Author Topic: GHOST OF HOPE (Project of the Week for 3rd of April)  (Read 778 times)

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Meisekimiu

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Re: PROJECT OF THE WEEK (3rd of April): GHOST OF HOPE
« on: April 17, 2017, 02:56:47 am »
The Ghost of Hope is a great album. Although the collection of my "favorite" Residents albums is just a fuzzy and ever-changing idea, (with the exception of Not Available being my favorite) this one is definitely up there. I already said my initial impressions, and for the most part I still agree with them. I will say that I think this album is a bit more complex than it appears at first. Even on my first listening, I knew certain things seemed... rather strange. Let's go over each track (heh... "track"... trains... heh) individually. I'm going to be noting some interesting things I've noticed, and also trying to look into the historical accuracy of each story.

Horrors of the Night
The first thing I noticed about this song was that the lyrics didn't rhyme. Now, The Residents aren't exactly pop stars so it isn't that weird to hear them not rhyme, but rhyming is just such a key part of their sound that it's definitely noticable when there aren't rhymes. It does give the song a less story-like vibe though, as if The Residents are simply quoting what happened. And it seems like this did indeed happen! This was the only bit of information I could find on the wreck, but maybe I didn't look hard enough. Anyway, the term "Horror of the Night" is used in this newspaper excerpt, which is pretty cool. From my research, though, it doesn't seem like The Residents are quoting anything directly, besides the phrase "Horror of the Night". While the names seem to be real, I can't find the quoted passage at the end of the song anywhere, although it does say that all the survivors were interviewed. I do think the ending to this song does sound a bit too much like a story from the Talking Light... or a Shadow Story. I'm just saying... that writing style sounds rather familiar...

The Crash at Crush
Yay! 3/4 time! This song is a lot more songy than the previous one. It rhymes! In fact, I'd say it's almost folksy in nature. While the previous song just starts describing the action from the start (as the sleeping passengers on board would have experienced the crash), this one builds up tension before the crash. This feeling of doom just creeps around the track (I guess it's the ghost of hope), and I really like it! There are many different resources on this incident. While it isn't the best resource for serious research, the existence of a Wikipedia article just proves how "notable" this incident was (also there are cool pictures!). This song got stuck in my head after listening to the album a 2nd time.

Death Harvest
I think this is my favorite song from the album. The gentle nature of the first part, followed by the sheer ferocity of Rushing Like a Banshee, only to become calm once again... I love it. I simply love it. Peter Whitehead does an amazing job on the vocals... ahhh this song is so great. Now then... I can't seem to find any information on this incident at all. Obviously smaller incidents involving just automobiles with no vicious train derailments or anything of that nature won't be getting their own Wikipedia articles... but I just can't find any information on this incident at all. Although the places and the weird secret society mentioned in the liner notes are real, I can't find anything on the people or the train accident itself. Weird, since you don't often find someone's head stuck in the ground with their feet in the air. Anyway, the rhyme scheme gets switched up again, with the first part not rhyming at all until Rushing Like a Banshee takes over, where the rest of the song rhymes from there.

Shroud of Flames
I really dig this song. It's sounds quite nice... almost too upbeat for the chaos being described. I mean, I could dance to this song about people burning up in an oil fire. I also like the alternating vocalists here... while I'm not entirely sure if there's a purpose to it other than sounding cool and weird. Again, I can't find any information on this incident. However, this one doesn't seem to be too out of the ordinary like the previous two stories, so maybe it's just harder to find information about it in the first place? One final thing to note is the final lyric before the monologue at the end: "Conductor Townsend said / Peering through a mask / Revealing nothing but / His eyeballs as he rasped,". Maybe it's just a coincidence that we have "eyeballs" and "mask" in there. Although I think it's a bit odd... I mean, I feel like "eyes" would be more natural to say than "eyeballs" in that situation, but hey, I guess they have to keep up with the meter of the song.

The Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918
I think this track is the weakest musically (it sounds the least like an "actual song", not that that's important when we're talking about The Residents), but it more for makes up with that with its emotional impact. The very moment I heard that "RACE! SKIN! IGNORANCE TO THE END!" sample, I knew something was up with this album. I still don't fully get the inclusion of that sample. Maybe it's just a joke, or maybe it just sounded cool. This incident also has a lot of information on it, including a book even called "The Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918: Tragedy on the Indiana Lakeshore". Even the names seems to be real, although from my resources (that book), it seems like there was a Emil Schwyer, not an Emil Schwem.

Train vs. Elephant
I think this track speaks for itself for the most part (I mean... it better, that's the whole point of it!). I do really like this track though. It's a nice break from lyrics while still having a good atmosphere and story behind it. I did research this incident and found a blog post from a man who stumbled upon the sign and asked locals about the event. I think it was the exact post The Residents used as inspiration for the track. Neato!

Killed at a Crossing
This one just immediately hits you with this mysterious, sinister tone. It isn't my favorite track on the album, but I think it's just a perfect way to end somehow... I don't know why though. The rhyme scheme is gone (for the most part) again, although unlike in Horrors of the Night, I can't find any information on this incident. And I think it's time to stop beating around the bush a bit and talk a bit more directly. I believe that certain stories in The Ghost of Hope are entirely fictional. The Residents are playing with truth and fiction with this album, so by the end you may not entirely be sure what is "Real?" and what isn't. And The Residents use a variety of techniques throughout the album to confuse the truth and fiction.

Horrors of the Night makes no use of rhyme so it sounds less like a story and more like an actual recount of what happened. This departure from The Residents' "usual" sound starts the album out by loudly proclaiming that this song was based on real, actual events... something which The Residents aren't that well known for. I mean, yes, they've reported lots of "true" or "historical" things before, but the actual presentation is usually warped while keeping the underlying and more universal truth intact. The song cleverly builds up a suspension of disbelief. Of course these events are real, otherwise The Residents would have made it rhyme and the events would be much stranger. The Crash at Crush sounds more like a folk song but yet it too is based on a true event. And now we have two contrasting ways of telling the truth: literal reports of what happened and more story like songs. At this point it doesn't matter what any further songs are like, their sound alone will say nothing about how based in reality they really are.

Death Harvest is the first fictional story of the album, and it starts without a rhyme scheme. It sounds just like a literal report of what happened, including various specific details that would be strange to make up. A rhyme scheme does eventually pop up, though, maybe to combine the two styles presented in the album so far as to confuse the listener. Shroud of Flames presents its fictional incident in a straight-up song with a beat but uses specific names and an ending monologue like Horrors of the Night to make it sound like a true event. The Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918 finally brings us back to reality, although changes a small detail here or there, like Emil Schwyer's name so it isn't 100% true. Train vs Elephant is based on first-hand accounts. While there is proof that this incident happened, specific details are a bit muddier.

And that brings us to the conclusion of the album once more... Killed at a Crossing. It has this sinister, mysterious, and well... important tone to it. It sounds like this song is the "concluding paragraph" to the essay on truth and fiction The Residents have presented upon us. And this fictional story is about truth itself, with the main character of the story immediately presented as not entirely trustworthy. The song lacks rhyme scheme so it sounds like another report of actual events. And it liberally sprinkles in specific details to make the story believable... in fact, let's compare the lyrics of this song to one of a similar style, Horrors of the Night:

Quote from: Killed at a Crossing
When the Wogglebug
A Pennsylvania train,
Ran into a Ford,
Mrs Robert Folwell
And Wilson Parker Page
Perished instantly

Quote from: Horrors of the Night
Five cars broke off and sped
Down the incline followed
By two more coal cars,
As all aboard appeared
Oblivious to the fate
Laying in wait
For them on the incline

In the stanza from Killed at a Crossing, every single line introduces a specific detail, where as Horrors of the Night connects its lines a bit more naturally. Although the other stanzas in Killed at a Crossing aren't quite like this, they are still very dense with specific details when compared to any of the other songs. But as the song concludes, the final stanza does rhyme as one final little "twist" to the song. As the train departs, you find yourself confused as to what the truth really is...


I have to admit it'll still take time for me to truly understand this album. Maybe in a few months or a year from now I'll get what this album is really trying to say, but until then I do think its trying to say something about the nature of truth in addition to its commentary on society and technlogy. A song like Killed at a Crossing, although certainly about a train accident, doesn't completely match the "man not being able to fully understand and control growing technology" theme... but hey, maybe I'm just crazy. As for The Real? Residents, I think it's an extension of this theme and is meant to clue us into the "Real?"-ness of the stories in this album. I just hope Randy is okay.
レジデンツはほとんど日本人だけど、誰も知らない。
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