We know it's been some time since we delved any further into our research, at least on this page. Needless to say, our research has continued this entire time. We have diligently been studying many different areas of western civilization for commonalities which would be consistent to an over-arching unified theory concerning many post-punk bands of the 1980's and 1990's. We are very close to presenting our findings. We're sure you will be very interested when we disseminate our thesis. "As part of his philosophical method, inspired by Socrates and the Socratic dialogues, Kierkegaard's early work was written under various pseudonymous characters who present their own distinctive viewpoints and interact with each other in complex dialogue. He assigns pseudonyms to explore particular viewpoints in-depth, which may take up several books in some instances, and Kierkegaard, or another pseudonym, critiques that position." "Thus, the task of discovering the meaning of his works is left to the reader, because: "the task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted". " Ref.: Kierkegaard, Søren. Journals and Papers, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0253182395, p. 303. "Subsequently, scholars have interpreted Kierkegaard variously as, among others, an existentialist, neo-orthodoxist, postmodernist, humanist, and individualist. Crossing the boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, and literature, he is an influential figure in contemporary thought." We have been asking ourselves the question a lot lately: "What exactly is the significance and meaning of the bands that we appreciate?" Which, for some of the bands/artists/musical acts in question, just that some one might reflect on such a question, seems to be a goal they might have had in mind. Ironic. As it turns out, irony will inevitability have to be explored as well. Let us begin with our most obvious influence: The Sisters Of Mercy "We will get inside your head, one way or another." - Andrew Eldritch (singer/songwriter/lyricist of The Sisters Of Mercy) That is an old quote referring to the reasoning behind the "Merciful Release" logo, which uses a depiction of the human head being peeled layer by layer, taken from an old copy of "Gray's Anatomy" medical guide to human dissection. Firstly this should tell us that there is nothing misguided in peeling back layers to things, to get a better picture of the underlying mechanisms involved. Perhaps this is also a clue to the manner in which both the songs are musically arranged and the lyrics are written. Although we should keep in mind, that in some things, like onions for instance, you can peel and peel away the layers only to find that in the center, there is nothing there at all. We will return to this thought later. Then there is the name of the band: "The Sisters Of Mercy". Many remarks have been made (elsewhere) concerning the Leonard Cohen song by a similar name ("Sisters of Mercy"), an obscure old western movie in which Cohen's song is heard in the background, etc. What if we simply look at this name for what it means literally. We will need to look at the basic definitions for each of the names components, hence dissecting the name, or rather analyzing it, before we should attempt to synthesize those parts in a certain context and hence understand the holistic meaning of the entire name. Before we get into a lengthy discussion about Mr. Eldritch's stubborn insistence that the definite article, "the", always be included in the band name, let us look at the easier to define 'sister' which of course is the singular form of the word in question, 'sisters'. sis·ter n. 1. A female having the same parents as another or one parent in common with another. 2. A girl or woman who shares a common ancestry, allegiance, character, or purpose with another or others, specifically: a. A kinswoman. b. A woman fellow member, as of a sorority. c. A fellow woman. d. A close woman friend or companion. e. A fellow African-American woman or girl. f. A woman who advocates, fosters, or takes part in the feminist movement. 3. Informal Used as a form of address for a woman or girl. 4. Abbr. Sr. Ecclesiastical a. A member of a religious order of women; a nun. b. Used as a form of address for such a woman, alone or followed by the woman's name. 5. Chiefly British A nurse, especially the head nurse in a ward. 6. One identified as female and closely related to another: "the sisters Death and Night" (Walt Whitman). adj. 1. Related by or as if by sisterhood; closely related: sister ships; sister cities. 2. Genetics Of or being one of an identical pair: sister chromatids. [Middle English, from Old Norse systir; see swesor- in Indo-European roots.] You might also at this point have decided that, "The Sisters Of Mercy are surely a well-known religious order of Nuns, and there have also been terribly misogynistic jokes made of them in reference to prostitution, hasn't Mr. Eldritch already mentioned this irony in interviews before?" The answer in short, for now, is yes. We will come back to that later. Instead, let us look at what Eldritch has said himself about his lyric writing as a sort of starting point to even understanding something as seemingly simple as the name of the band. "I feel qualified to write the words for songs. I feel entitled to write them the way I do because I don't know any better, because I can, because I like to, and because I find it enriching. There should be room for any number of layers in a song, and there should be