What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?

[Space]

And of course the music comes first -- it's called music, not lyrics.
If you care more about words you'd be buying poetry books, not music CDs.

Good question here would be is there an NMA song that you love the lyrics, but don't care for the music?

[Amandistan]

How do you know DAWN is alluding to that ?

Have took a very different view from that song ?

TXP

I only know because Justin said it in an interview.   It then made perfect sense.

Me too Ruckedout but not as a kid for me. More as a young adult.  I discovered them at at 19 or 20. It got my through some very hard times. I was reclusive for years. I spent most of my time confined in a bedroom. I listen to a lot of music there and found NMA.  I then eventually got myself out more starting at about 22, then into my early 24th year, I went across the Atlantic to see this band that meant a lot to me all alone.  I blame them for pushing me out of the door and thank them for it. Now, I have experienced more in 4 years than many do in 20.  This is a very life changing band. 

[cthulhu]

"Shadows of shadows passing. It is now 1831, and as always, I am absorbed with a delicate thought.
It is how poetry has indefinite sensations, to which end music is an essential, since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception.
Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry; music, without the idea, is simply music.
Without music, or an intriguing idea, color becomes pallor, man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb, and the dead are, but for a moment, motionless..."
(orson welles on: tales of mystery and imaginaton, by alan parsons project)

NMA music is poetry.
It was the lyrics which got me deeper into it. There were alway some tunes on every album i liked immediately, but there are always songs i don't get into at once. It is when the lyrics and the music, when i begin to understand (and this can take years), when the lyrics and the song melt to become one, then i get to love songs which at first i didn't like so much. That is what attracts me the most about nma.

[Johnz]

There are a number of songs that I got to love because of the lyrics rather than the actual music. I Need More Time is a recent example. Modern Times is another.

[texaspete]

Space - oh for a minute inside your noggin.
I'll pass on the film but keep up the recommendations!
Have you seen 'one flew over the cuckoos nest'?

[Shush]

Here we go again...

I hope not. This topic and the other - why NMA called Political band, both interesting topics,  -  actually about the band, on the bands forum 

[lotus]

He wrote songs about Black Angels in the early 80's... Astound me with your wisdom on that topic?

The Black Angels. 

A bunch of girly lads riding on pink Vespas that their mommies bought them, driving around safe farmlands wishing they were in a real motorcycle gang like The Hell's Angels.

Now go watch the film GIMME SHELTER to see the difference between Black Angels and The Hell's Angels.

The song is called Sex (The Black Angel), and if you read the lyrics: it`s about Man, Woman, Desire (and perhaps love) - and not about Black or Hell Angels 

[lotus]

How do you know DAWN is alluding to that ?
Have took a very different view from that song ?
TXP

I only know because Justin said it in an interview.   It then made perfect sense.

Interview JS last year (sorry, a german mag):
Dawn ist mein liebster NMA_Song aller Zeiten. Zumindest im Moment. Es gibt eine merkwürdige Geschichte über einen Freund in den Achtzigern. Er hatte eine schlimme Scheidung hinter sich und durfte seine Kinder nicht sehen. Er entschied sich, allem ein Ende zu setzen. Er schluckte genügend Medikamente, um sich umzubringen. Dann ging er hinaus in den Peark, um zu sterben. Im letzten Moment dachte er: Ich möchte doch nicht sterben. Nun, er rief um Hilfe und hat es überlebt. Er hat mir diese Geschichte erzählt und ich hatte sie immer im Hinterkopf. Aber ich brauchte 15, 20 Jahre, um diesen Song zu schreiben. ......

[texaspete]

Oh for google translate ? Can anyone help ?

Dawn, regardless of the true allegory is a classic !

I love it ...

TXP

[MARKXE]

Google translate says.

Dawn is my favorite NMA_Song of all time. At least at the moment. There is a strange story about a friend in the eighties. He had a nasty divorce behind him and was not allowed to see his children. He decided to put an end to everything. He swallowed enough drugs to kill himself. Then he went out into the Peark to die. At the last moment he thought: I do not want to die yet. Well, he called for help and survived it. He told me this story and I always had in mind. But I needed 15, 20 years to write this song. ......

[texaspete]

Thanks Mark,

I run to this song a lot.

No matter how much my day has entangled or frustrated me this song releases me back to where I need to be.
It's a true redemption song in its simplest form.
I'm glad it took him that long to perfect it.
Justin is a master of songwriting and this is his shining example.

I'm glad his friend turned back from the brink, there is a message in this for us all.

TXP

[Johnny Appleseed]

This is a hard one to answer, and I could happily mull it over time and again.

I broadly share NMA's political standpoint, so I enjoy their political songs. I also enjoy their social commentary/observational songs. But I also enjoy the songs which are personal, either to the band or indeed to the listener. I find many NMA songs are written in such a way they can mean many things to many listeners. I think Knievel is a very good and recent example of what I think I'm trying to get at. The main thing is the passion with which the songs are delivered. I think that is what moves me the most.

Ultimately, there are so many great songs they have written, I think there is something for everyone there.

All the best,
Johnny

[Shush]

Justin could write a song about having a full English breakfast (with slightly disappointing bacon)

I expect in that he would wax lyrical about improving that sad bacon with the wonders of Red Sauce 

[Guillaume]

Interesting thread.
I tend to dig more the intimate songs than the "socio economic", political songs...sometimes (often?) i don't understand all the meaning(s) of Justin's lyrics but that's not really a problem, because i can feel these words  ...melancholy moods or full of life moods...and i can picture these feelings, like if i was watching an intimate, indie or big budget movie (i would LOVE that someday some directors would use NMA songs in their movies!).

Songs of loneliness, life being so fragile and short,  love and loss are what i tend to prefer in NMA's oeuvre, i think, and these songs are the most touching parts of their works..."Nothing touches", "Drummy B", "Marry the sea","High",  Family Life", "Marrakesh", "the Price", 225", "Green and grey", "Family", Prison", "Headlights", "Orange tree roads", "One bullet", "Rivers", "Into the wind", "Pull the sun", "Devil's bargain"...and i don't forget Mr Sullivan's definitive masterpiece, the album summarizing the most the melancholy side of his music:  "Navigating by the stars"!!

[Guillaume]

So to me the more philosophical songs such as Someone Like Jesus, or Happy To Be Here are really what I listen to most.

These are stunning songs...for you what/which is/are the subject(s) of these tracks?
"Someone Like Jesus" i think is one of NMA's most fascinating songs, a bit unsettling.."There's always something in the corner of our lives that we cannot quite see", that's a great line...like if the lead character of the song was "insane" right from his childhood ("there were visits to the doctor, but you can"t remember what for..") but didn't know it...creepy, eerie song!

OK... this might be a bit controversial, but the music always comes first for me... the clash / unity of the instruments is what grabs me by both ears...

For me it is and it has always been Justin's voice.
Even if i like more or less some songs Justin's voice never ceases to move me.
Warm, expressive, evocative voice.

Justin could write a song about having a full English breakfast (with slightly disappointing bacon) and make it heartfelt and incisive...

What would you think of Dario Argento or Michael Mann using NMA's songs for their movies?