The Dead Flag Blues

[getundertherock]

the event this song captures the feeling of best is not a zombie apocalypse, not 2012, not some event wild imaginations have invented but rather the most simple, most barbaric and most indescribably evil event humanity as a whole has overlooked, which is the apocalypse we build and engineer for ourselves. We are the strangest beings. no other form of life is capable of so much love, yet simultaneously no one is full of so much evil. no need to be depressed though, it's just a natural cycle.

[SuperMylo64]

Thumbs up if you like a thumb up your ass.

[TertiaryCitadel]

For some strange reason this song always makes me picture the setting of Half Life 2.

No idea why...

[cityhermitus]

@TertiaryCitadel the video certainly brings it to mind

[rmdsa]

Muito bom! :) O vídeo está bastante bom e encaixa bem na música.

[radiomonkey20]

Sounds like America circa 2011.

[Bottlenecksify]

This god that so many of you are talking about seems to me to be pretty much absent from this video. The end of days are not his doing, it is ours. Stand up and claim your responsibility.

[anxxe]

These are truly the last days

[nintram]

Cloudporn.

[Cransyeah]

An ancient evil has awoken...

[MrBenCaesar]

@gregysbeingbad Mystery Babylon, is New York

[Cadavaris]

*posts a snippet of the lyrics*

there, I should amass all the likes within the hour

[TheSnowBelow]

11 people are on so many drugs with the radio on and the curtains drawn

[joe31454]

you could look at other things you know? but its okay, u got my thumbs up

[jbsquaredable]

And a dark wind blows....

[AgentDaleBCooper]

I have to say: It's a beautiful piece of work you've got there..

[TovarishchS]

I listened to this song whilst reading The Road by McCarthy.

[littlefever]

@TovarishchS - Soothing!

[DeadBirdCitizen]

@TovarishchS

WOW. Both beautiful, but I don't think my brain can handle that much misery without shutting down and rendering me a weeping, fetal ball. I commend you.

[illinoya]

rebellion, any1?

[moridin247]

I open up my wallet and it's full of blood.

[Binky40SW]

One of the first CDs I got from GYBE, and very moving.

I listened to it as I was driving to work grave shift-while watching the sky light up with flashes of fire from a thunderstorm.

[horriblevista]

114114 drunk

[Kurruption818]

deep & dark, I love it.

[DopePusha]

fukan TASTY, makes me wna start a revolution haha..

[gojira44]

We live in a strange world.

We live in world full of hatred, where most people can't understand each other and yet there is so much beauty in this world.

I feel better when I listen GY!BE...

[handymandan100]

This is like my favourite painting. i could hang this track on my wall...

[artsimpourtsi]

17-18/12/2010 athens

[skatepunkzero]

I remember when I first heard this song, I thought of the Siege of Sarajevo

[brownstain3000]

is that guy talking really audio from a movie???

[Shadofax5]

@brownstain3000 Usually the vocal samples are, but this one is from an unpublished manuscript by one of the band members.

[theredtrain]

This is truly a masterpiece... Thank you Rafinri.

Brilliant stuff! Really enjoyed it.

[realizationday]

Let not a man glory in this 'that he loves his country' let him rather glory in this 'that he loves his kind'.

[Baha'u'llah]

[camaelx130]

I hope it all burns away.

[glowball01]

may the apocalype come forth upon us all...!!!

[pseudoconscious]

Sublime.

[xxxAndreyaxxx]

IT WENT LIKE THIS.

[dziczek77]

10/12/2010 dublin ;)

[TheMindHeist]

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine, and the machine is bleeding to death.

[tenebre11]

Best part is missing - the ending. You can hear it here:

zzz.trilulilu.ro/tenebre/9f6fa­878244bb8

replace zzz with www

[0therthanme]

This song is incredibly beautiful! I absolutely love it!

[DermochelysCoriacea]

@0therthanme There is a lot more to it than this. The whole piece is over an hour long. :)

[Helschiss]

@DermochelysCoriacea Where can I find the full version of this movie then? Fell in love with both music and movie.... thanks in advance!

[LichKingSkullWart]

Kiss me you're beutiful, Implies that she is beutiful at the moment for 'these are truly the last days'. "you grabbed my hand and we fell into it like a daydream or a fever". This implies that the narator's wife is now ugly, as she is now just a worthless consumer, but they would not realise for it is a daydream in the consumers eyes, and a fever for the non-conformists.

The Narrator waking up with a wallet full of blood is mearly emphasive damage caused by consumerism. Hope this analysis helps!

[dasbakon]

This film has a James Benning quality to it. Nice work.

[lewisjamieson0]

can anyone tell me what the song is that plays at the end?

