Thursday, September 6, 2007

Pale Saints - Sight of You, Sea of Sound


I love the name Pale Saints. It sounds so peaceful. Urban dictionary tells me a pale saint is a "white skinned catholic." Okay then.

This band, although I only discovered them a few months ago, are absolutely fantastic. They're one of those bands that you either love or have never heard. Yes, that's quite a generalization, but look at the Amazon reviews for The Comforts of Madness, their debut and finest achievement. Though there's only ten reviews, they all are 5 star raves.

They're a band that doesn't have much of a story and instead we're left with the music to go by. I heard they're all way into football though. And by football I mean soccer.

Yeah. They're pretty cool. On the contrary, rather than the wintry feel a lot of shoegaze gives me, Pale Saints are a bit warmer, recalling summer nights. I'm not going to post the lyrics to this song, because when written out they look kinda lame. "The things you said/ Make me feel bad/My heart is sad"
See what I mean? Okay... shit, maybe the lyrics do suck. But the song is great! You'll love it!

Pale Saints - Sight of You

"The sight of you
The sight of you
Makes me feel blue
Makes me feel blue
The things you said
The things you said
Make me feel bad
My heart is sad

I think of him
I think of him
Soaked all in red
I wish him dead
You say that he
You say that he's
Nothing like me
But how can that be?

What can I do?
What can I say?
The world was large
And I felt very small
What's gonna happen?
How will I know
When things are back
The way they used to be before?"


I posted the lyrics anyways. Have a laugh if you must. But then when you hear the melody , you'll be the one laughed at! By that I mean the melody is so strong it has the power to laugh at its inferiors, and people. The song though its on the Comforts of Madness was recorded for an earlier EP. Probably their most accessible song.

Accessible isn't always the ultimate though, and most often it isn't. Here's my favorite song of theirs, "Sea of Sound"," a beautifully atmospheric and serene track that actually sounds like its title. The lyrics are a little better too, but still keep in mind they're not the guiding force for this band. Just imagine you're some place you love and listen to this song. It's bliss.

Pale Saints - Sea of Sound

"Your body's cold
You're on the bed
I'm the only one
Who knows you're there
I'm reeling in that silver line
The cord that brings you back in time
Reality obscures my view
The pain of wanting to
When am I going to be a part of you?

Your eyes are closed
They're in your hair
But I'll make it
just say you care
when every one has had their fill
You're holding on although you're ill
I watch the ripples in the storm
Until I have the brew
And then I throw the evening
over you

How can you want to stay like this?
The choice is ignorance or bliss
We'll go together don't be scared
It won't take long we'll soon be there
When we arrive just look around
There's so much to be found
We'll sail away upon a sea of sound"


Pale Saints Live TV footage



Pale Saints - The Comforts of Madness @Amazon.com

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

one of my favourite bands (ride) did a cover of sight of you on one of their Peel sessions

i didnt realise that it was a cover until i googled the song looking for the lyrics....

the pale saints version is excellent, dare i say it, better than ride, and yes the lyrics dont look too good written down, but since when did that matter :)

Anonymous said...

Sorry to be a bother, but I was wondering if you could re-upload this song for me? I've been looking for somewhere to download it and this is the closest I've come.
Thanks in any case!

Anonymous said...

great, underrated band. saw them live at moles club in bath, august 1990. (right after comforts of madness was released.) one of the best shows i've ever seen. definitely summer shoegaze music. some of their stuff is available on itunes now.

Anonymous said...

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