Shriekback- Faded Flowers (1985)

From the album, Oil & Gold. My boy 78 put me on to this one.

[cienciamarcial]

Wow, after 40 years, I find the epic song from Band of the hand ❤️

[grndnpnd]

Who's watching Band Of The Hand in 2021???!!! Man I forgot about this song!

[CaffeineNightOwl]

bought "oil and gold" in 1985. one of my favourite albums forever. hidden gem.

[a.t.]

This band was so deep. I loved you once … but will always love you.

[willfade]

I will forever be grateful for the ‘Manhunter’ (1986) film soundtrack. It got me into Shriekback’s music.
🌹

[peruna]

Simply an amazing song. Brings back so many memories - good, bad, and somewhere in the middle.

[pgs]

This is the sound of poisons
The sickness no one knows
No one is crying for us this time
Our shapes are blurring under miracles of snow
Weave a circle round him three times
You have to plan your moves at these times
Our hearts are breaking
One more song to go
These eyes are blind
This is a pure thing
These hands I kiss
Tragic as anything
These eyes are blind
This is a pure thing
All splash and hiss
Beyond my measuring
Only the anacrucis
The main event remains
Shameful and naked, out there in the
Great cold outdoors
We have to do these things again
Bathe in this incandescent glow
The leap to something I don't know
There is no doubt upon us when
The greasy men come back again
These eyes are blind
This is a pure thing
These hands I kiss
Tragic as anything
These eyes are blind
This is a pure thing
All splash and hiss
Beyond my measuring
These faded flowers
Precious as memory
A veil of cloud
Correct as energy
We had some good machines
But they don't work no more
I loved you once
Don't love you anymore
These eyes are blind
This is a pure thing
These hands I kiss
Tragic as anything
These eyes are blind
This is a pure thing
All splash and hiss
Beyond my measuring
These faded flowers
Precious as memory
A veil of cloud
Correct as energy
We had some good machines
But they don't work no more
I loved you once
Don't love you anymore

[dinorage]

My cousins liked this song the first time they got this Shriekback album! And I knew this song for awhile since this came out in 1985! This is one of my favorites from Shriekback.

[doks]

I never grew up in the 80s or 90s but this song makes me think of my crush deep inside my Hart...

[g.j.koster]

Another gem from most underrated band in music history.

[bigguyss]

Beautiful new wave track. Love the melodies on this one.

[nicholasshort]

I played this song a few times when I was a DJ at a small FM radio station back in the 80s. This album was new at the time. The song itself is a lost form that some call the Ghost Response or Alien Response, where you have a brief vocal, then a synth that 'responds' (usually mirroring) the vocal. So, vocal (these eyes are blind)-synth response -vocal (this is a pure thing) -synth response, and so on, almost like they are talking to one another. And I know this probably doesn't make any sense to zoomers, but nobody uses this method any more that I am aware of. It evoked a sense of resigned mystery with a hardened eye to our derelict foolish love affair with a dead technology.

[julieb.]

I love Shriekback, saw them in 1986...when Michael Mann started using their songs in his work, my respect for him moved up more than a little. So evocative.

[scrapronnie]

Still one of the most atmospheric and mind numbing 80's tracks from one of the most underrated bands of all time. Michael Mann, gold star taste in music for his films. Manhunter soundtrack is another masterpiece.

[danmckenzie]

When I was young I had the verse "these eyes are blind, this is a pure thing" stuck in my head for years and no one could tell me what song it was.

[righteousrat]

I never heard this song until hearing it on Band of the Hand. What a great song. The lyrics are amazing and deep.

[sammencia]

Believe it, or not, I used to play this and Big Hush at an alternative club in 1985. People really dug it. Even a few danced.

[davidedwards]

No other band could incorporate the words "anacrusis" or "parthenogenesis" into lyrics and still make them beautiful and poetic.

[mattfalenski]

Amazing song! Beautiful and haunting.

[shaindarkart]

''I dont know where you have gone, maybe i'll never see you again, I still remember, i cant forget..
if you still care, never let me know''