[eleshar83]

@lewisjamieson0

it's the same song, but its ending.

It lasts for nearly 17 minutes, and really is a masterpiece.

[jsilv63]

@lewisjamieson0 this is just the last part of the same track, but there is an other part between the first one and the last one... the whole song last 16 min. and the album a whole hour, in 3 tracks...

[TheMindcontrolled]

Great work - you captured the spirit of the song very well.

[eroloran]

Fantastic! Great job, rafainri!

[eroloran]

Fantastic video. Great job!

[nelson3300]

Mind the incredibly dark tone of this tome. It evokes the image of a country falling into ruin; of dark alleyways and urban agony, of complete disregard for anything sacred, culminating into a hopeless cycle of failed attempts at civility. Bleak, dark and utterly beautiful, this song haunts my images of our future, yet inspires me to aspire for tangible, legitimate change in the world.

Great for a rainy day like this!

[whita89]

i wish i had loads of money to make a quality video clip for this song...

the mental images it induces are amazing

[xXsixthzenithXx]

this is one of the most amazing songs I've heard in a while. I danced to it and it was beautiful.

[0cerpintaxt0]

@xXsixthzenithXx maybe a stupid question but how you dance on something like this? ur doing ballet? I cant imagen to how to dance other wise on this music.

When i hear this i just close my eyes and enjoy. But that's me i have already a hard time to dance on something with a beat in it :P

[xXsixthzenithXx]

@0cerpintaxt0 Not ballet. I do modern which is kind of like lyrical so this music works well :)

@whita89 Yes, this song does induce amazing images.

[handymandan100]

I listened to this in my car today, it literally gave me the chills, it filled me with something beautiful. After hearing this track, everyone here has had this shared experience...

[KeithTheL00N]

I'm reminded of 'No Country For Old Men' everytime I listening to this.

'... And then I woke up."

[KeithTheL00N]

I'm reminded of 'No Country For Old Men' everytime I listening to this.

'... And then I woke up."

[Kurruption818]

such a beatitude song, it really makes you think about life.

[Dhazun]

just great!

[Sanref]

I live in Chile, and I was thinking about this song as I watched the fires in the sky during the earthquake. I live on top of a building, so I had a gorgeous view of the blackened city.

[Cheezthis]

Wow man...

[Raz242]

I find it strange that depressing expressions can be so beautiful.

[xxxAndreyaxxx]

this is literally the most beautiful song ever.

[forman1200]

:P LAKOTA LOL

[batcountryrabid]

that was really a great set of images and video to put on top of the song. the proper colors and industrial edge. a BIT monotonous towards the end lol but it really sells the whole "dark, dirty, alone and quiet" kind of feel

well done

[TookYerJob1]

what a fantastic monologue. so poetic, so true

[sordidsheep]

this song digs deep into my chest and fills it with dread and beauty.

[MattVoltaXIII]

the monologue in the beginning of the dead flag blues comes from "incomplete movie about jail", an unfinished film that efrim wrote and has been working on for the last five years.

[TheConstellation72]

This was the song that kicked off my love for GY!BE.I was lucky enough to see them a few times in the UK-i took time off work to follow them in 2000 when they were supported by Sigur Ros and Fly Pan Am.I'd seen them before that tour,but they were simply stunning every time...

[easyboylife]

No Word´s.. 5 *

[wahhappened]

i love when seth rogan talks about godspeed during pineapple express

[shant]

@wahhappened seth rogan is a fucking moron

[wahhappened]

he is funny though

[aroundtheworlda]

I had a bad day today and for a few years I've been depressed. I work in a low paid job I hate where everyday is the same depressing torment. I am on my own all day working outside in the cold and spend all day thinking about how much I could kill myself and how cowardly I am that I am too scared to do it. On the way home from work on my lunchbreak I was so full of anger, sadness and depression that I just shouted as loud as I could in my car with hopelessness then burst into silent tears.

[Takrezz]

@aroundtheworlda dude you're not alone 

[badboyrhythmdub]

The monologue sounds like Donald Sutherland

[JohnnyOnFire13]

@badboyrhythmdub OMG i say that tomy friends all the time iwonder who it is

[pinkfloyd22]

this song reminds me of Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood...a blend of love and apocalypse

[Sunstria]

now you mention it;

it really does.

fantastic book, fantastic song.

[FleshWoundGoth]

Post rock has coerced my muse more times than strawberry gelatin at this point, officially. Especially this band. 7/7

[iBombhills]

Stoners, man. All of you. haha. I love it too. I want to get this poem tattooed onto me someday.

[ZukaZumamee]

Why is your comment so poorly rated?

[ClaimhSolais]

I said, "Kiss me, you're beautiful..

