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Welcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Morrissey was in the headlines about three weeks ago because of an interview in a recent German article, of which he disputes its accuracy for portraying him as a victim-blamer. In it, he allegedly told them he would be willing to, "in the interest of humanity," push a button that killed the Republican candidate currently seated in the office of the President of the United States (never give his name trending power... always remember those who endorsed him.) Seems a reasonable response for the song writer considering how often he has incorporated the fears of world annihilation into his music. This month's Third Sunday Throwback to the 20th century features at least one such example, which found itself covered by a post-industrial EBM band in the mid-nineties.:
Armageddon Dildos - Everyday Is Like Sunday (Morrissey)
Morrissey released his first solo album, Viva Hate, in 1988, following the break up of The Smiths (which is rumored to have been to some degree because Johnny Marr objected to Morrissey's insistence on the band performing covers of 60's pop songs by the likes of Twinkle & Cilla Black.) Everyday Is Like Monday was the album's second single, released in May 1988. Its lyrics are said to be inspired by British-Australian author Nevil Shute’s 1957 post-apocalyptic novel, On the Beach, set in Melbourne following a nuclear war as the inhabitants await a deadly wave of radiation and the inevitable doom it brings. The novel (which I've discovered has currently several copies checked out from my local library network) was first published in four parts in a weekly periodical before novelization. It was then immediately adapted as a cinematic film starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Perkins, Ava Gardner, and Fred Astaire, and released in December 1959, fifty eight years ago on this day! The novel's epigraph is the highly recognizable final stanza of T.S. Elliot's 1925 poem, The Hollow Men: "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper." Everyday Is Like Sunday certainly sounds like a resigned "whimper" in the face of Armageddon.
But what if it were given more "bang?"
Armageddon Dildos, a German electro-industrial duo who derived their name from already existing slang for intercontinental missiles carrying nuclear warheads, released a maxi-single titled, Come Armageddon in 1994. It featured six remixes of their cover of Everyday Is Like Sunday. It's "original mix" was titled, Come Zhirinovsky, likely a reference to Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a then-prominent nationalist leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party and rumored former agent of the KGB. His policies and platforms marked him as "an embodiment" of authoritarianism and militarism in Russia. He had already lost one Presidential bid in Russia's first elections in 1991 and was gearing up for another unsuccessful run when this record was released. The band's full meaning here might be vague but it seems evident they intended to associate Zhirinovsky and his views with the threat of world devastation.
Their version of Everyday Is Like Sunday starts with a horse winnie and what sounds like the opening of an old western comedy. The prelude slows, declares "Armageddon," and kicks into a driven and glitchy industrial dance rhythm. Its character is less "resigned melancholy" and far more "satirical anger" imparting a sense of activism instead of acceptance that "this is the way the world ends."
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
In 1985, Morrissey reportedly described a charity X-mas song as "diabolical" and "the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music." That song's cover shows it a little more "mercy" than that and both it and the original remind us of the world of dread and fear outside your window that we should be mindful of even on the eve of X.
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
One last public party to spin in December before New Year's Eve (when I'll be spinning a private event to which some of you may be coming.) Check out my schedule for details on the public stuff and contact me privately if you'd like to be invited to the other! ಠ‿↼
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 10 - Noir - The Chauffeur (Duran Duran)
Dec 03 - Obscenity Trial - Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
Nov 26 - NoNotNever - Cold-Hearted Snake (Paula Abdul)
Nov 19 - Alien Sex Fiend [as The Dynamic Duo] - Batman Theme (Neil Hefti)
Nov 12 - Inertia(w/Ayria) - Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Morrissey was in the headlines about three weeks ago because of an interview in a recent German article, of which he disputes its accuracy for portraying him as a victim-blamer. In it, he allegedly told them he would be willing to, "in the interest of humanity," push a button that killed the Republican candidate currently seated in the office of the President of the United States (never give his name trending power... always remember those who endorsed him.) Seems a reasonable response for the song writer considering how often he has incorporated the fears of world annihilation into his music. This month's Third Sunday Throwback to the 20th century features at least one such example, which found itself covered by a post-industrial EBM band in the mid-nineties.:
Armageddon Dildos - Everyday Is Like Sunday (Morrissey)
Morrissey released his first solo album, Viva Hate, in 1988, following the break up of The Smiths (which is rumored to have been to some degree because Johnny Marr objected to Morrissey's insistence on the band performing covers of 60's pop songs by the likes of Twinkle & Cilla Black.) Everyday Is Like Monday was the album's second single, released in May 1988. Its lyrics are said to be inspired by British-Australian author Nevil Shute’s 1957 post-apocalyptic novel, On the Beach, set in Melbourne following a nuclear war as the inhabitants await a deadly wave of radiation and the inevitable doom it brings. The novel (which I've discovered has currently several copies checked out from my local library network) was first published in four parts in a weekly periodical before novelization. It was then immediately adapted as a cinematic film starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Perkins, Ava Gardner, and Fred Astaire, and released in December 1959, fifty eight years ago on this day! The novel's epigraph is the highly recognizable final stanza of T.S. Elliot's 1925 poem, The Hollow Men: "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper." Everyday Is Like Sunday certainly sounds like a resigned "whimper" in the face of Armageddon.
But what if it were given more "bang?"
Armageddon Dildos, a German electro-industrial duo who derived their name from already existing slang for intercontinental missiles carrying nuclear warheads, released a maxi-single titled, Come Armageddon in 1994. It featured six remixes of their cover of Everyday Is Like Sunday. It's "original mix" was titled, Come Zhirinovsky, likely a reference to Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a then-prominent nationalist leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party and rumored former agent of the KGB. His policies and platforms marked him as "an embodiment" of authoritarianism and militarism in Russia. He had already lost one Presidential bid in Russia's first elections in 1991 and was gearing up for another unsuccessful run when this record was released. The band's full meaning here might be vague but it seems evident they intended to associate Zhirinovsky and his views with the threat of world devastation.
Their version of Everyday Is Like Sunday starts with a horse winnie and what sounds like the opening of an old western comedy. The prelude slows, declares "Armageddon," and kicks into a driven and glitchy industrial dance rhythm. Its character is less "resigned melancholy" and far more "satirical anger" imparting a sense of activism instead of acceptance that "this is the way the world ends."
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
In 1985, Morrissey reportedly described a charity X-mas song as "diabolical" and "the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music." That song's cover shows it a little more "mercy" than that and both it and the original remind us of the world of dread and fear outside your window that we should be mindful of even on the eve of X.
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
One last public party to spin in December before New Year's Eve (when I'll be spinning a private event to which some of you may be coming.) Check out my schedule for details on the public stuff and contact me privately if you'd like to be invited to the other! ಠ‿↼
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 10 - Noir - The Chauffeur (Duran Duran)
Dec 03 - Obscenity Trial - Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
Nov 26 - NoNotNever - Cold-Hearted Snake (Paula Abdul)
Nov 19 - Alien Sex Fiend [as The Dynamic Duo] - Batman Theme (Neil Hefti)
Nov 12 - Inertia(w/Ayria) - Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies