Killing Joke: "Goodbye to the Village"

(**EDIT** 04/03/10- LYRICS ARE NOW INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION)Track #10 from the extraordinary and oft underrated album "Brighter than a Thousand Suns," and one of my favorites. This beautiful and haunting song has gotten little recognition over the years. I felt it deserved a little play on You Tube. I hope you enjoy. Apologies if the recording is less than pristine. The compact disc is over twenty years old!

Lyrics:
Around the strangers moved, the shouts I felt within
New panoramas seen (I loved it as it was).
Forests of pylons built, the scaffolding is raised
And how the men pursue their work
They act convinced of freedom.

Crossed over by the bridge
The brook was running ill.
We recognized the place - places we knew as children
We wept upon the sight, and progress tore our hearts
Fences divide the land, homes boxed like rabbit hutches.

Goodbye to the village
Goodbye to the village

Where soil will not provide, no king and land are one
Monopolize the holy ground, all that we hold as sacred
No harvest moon shall rise, no valley homestead seen
And now the cities never end, and how the cities stretch forever

And in the morning promise me great times will come again
And the homelands in our hearts will never fade away
Let the legends promise me the earth shall rise again
And homelands in the hearts of men shall never fade away.


Goodbye to the village
Goodbye to the village
Goodbye to the village
Goodbye to the village

I'll never never see my home
I'll never never see my home

You'll never never see your home
You'll never never see your home

Copyright 1986 E'G Records (Used without permission)
The slideshow is secondary and just a smattering of K.J. stuff that I've scanned over the years.

Paul Raven- In Pace, Requiscat
Honour the Fire!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Coleman
• Ferguson
• Geordie
• Goodbye
• Jaz
• Joke
• Killing
• KillingJoke
• Paul
• Raven
• the
• to
• Village
• Walker
• Watchman2012
• BTATS

[joydivisionlwtua]

Absolutely love this song, and the whole BTATS album! Thanks for posting.

[Watchman2012]

You're welcome.

[djgeel]

Great writing watchman and a heart breaker song from KJ.

[Watchman2012]

Indeed... and thank you.

[THEONEMS1]

For me this is my favorite period of Killing Joke. BTATS is amazing. Wish Jaz would go back to singing like this.

[destructingparabola]

This song and album are amazing.  I think the base really rocks and brings to mind Killing Joke's end of the world imagry. I also wish that Killing Joke stayed in New Wave mode like this rather than the heavy metal. The Apocalypic messages in their music are complimented nicely by this style. The synths and arrangements are just as good as the better New Wave bands of the time.

[kernott11]

Great album...

[0The0Web0]

a truly wonderful track from an absolutely stunning album! there were times when it played nonstop on my hifi...

thanks for bringing back these good memories!! :*)****

[nickfloodban]

Good to read the very poignant words to this song after all these years having loved the music. Thank you.

[Mrregfire]

vous avez de la chance quand il sont passer a lyon ont etait a peine 500 du coup dégouté ils n on meme pas jouer y love like bood

[COMMUNISTPHILOSOPHY]

fantastic band, and it tells a story, Jaz is a songsmith

[jayellucaz]

I can never get my head round Killing Joke. They are three very different brilliant bands. A great post punk band then a beautiful synth band and then a brutal industrial band. Seeing them two years ago playing songs from all these eras I realized how they fit into each other perfectly when played live.

[quentinreed]

I forgot to add that this is, nevertheless, a great song :-)

[quentinreed]

This is not from the original album, nor was Exile (the two were on it as soon as it was on CD back in 1990 or whenever. The original vinyl order is the best 8 songs in a row ever to be written. Got it in December 1996,, thought it was nothing much, but within 3 months it was my favourite record, and still is really. Awesome.