I have strong early childhood memories of being enveloped in the throes of a hearty cry. My long sobs only momentarily interrupted by deep halting breaths which had my body shudder and quake. At those moments I felt the total expanse of my lungs and sensed the surrounding viscera in a way that has never been accomplished in any other manner.
Such memories recall an early experiential world dominated by affect and not thought. During those primal cries I remember partially opening my eyes to see the world, distorted by my tears, painted in the sea of my emotion. Could this explain the emotional power of the dappled and daubed presentation of French Impressionism?
Haunted is a song dripping with moodiness, emotion and existential angst, in this way it harkens back to those rich and oddly gratifying sobs. Sometimes sadness, vulnerability and existential angst are the best mediums/vehicles by which we experience and feel our lives and inner bodies (via sensations usually barred from us).
During these reflective moments which give birth to songs such as Haunted , the sensorial emotional world of our inner bodies seems to seep out into our conscious awareness. These times, when we ponder our fallibility and the great mysteries of life, are also opportunities to appreciate and be awed by the incredible miracle that is sentient existence.
Just as an artist often uses negative space to help make an image pop to life, so too we often use our mortality and limitations as a way to have us savor and revel in the beauty of the simplest of things.
Haunted is for me a song of my affect world in which emptiness is experienced as a prerequisite to appreciate life’s fullness. Such visceral pondering provide a sensing of that tiny sliver of separation between you and I, and I and the world necessary for intimacy to occur. The gap which is forged by uncertainty and mystery makes all discovery possible and quite fulfilling.
Yes, the emptiness is haunting. Don't give up trying don't turn your back. Don't give up just keep on reaching". Just always remember that intimacy depends on that reach to bridge the expanse that separates.
lyrics
Haunted 2/13/89
The stillness is haunting as I look for clues
My tears are like mercury avoiding the truth
Hoping for justice does that make me blind
Mourning the death of miraculous signs
Science and reason start looking beyond
Where have we come from, where have we gone?
Magic seduces the heart’s that afraid
If nothing’s lost tell me what is actually gained?
Listen to the teardrops calming rain
Looking for the footprints that remain
Sometimes I wish I could turn to a power
Who’d release me of anger when one’s purposely foul
Punishing wickedness, embracing the pure
Rewarding the lover with finding his cure
I don’t see this in the world, so many feeling’s we must endure
Magic seduces the heart’s that afraid, maybe hope does the same
The emptiness is haunting, searching for meaning
In dreams of destruction
Listen to the teardrops calming rain
Looking for the footprints that remain
Looking for strength I know that I’m not alone
There is a reason we all do survive
That is because we’re in love with this life
I keep feeling and yearning to hold
Keep on this striving push me along
Don’t give up trying, don’t turn your back
Don’t give up trying, just keep on reaching
The emptiness is haunting searching for meaning
In dreams of destruction
credits
from Edge of Eden,
released November 8, 2013
Vocals Jim Guido
Guitars John Barden
Keys Jim Guido
Bass John Barden
Sax Jim Guido
Drums Ryan Thompson
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