post-punk

"As far as genre descriptors go, post-punk is pretty vague—let’s just get that out of the way immediately. In the late ’70s, punk bands like the Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks began tiring of the standard rock tropes, and members went on to experiment in different directions, inspiring others—particularly in the UK and New York, but also in places like Cleveland and Athens, Ga.—to incorporate unusual sounds, from electronica to free jazz to world music, into their punk-rock roots. The results were as musically and lyrically diverse as they were artistically vital. Post-punk lyrics could be scathingly political or absurdly nonsensical. There was an anger to much of the music, but it was often masked by a playfulness. These were musicians interested in seeing where music could go."

"To some people, new wave was the music made by bands who were too traditionally melodic to be classed as punk; bands that believed in good ol’ songwriting, in craft and – shock horror – quite liked the idea of having a hit (step forward The Pretenders, Elvis Costello, The Police etc). To others, new wave music was the futuristic, keyboard-based music made by people inspired as much by Berlin-era Bowie and Kraftwerk’s Trans-Europe Express as by punk itself (Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, Ultravox, Gary Numan et al). Then there’s the ‘art-punks’ – Wire, Gang Of Four, Pere Ubu, Delta 5, The Raincoats – bands obsessed with the form of their music, of avoiding ‘rockist' clichés and aiming for something more avant-garde and challenging. If these three camps are distinct enough, then consider that ska-punks like The Specials, The Beat and The Selecter are also considered part of the same movement/phenomenon and suddenly you’re faced with a musical genre that is futuristic-yet-retro, avant-garde-yet-traditional, populist-yet-obscure, solipsistic on one hand, political on the other."

"While Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mono, and Sigur Ros gained acclaim for their original sounds on an international level, [Explosions in the Sky] is perhaps the American group most-associated with the genre of post-rock."

"Big Black had noise-rock down to a science. The band essentially had no midrange. Bassist Dave Riley held down the low-end, while Steve Albini and Santiago Durango opted for extreme treble, which was made all the more piercing thanks to a penchant for playing with metal picks. With the industrial thump of drum machine “Roland” keeping rhythm, and a habit of setting off firecrackers on stage before playing, Big Black essentially created misanthropy you could sing along to."

"Burn this whole madhouse down."

"Fame, fame, fatal fame It can play hideous tricks on the brain. But still I'd rather be famous Than righteous or holy, any day, any day, any day. But sometimes I'd feel more fulfilled Making Christmas cards with the mentally ill. I want to live and I want to love. I want to catch something that I might be ashamed of."

"I am the son and the heir Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar. I am the son and heir Of nothing in particular.You shut your mouth, how can you say I go about things the wrong way? I am human and I need to be loved, Just like everybody else does."

"It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate. It takes strength to be gentle and kind Over, over, over, over."

""I think it's dark and it looks like it's rain," you said. "And the wind is blowing like it's the end of the world," you said. And it's so cold, it's like the cold if you were dead, And then you smiled for a second."

"But if I had your faith Then I could make it safe and clean. Oh, if only I was sure That my head on the door was a dream."

"Ah, a jumped-up pantry boy Who never knew his place. He said, "Return the ring." He knows so much about these things. He knows so much about these things."

"All men have secrets and here is mine. So let it be known. For we have been through hell and high tide. I can surely rely on you, And yet you start to recoil. Heavy words are so lightly thrown, But still I'd leap in front of a flying bullet for you.So, what difference does it make? So, what difference does it make? It makes none. But now you have gone, And you must be looking very old tonight."

"I want to go home, I don't want to stay. Give up education As a bad mistake."

"And if the day came when I felt a natural emotion I'd get such a shock I'd probably jump in the ocean."

"I've been looking so long at these pictures of you That I almost believe that they're real. I've been living so long with my pictures of you That I almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel.Remembering you standing quiet in the rain As I ran to your heart to be near. And we kissed as the sky fell in, holding you close, How I always held close in your fear."

"Stroking your hair as the patriots are shot Fighting for freedom on the television. Sharing the world with slaughtered pigs, Have we got everything?"

"Oh, Elise it doesn't matter what you say, I just can't stay here every yesterday Like keep on acting out the same The way we act out. Every way to smile, forget And make-believe we never needed Any more than this, Any more than this."

"The melodic, often melancholy tunes of Robert Smith and the boys have been displayed and praised for over 40 years. When it comes to the alternative and goth or post-punk rock sound of England, The Cure is the trendsetter."

"I don't think I can love Anyone but you That's for sure... The upstairs room is cool and bright We can go up there in summer And dance all night."

"I've waited hours for this. I've made myself so sick. I wish I'd stayed asleep today. I never thought this day would end. I never thought tonight could ever be This close to me."

"You're so gorgeous I'll do anything. I'll kiss you from your feet to where your head begins. You're so perfect, you're so right as rain. You make me, make me, make me, make me hungry again.Everything you do is irresistible. Everything you do is simply kissable. Why can't I be you? (Why can't I be you?)"

"I want to smash you to pieces I want to smash you up and screaming I want to smash you helpless Down on the floor Smash you until you're not here anymore."

"Oh, it's opening time down on Fascination Street, So let's cut the conversation and get out for a bit. Because I feel it all fading and paling, and I'm begging To drag you down with me to kick the last nail in."

"Upon the sand, upon the bay, "There is a quick and easy way," you say. Before you illustrate, I'd rather state: I'm not the man you think I am. I'm not the man you think I am.And sorrow's native son, He will not smile for anyone. And pretty girls make graves."

