"Death and the Maiden" | |
---|---|
Single by The Verlaines | |
Released | June 1983 |
Recorded | 1982 |
Genre | Post-punk |
Length | 4 min 27 s |
Label | Flying Nun FN014 |
Songwriter(s) | Graeme Downes |
"Death and the Maiden" is a song by New Zealand rock band The Verlaines, who are one of a number of 1980s bands signed to Flying Nun Records and attributed to the Dunedin Sound. It was released as a single in 1983 and is arguably the most popular song in their discography. The 'B' side of the record was "CD, Jimmy Jazz & Me."
"Death and the Maiden" later appeared on the 1987 album Juvenilia, which was a collection of The Verlaines' early singles and EPs.
New Zealand rock band Elemeno P released a cover version of this song on their 2005 album Trouble in Paradise . Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus also recorded a version for the Flying Nun Records tribute album Under the Influence - 21 Years of Flying Nun Records in 2002. Boston band Prickly covered the song on their 1997 LP Velleity.
You'll only end up like Rimbaud
Get shot by Verlaine, Verlaine, Verlaine, Verlaine....
The lyrics above refer to Paul Verlaine, a 19th-century French poet. After going into a drunken rage, Verlaine shot his lover – fellow poet Arthur Rimbaud in July 1873. The Verlaines took their name from the French poet.
Shall we have our photo taken?
We'll look like Death and the Maiden
This is a reference to a painting of the same name by Egon Schiele, which shows a woman embracing a skeleton. The image is reproduced on the label of Verlaines' side of the "Dunedin Double" EP, issued in 1982 which is the year before the release of "Death and the Maiden".
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.
Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by The Guardian as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringing global attention to the Dunedin sound, a cultural and musical movement in early 1980s Dunedin.
The Dunedin sound was a musical and cultural movement in Dunedin, Otago, in the early 1980s. It helped found indie rock as a genre. The scene is associated with Flying Nun Records an independent label.
Toy Love were a New Zealand new wave and punk rock band that originated in Dunedin and was active from 1978 to 1980. Members included Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Paul Kean.
The Verlaines are a New Zealand rock band from Dunedin. Formed in 1981 by Graeme Downes, Craig Easton, Anita Pillai, Phillip Higham and Greg Kerr, the band went through multiple line-ups.
Illuminations is an incomplete suite of prose poems by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, first published partially in La Vogue, a Paris literary review, in May–June 1886. The texts were reprinted in book form in October 1886 by Les publications de La Vogue under the title Les Illuminations proposed by the poet Paul Verlaine, Rimbaud's former lover. In his preface, Verlaine explained that the title was based on the English word illuminations, in the sense of coloured plates, and a sub-title that Rimbaud had already given the work. Verlaine dated its composition between 1873 and 1875.
Sneaky Feelings are a New Zealand pop rock band which releases on the Flying Nun Records music label. The band formed in 1980 with the line-up of Matthew Bannister, David Pine, Kat Tyrie and Martin Durrant. Tyrie was replaced by John Kelcher in 1984. Durrant was temporarily replaced by Ross Burge in 1988 for the band's second tour of Europe.
Rock music in New Zealand, also known as Kiwi rock music and New Zealand rock music, rose to prominence first in 1955 with Johnny Cooper's cover version of Bill Haley's hit song "Rock Around the Clock". This was followed by Johnny Devlin, sometimes nicknamed New Zealand's Elvis Presley, and his cover of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". The 1960s saw Max Merritt and the Meteors and Ray Columbus & the Invaders achieve success. In the 1970s and early 1980s the innovative Split Enz had success internationally as well as nationally, with member Neil Finn later continuing with Crowded House. Other influential bands in the 1970s were Th' Dudes, Dragon and Hello Sailor. The early 1980s saw the development of the indie rock "Dunedin sound", typified by Dunedin bands such as The Clean, Straitjacket Fits and The Chills, recorded by the Flying Nun record label of Christchurch. New Zealand's foremost hard rock band Shihad started their long career in 1988. Since 2018 this title is now undoubtedly held by New Zealand Māori metal band Alien Weaponry who have achieved huge success in Europe and the USA.
The Clean was a New Zealand indie rock band formed in Dunedin in 1978. They have been described as the most influential band to come from the Flying Nun label, which recorded many artists associated with the "Dunedin sound", and one of the first bands to be described as "indie rock".
The Chills are a New Zealand rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band are fronted by founding mainstay singer-songwriter, guitarist Martin Phillipps. During the mid-1990s they were billed as Martin Phillipps & the Chills. Their top ten studio albums in their homeland are Submarine Bells (1990), Soft Bomb (1992), Snow Bound (2018) and Scatterbrain (2021). The Chills were a cult band in other parts of the world as one of the earliest proponents of the Dunedin sound. Their top 20 singles are "Pink Frost", "Doledrums", "I Love My Leather Jacket" (1986), "Heavenly Pop Hit" (1990) and "Male Monster from the Id" (1992).
Straitjacket Fits were a four-piece alternative indie rock band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1986 and broke up in 1994. They released three studio albums, Hail (1988), Melt (1990), and Blow (1993), and several EPs. Their line-up for their first two albums consisted of Shayne Carter, John Collie (drums), David Wood (bass), and Andrew Brough. Brough departed the band in 1991 and was replaced for the band's final album by Mark Petersen.
Able Tasmans were an indie pop band from Auckland, New Zealand, initially formed as a duo in 1983. They released four albums and two EPs on Flying Nun Records before splitting up in 1996.
Andrew Mark Brough was a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Dunedin, New Zealand. Best known for his work with the Straitjacket Fits, he later led the band Bike. In 1996 he was shortlisted for the APRA Silver Scroll and in 2008 he was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
The Dunedin Double EP was a seminal record in New Zealand music. An unusual format, it contain two 45rpm 12" discs, and at nearly 50 minutes length, it is longer than many albums.
You're Just Too Obscure for Me is a greatest hits album by New Zealand band The Verlaines, released in 2003 by Flying Nun Records.
Under the Influence — 21 Years of Flying Nun Records is a double album that includes tracks by various bands signed or related to the Flying Nun Records label.
Garage was a music fanzine based in Dunedin, New Zealand, which was created and edited by journalist Richard Langston. Six issues were published during the 1980s. The first issue was only 18 photocopied pages and produced in a very small edition, but the final issue was printed in a run of more than a thousand.
Loves Ugly Children were a New Zealand indie rock band on Flying Nun Records, amongst other labels, during the 1990s. They released two albums, many EPs, singles and videos and toured extensively through their home country of New Zealand, as well as Australia and England.
Jane Dodd is a New Zealand musician and contemporary jeweller. She is well known for her role as a bass player in early Dunedin-based Flying Nun Records groups The Chills and The Verlaines, was a long-standing member of Auckland group Able Tasmans, and occasionally played with side-project The Lure of Shoes.
Kaleidoscope World is an early song by New Zealand band The Chills. It appeared as the first track on the Dunedin Double, a seminal EP shared between four bands, which launched those bands' careers nationally and internationally.