ok, so this may have been covered, but this song is beyond burning into my head for the past few weeks, so i must ask…
what do we know about this song? credits, who plays what, who wrote what, blah blah, because i am getting a very similar feeling to the lyrics as i got from The Fall (which is just about… if i was forced to name one, my favorite song ever)
im sorry if this seems kinda fan-boy and silly… but i mean… well… who else can i really ask? haha.
Basically the whole song was written by Ministry as a whole, which was Jourgensen (gtr/vocals/lyrics), Barker (bass/prgramming), Rieflin (drums), Connelly (keys/vox), plus Ogre (vox/lyrics) of Skinny Puppy.
Ogre also did vocals and wrote (?) lyrics for “Noreen”, which was to be done by WELT - a project he and Al were to do, but never happened. It then turned into “The Fall”, musically. So, there’s the connection. It’s definitely no irony.
The songs, too, were written at a time of high heroin abuse by both of them. So was Filth Pig. A lot of it shares that background at least.
oh yeah, no i mean, i have spent a slightly silly amount of time reading into The Fall, and man… the welt demo version is waaaaaaaaay inferior. haha still not a bad song though.
but yeah, the CD copy i have of this album, when i loaded it to itunes put down that jourgensen, barker, rieflin, connelly, and k. ogilvie all had a hand… but i just wanted to know if anyone knew a bit more in context of who cam eup with what first, so on, you know… boring fanboy stuffs. haha.
and yeah, i really like how ohgr and al worked together, i mean, their drug use, while not something they could have sustained, really did give them both some dark and very tangible lyrics…
From CC’s book:
“The first loop I remember was from Cry Freedom and formed the basis of Breathe, for which Bill’s drum pattern walked between military invasion and the Bride’s of Dr. Funkenstein.
The music was immediately more organic than Rape and Honey much due to the fact that the drums were live and real (there are no real drums on Rape, it’s all programmed, maybe Keith LeBlanc is on it, but if he was Al ain’t sayin). As the song progressed, it turned from being an interesting almost Eno-esque rhythm workout into a tidal wave of sound spearheaded by a wall of guitars (inevitably). Al flew Ogre in to work on the sessions and in one brainstorming session; myself, Ogre and Al came up with the lyrics to Breathe. This, by the way, was the beginning of where my job started to get tough because Al wanted lyrics about certain topics, mostly political or ecologically motivated, and it was up to me to encapsulate his thoughts. He was picky-now I understand why- but at the time it was frustrating. I have a tendency to perhaps get somewhat florid in my poetry. Al liked that, but had to make it easy for the average Love & Rockets T-shirted teen to digest. I considered it good training for something, I don’t know what… Al and I multied many, many vocal takes along with whoever was capable at the time until we had a “gang” vocal. The effect of the song was absolute, the point was made, the icing on the cake, a single, high synth played quietly throughout the whole song to sustain the tension.”
“The Fall” is probably my favorite all time song too.
The first time I heard it and that piano melody kicks in it just send cold frozen chills through my blood and made all the hairs on my arms stand up. Amazingly, it still gives me the same feeling. It’s just hauntingly beautiful and tragic.
The Fall is badass. The version with Ogre was a mess.
Breath is one of my least favourite Ministry songs by a country mile…however… the version of it on In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up with the killer double drum intro makes it rule.
Breath is one of my least favourite Ministry songs by a country mile…however… the version of it on In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up with the killer double drum intro makes it rule.
A lot of people think I’m a heretic because I didn’t even keep “Mind” or “Rape and Honey”. I just can’t listen to them. The songs are 1000 times better on “ICYDFLSU” so I never would play the studio discs (I’ve owned them a couple times and they would always gather dust).
I think ‘Mind…’ is overrated. Overly repetitive and “Breathe” is a good instance of that, where it would have benefitted from some selective pruning.
It’s good BECAUSE it’s repetitive.
You’re not a Swans fan, are you?
The Mind… and Psalm 69 are the band’s most immediate albums and are to me not in the same league as Land…, FILTHPIG, and Dark Side of the Spoon. However they are still good and I like them bunches and ‘Breathe’ is one of the best off The Mind. Also the artwork for that album was great.
I smell another original my favourite Ministry albums in order…
TMIATTTT was my first Ministry record, yet was one of the last I could fully appreciate front-to-back, no skips. “Breathe” was one of the songs that was the hardest for me to initially dig on, but it’s pretty killer. I think my favorite part of that track is that the stabbing, high-pitched synth perfectly (for some reason, the word “encaptulates” comes to mind, though I know for a fact that I probably made it up) the track, bringing the lyrics and music together and nailin’ the point home.
It’s probably the weakest track on the record, though, but that’s like naming Superman’s shittiest power.
It’s good BECAUSE it’s repetitive.
You’re not a Swans fan, are you?
exactly! the song has such a powerful drone, this just dragging continuing march…
i think it (much like the sphinctour version of The Fall) just goes on and on to the point of brilliance, i think this song would just be… kinda unsatisfying if it ended any earlier. as it is, i always feel the desire to re-start it.
but yeah, i am quite the (selective) Swans fan…
Breathe? I loved that song straight away. I’m surprised people found it hard to get into. The rhythm at the start just sucks you in.
‘BREATHE YOU FUCKER’; wasn’t that inspired by someone overdosing in the studio and Al screaming that at them as they tried to resuscitate them?
^
I don’t know. But that’s pretty rad if it is.
It is rad, yo! I helped thuh ghuy from dying! You have no idea what it takes to be a super clown wih a stick of dynamite strapped to my headband while driving through an icecream truck, padre.
GREATEST TROLL EVER!!!
What detracts from Mind somewhat is that it’s way too topical - at least for my tastes.
This song is about this and this song is about that. Very Metallica circa Master Of Puppets.
I prefer the mindfuck wall of sound shit (like Lava) where the song appears to be about…nothing really. Either that or it’s as cryptic as all hell but seems to be saying something - you just can’t put yr finger on what it is. Makes it more menacing and mysterious.
The song H by Tool is a good example at what I’m trying to get at. Listen to it and you’ll…hopefully dig what I’m aiming to describe here.
Anyway, Mind needad another Thieves type track towards the end where it starts to lag a bit. It also needed to ditch Test. But I don’t need to harp on about that.
The problem with Test is that it has a dude rapping. The instrumental part of it is fucking awesome. CC sums up the song in his book.
Forget Breathe though. I wanna know the story behind Nursing Home.
Always assumed it was Al’s 'Fear Of Dying" song.
That song can yank my balls any day of the week.