These are truly the last days"

You grabbed my hand and we fell into it

Like a daydream or a fever

[Makoi44]

@ClaimhSolais best lines ever.

[johnusala1]

This video is fucking amazing.

[echoplus2020]

just wondering, what kind of filter did you use for the video? very toxic looking, well done.

[fallse7en]

@echoplus2020 at a guess, i would say sepia filters, but very grainy

[davekat]

This was the very first video I ever favourited on YouTube.

You made a masterpiece, raf.

Thank you.

[ryanpoq757]

At the end, for those who may be wondering, the outro you hear is a song available on iTunes. it is called Outro and can be purchased on its own (other songs such as the dead flag blues come with the album).

[rephlex]

do you know this feeling in schooltime ... you have a test and you feel like you know NOTHING what is coming ... and you look outside the window for a very short time .. it seems so unimportant what you see there because you're so scattered with the feelings inside of you .. this score and visuals shows exactly a part of it. of course the meaning of gybi is very different but it shows that some feelings have strong coherence.

[deadzenmen]

This video was my introduction to Godspeed and the obsession continues. You know it's good when, well after you press pause, the song circles in the mind, haunting still, like the dark wind that blows. Perfect.

[Piercetp]

Mine too. Too bad the band is not still together. I would have loved to see them.

[MattVoltaXIII]

you know the song is good when you have it on repeat for 24+ hours..

[Thefew99]

I had always imagined that the words were of a post-nuclear war setting.

It almost makes me think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Anyway just thought id share my thoughts with you guys.

Great video 5/5.:)

[bacchonysus]

I also made visual to this incredible song, find it under 'the dead flag blues trip'

[FuiSoyYsereUnGil]

Yo, I dunno why people are putting the thumbs down on your comment. I watched the vid, I liked it. I hope some day I get inspired to film and edit some videos

[thesocalwholesaler]

This song is amazing. The little bit at 6:40 is phenomenal. Is it it's own song?

[mguloy]

no, its the outro during the last 2 minutes of the dead flag blues. its my favorite part of the song.

[majorevangelic]

Call of duty 1 is much better

[WhiteStripe99]

Hey, thats cool!

[Muscovado74]

great work. well done

[Fazenda8]

this is almost exactly how I imagined this song in my head

[djkidgorilla]

i open my wallet and it is full of blood

[ostricalungimirante]

lol

[ButterBricks]

Brilliant

[riskest]

Kiss me, you're beautiful.

[radiohead112233]

what?

[Mothammad]

this and hippie? are you high on something...

hippies are flower power, spirituality and "save the [whatever]" douches.

this video and the music is artistic and poetic in a way but it's gritty and realistic/skeptic - like a kick in the nuts.

[natsfanbayard95]

Haha! Ur right I over use the word hippie. Ur right too on the movie. But when I say hippie I mean, I hate America and want to live in Europe type of person. I'm probably wrong though, who am I to judge people, I'm just a random guy on cyberspace.

[Skydarkangel26]

this anger isnt directed at you but the point is. why does everyone have to use fucking labels it really pisses me off . it is what it is but throwing these labels around just starts arguments and distracts from the point of thevideo and song.

[jedimouse]

weird, I'm the opposite. the more time I spend here in Europe the more I want to go back home

[Tirdfish]

hey.. well done, powerful imagery.

GSYBE's policy is for you to create your own own art - & you did that well.

[SludgeySandwich]

nice bit of editing for the credits

[stevedekorte]

Nicely done. I like the choice of non-literal imagery and mellow tones to match the tone of the music.

[nicotinesister]

Beautiful. Love the yellowish, such a "small" thing can truly change the whole impression. The video is fantastic. So is the song. Powerful footage (im not sure what word to use here, eheh).

[KsEngag3d]

So simple and beautiful but yet so sinister at the same time.

[stantheguy]

It's good to see other people that know of, and appreciate, GY!BE. Good job.

[Xcokedav096]

GY!BE changed my mind's overlook. They've taken me over, now I love them. Great Talent

[makshobelosa]

truly powerfull, anyone know where i could find a transcript of this dialogue?

[DrLight9]

google, you tard ;-) (sorry i just fucking with you)

[2006static]

Absolutely epic!

[0cerpintaxt0]

so sinister and still so relaxing. beautiful peace of music.

[Defeattheobject]

This is an amazing song.

[cmac2191]

3:13

incredible

[Robergine]

0:00 / 7:00

incredible

[cmac2191]

very true.

[LiftYourSkinnyFist]

@Robergine You didn't like that last second? :P

[Robergine]

@LiftYourSkinnyFist No i didn't. It meant the song was over.