room for that song. I write lyrics from a philologist's point of view, and as someone who has read a lot of stuff, although I hope you don't have to have read a lot of stuff to appreciate them in context. Any references should be a bonus for the like-minded, and it's sufficient for one of us to have a vague idea why the mere sound of a certain word does certain things to the psyche, resonates when set against another, and so on." - Andrew Eldritch, 1992 Ref: from the Forward to Postcards From Above The Chemist, Volume I; ©1992 The Reptile House Ltd. Now, 'sisters' are a type of sibling. When it comes to Eldritch's love of philology, one could wonder if the siblings of 'mercy' itself are what are really being referred to here. So before we can tackle what a "sibling" of a word, philologically speaking is, let's define our second term, 'mercy': mer • cy n. pl. mer·cies Idiom:1. Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one's power; clemency. 2. A disposition to be kind and forgiving: a heart full of mercy. 3. Something for which to be thankful; a blessing: It was a mercy that no one was hurt. 4. Alleviation of distress; relief: Taking in the refugees was an act of mercy. at the mercy of Without any protection against; helpless before: drifting in an open boat, at the mercy of the elements. [Middle English, from Old French merci, from Medieval Latin merc  s, from Latin, reward.]Synonyms: mercy, leniency, lenity, clemency, charity These nouns mean humane and kind, sympathetic, or forgiving treatment of or disposition toward others. Mercy is compassionate forbearance: "We hand folks over to God's mercy, and show none ourselves" (George Eliot). Leniency and lenity imply mildness, gentleness, and often a tendency to reduce punishment: "When you have gone too far to recede, do not sue [appeal] to me for leniency" (Charles Dickens). "His Majesty gave many marks of his great lenity, often . . . endeavoring to extenuate your crimes" (Jonathan Swift). Clemency is mercy shown by someone with judicial authority: The judge believed in clemency for youthful offenders. Charity is goodwill and benevolence in judging others: "But how shall we expect charity towards others, when we are uncharitable to ourselves?" (Thomas Browne). In which case, the first thing that comes to mind, philologically and metaphorically speaking, that could act like a 'sibling' of a word, would be the synonyms and antonyms of that word. Let's take a look: "Main Entry: mercy Part of Speech: noun Definition: kindness, compassion Synonyms: benevolence, benignancy, blessing, boon, charity, clemency, commiseration, favor, forbearance, forgiveness, generosity, gentleness, godsend, goodwill, grace, humanity, kindliness, lenience, leniency, lenity, lifesaver, luck, mildness, pity, quarter, relief, ruth, softheartedness, sympathy, tenderness, tolerance Antonyms: cruelty, intolerance, meanness, uncompassion" What we're getting at here is that perhaps the antonyms are just as likely being referred to as the synonyms. Which would already give us a completely new understanding of the entire name: "The Sisters Of Mercy". Yet this also reveals a paradox. The band's name can then equally refer to both cruelty and kindness. Both leniency and punishment. "You are very bad people and must be punished" - Andrew Eldritch, On stage comment to the crowd and: "Asked by Chris Roberts in Melody Maker in 1990, whether he was giving fans of The Sisters Of Mercy what they wanted, Andrew Eldritch replied: "Oh, I hadn't really thought about that. I've always taken the view that what I want to give them is what they need. What they want is neither here nor there. I know what's best." " Ref.: The opening paragraph of the inlay to the remastered and expanded version of Vision Thing, released in 2006 by Rhino U.K. There are many usages of the paradox. One approach of constantly referring to paradoxes is one of confusion. Another approach in the use of paradoxes is to out-wit another in a philosophical exchange or debate, in dialectics and discourse. A third and perhaps more benign usage is to teach someone something, an example of which would be the Socratic Paradox. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox Either way, this would insinuate that the over-riding ambition of the band, was (and perhaps still is) to do all of the above: confuse, teach and to be difficult to argue against. It has been stated that the band sort of formed out of a joke, or in itself is a "very very very dry joke". Many comments on-stage and in interviews point to the absurdity and ridiculous irony inherent in modern Rock music. Perhaps all it's ever been is a series a well crafted psychological games? We will come back to this idea later. For now: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_manipulation In our next episode: We will continue with our research and carry on where we have left off. in which we will try to show how different bands in a naturally (or artificially) created "scene" are all inter-related in the context to one another, and that in an artful way these bands all help to explain and further define one another. We will also explore literary devices and their uses, such as: Irony Tragedy Comedy Horror and perspectives such as: First Person Second Person Third Person and The Fourth Wall | Current Research*: *This bibliography, which is heavily represented by wikipedia articles, will be supported by more scholarly peer-reviewed articles eventually. The wikipedia articles will have to suffice temporarily. |