"Under the iron bridge we kissed. And although I ended up with sore lips, It just wasn't like the old days anymore. No, it wasn't like those days. Am I still ill? Ohh... Oh, am I still ill? Ohh...Does the body rule the mind? Or does the mind rule the body? I dunno..."

"Hand in glove. We can go wherever we please And everything depends upon How near you stand to me.And if the people stare, Then the people stare. Oh, I really don't know, And I really don't care.Kiss my shades..."

"I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour, But heaven knows I'm miserable now. I was looking for a job and then I found a job, And heaven knows I'm miserable now.In my life, why do I give valuable time To people who don't care if I live or die?"

"Good times for a change. See, the luck I've had can make a good man turn bad. So please, please, please, Let me, let me, let me Let me get what I want this time."

"On the day that your mentality Decides to try to catch up with your biology, Come round.Cause I want the one I can't have. And it's driving me mad. It's all over, all over, all over my face."

"Park the car at the side of the road. You should know time's tide will smother you, And I will too.When you laugh about people who feel so very lonely, Their only desire is to die. Well, I'm afraid it doesn't make me smile. I wish I could laugh.But that joke isn't funny anymore. It's too close to home, And it's too near the bone."

"I would say I'm sorry If I thought that it would change your mind, But I know that this time I have said too much, been too unkind.I tried to laugh about it, Cover it all up with lies. I tried to laugh about it, Hiding the tears in my eyes 'Cause boys don't cry. Boys don't cry."

"A hundred other words blind me with your purity Like an old painted doll in the throes of dance. I think about tomorrow, please let me sleep As I slip down the window, freshly squashed fly."

"Every time we do this, I fall for her. Wave after wave after wave, it's all for her. "I know this can't be wrong", I say. (And I'll lie to keep her happy) As long as I know that you know That today I belong right here with you, Right here with you."

"But I never said I would stay to the end. So I leave you with babies and hoping for frequency, Screaming like this in the hope of the secrecy. Screaming me over and over and over. I leave you with photographs, pictures of trickery, Stains on the carpet and stains on the scenery. Songs about happiness murmured in dreams, When we both of us knew how the ending would be."

"I chose an eternity of this, Like falling angels, the world disappeared. Laughing into the fire, is it always like this? Flesh and blood and the first kiss; The first colours, the first kiss."

"I don't care if Monday's black, Tuesday, Wednesday heart attack. Thursday never looking back, It's Friday, I'm in love."

"Don't say what you mean, You might spoil your face. If you walk in the crowd, You won't leave any trace. It's always the same, You're jumping someone else's train."

"The innocence of sleeping children. Dressed in white and slowly dreaming. Stops all time. I slow my steps and start to blur. So many years have filled my heart. I never thought I'd say those words.The further we go and older we grow, The more we know the less we show. The further we go and older we grow, The more we know the less we show."

"Let me take your hand I'm shaking like milk Turning Turning blue All over the windows and the floors Fires outside in the sky Look as perfect as cats The two of us together again But it's just the same A stupid game But I don't care if you don't And I don't feel if you don't And I don't want it if you don't And I won't say it If you don't say it first You think you're tired now But wait until three..."

"We walked around the lake And woke up in the rain And everyone turned over, Troubled in their dreams again.Visiting time is over, And so we walk away And both play dead then cry out loud: Why we always cry this way?"

"We slip through the streets while everyone sleeps Getting bigger and sleeker, and wider and brighter. We bite and scratch and scream all night. Let's go and throw all the songs we knowInto the sea, you and me All the years and no one heard I'll show you in spring, it's a treacherous thing We missed you hissed the love cats. We missed you hissed the love cats."

"Yesterday I got so old, I felt like I could die. Yesterday I got so old, it made me want to cry. Go on, go on, just walk away. Go on, go on, your choice is made. Go on, go on and disappear. Go on, go on away from here.And I know I was wrong when I said it was true. That it couldn't be me and be her in between without you, Without you."

"Say goodbye on a night like this If it's the last thing we ever do. You never looked as lost as this, Sometimes it doesn't even look like you. It goes dark; It goes darker still. Please stay. But I watch you like I'm made of stone As you walk away."

"You know I even think that she stared like you. She used to just stand there and stare. And roll her eyes right up to heaven, And make like I just wasn't there.And she used to fall down a lot. That girl was always falling, Again and again. And I used to sometimes try to catch her But I never even caught her name."

"Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick, The one that makes me scream", she said. "The one that makes me laugh," she said. And threw her arms around my neck. "Show me how you do it, and I promise you, I promise that I'll run away with you. I'll run away with you."

"You, soft and only. You, lost and lonely. You, strange as angels, Dancing in the deepest oceans, Twisting in the water. You're just like a dream. You're just like a dream."

"However far away, I will always love you. However long I stay, I will always love you. Whatever words I say, I will always love you. I will always love you."

"And I feel like I'm being eaten By a thousand million shivering, furry holes. And I know that in the morning, I will wake up in the shivering cold. And the spiderman is always hungry."Come into my parlor," said the spider to the fly. "I have a little something here.""

"Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am home again. Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am whole again.Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am young again. Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am fun again."

"I'm running out of time, I'm out of step and closing down. And never sleep for wanting hours, The empty hours of greed. And uselessly always the need To feel again the real belief Of something more than mockery. If only I could fill my heart with love."