[LiftYourSkinnyFist]

@Robergine Touche >.>

[Robergine]

@LiftYourSkinnyFist :P

[Thusyanthan]

awesome video, you caught the mood and atmosphere brilliantly. who is the guy speaking in the start? from a film?

[0cerpintaxt0]

the voice sounds like mark lanegan. but iam completly not sure :P

[0Wagon0]

These lads are incredible.

[noisydope]

the first time i heard this, i was coming down from a acid trip that lasted about 3-4 hours. we were all just laying there, so quiet. this was the most beautiful thing i ever heard in one sitting.

if you cannot hear the truth in this, i dont know if youve realized yet...

[TheEskimosPantry]

My first experience of this piece of music too.

[Figeroo]

You have to be in the mood for f#a#. It's unlike any other album i've ever heard. I agree it's best to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, in a dark room, in bed, not on the bus to work etc.

[GreatRussianHellfire]

on the bus to work might be alright. if you're in a heavily misanthropic, nihilistic mood, or feeling heavily depressed.

[nicecupoftea123]

I find listening to them on either a long walk home or in a crowded room the best as it seems to make it that bit more personal ^_^ they have an amazing way of making reality seem not real... mmm =]

[ribenawrath]

funny how people say this is sad- yes its depressing. but i find it bittersweet- the beautiful end.

And godspeed rock btw- and anyone who doesn't like them just hasn't listened to them. properly.

[volcomman27]

.... idk

[tehsqueeinator]

beautifully done.

[patt0x]

excellent video for an amazing (but depressing) song.

the machine is bleeding to death, though i like to think that's not the end of the world, but the beggining of a new one.

nice work, five stars.

[Dmajorproductions]

i want the lp of this!

[bIackarrrow125]

Weird! Creepy!

[Rollerofbigcigar]

Excellent short film. Anything that attempts to exploit this piece and synchronize it with film inevitably collapses. They crumble into post-apocalyptic decay. The remains of a nuclear fallout. Close your eyes and its almost like your there. Of course this is absolutely no where near to what I had envisioned this piece in my mind, its far too grandiose to encompass on film, and its not even the whole piece; however it comes the closest from what I have seen. Its amazing to see art it inspires.

[THEMASKEDBRIT]

When people resort to 'your mother' insults, it show a massive lack of inteligence and witt.

[Robergine]

hahaha Man, you dragged me out of the song completely with laughter

[Scarface066]

This song is so depressing and tragic... Damn... The ending makes you kinda feel jolly though :D

[nicecupoftea123]

If you listen to the ful version... its about 15 minutes long you'll get the full impact of the change from sad to happy its immense! sadly its not on youtube though =[

[BraveFoot]

The most amazing effect is when you listen to the whole album in one sitting

[MiguelDeCorella]

Obrigadao por este video, um dos meus favoritos neste momento.

[GorillazSURGE]

sad...but true.

[minikbalina]

the only problem is flags are waving in the wind, while the guy actually says "the flags are all dead, at the top of their poles" which is also the name of the song. so, good visuals, good artwork and atmosphere and montage; but you know, it lost its meaning for me.

[grubsmack]

To me, "the flags are all dead" refers to the end of patriotism. The flags are meaningless in this post-apocolypse the song describes. The end of labeling ourselves and others by what country we are from, which to me is just another form of racism.

[Spikmonkeyman]

i'm guessing by your fucking retarded ass statement that you have a low IQ. This isn't Emo you faggot, it's ART.

Which would explain why the lack of artistic expression is leading america down the shitter.

Go burn books elswhere.

[tetrarchangel]

I really have to wonder how this person found a Godspeed track...

What we've got here is a fresh brand of homophobia, complete incomprehension of wait, what was it called, was it poetry?, sweeping generalisations. But what we must seek to understand is the 'will-to-comment.' Exactly what did this person benefit from this (save this present futile riposte?)

[MigratoryEagle]

I love this

[Aueneye]

This is just so damn visceral. It's depressing but important. I need to listen to some Arcade Fire to remedy this melancholy.

[rafainri]

Thanks for all the comments!

[cwmccart]

i always think of this video now when i hear the dead flag blues

[Inresurrection]

Haunting imagery set to one of my favourite GYBE songs. I love it.

[Maht25]

This song is more than amazing

it's epic in every way as well

[CauseImTheTaxman]

They're Canadian.......

[linuzhe]

The car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides And a dark wind blows The government is corrupt And we're on so many drugs With the radio on and the curtains drawn We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine And the machine is bleeding to death The sun has fallen down And the billboards are all leering And the flags are all dead at the top of their poles It went like this

[josh15soto25]

i go suicide nao bainubs

[UnivocalTrash]

F#ing A#!