Hey, I’d love to give a nice intro to this, but it really is what it says on the tin – the top ten, ORDERED, Sisters of Mercy songs according to myself. Not going to explain “wellllll based on historical significance X is better than Y” etc – I’ll let the blurbs under each do the talking.
So, the Sisters of Mercy. “We’re not goth” lies aside, they set the template for goth music in the early 80s all through the mid-90s. So here’s the list of their best, and why.
10. Nine While Nine
” Frost upon these cigarettes
Lipstick on the window pane and I’ve
Lost all sense of the world outside but I
Can’t forget so I call your name and I’m
Looking for a life for me and I’m
Looking for a life for you and I’m
Talking to myself again and it’s
So damn cold it’s just not true and I’m
Walking through the rain
Trying to hold on waiting for the train and I’m
Only looking for what you want but it’s
Lonely here and I think you knew and I’m
And I’m waiting
And I wait in vain
Nine while nine and I’m waiting
For the train….. “
He’s doing a lot of desperate sobs in the cold wet air, as some of the lyrics show, but it sounds so damned GOOD when he does it. Nine While Nine is completely held together between Marx’s sparse arrangement in this track and Eldritch’s voice. A bummer of a song for a bummer of a moment to hold onto.
9. Flood I
” As the water come rushing in”
So, a couple things about this song. It has a tempo and sound to it that perfectly mirrors the album art in my mind. When I listen to it, I can imagine the album cover being alive – like it is a part of the song itself. Here, look:
Funnily enough, Flood II is on the same album and evokes NONE of the same feeling. It is a solid song and I feel important as it wraps up an overall feel of the entire album into one track, even if some of the other songs stand taller than this one. Still a very good song, despite its competition.
8. Doctor Jeep
I don’t have much to say about this that hasn’t already been said to death – it’s one of their most popular songs for a reason. Hell of a chorus, that pulls the whole thing together for me. Would place higher but something about the lyrical cadence bothers my soul.
7. Adrenochrome
Hey, this is an old-ass song. There’s an energy to it that is missing in, oh, say, Doctor Jeep (above, at #8!) despite being roughly the same general speed. I feel that there’s something raw inside of the song that is incredibly appealing, and that kind of energy is rare for a Sisters song.
6. Dominion/Mother Russia
I expected this to chart higher on my personal list, honestly. It’s a real popular one – almost everyone who has heard the Sisters has heard this song. Its chorus is made to sing along with as a group, and its lyrics are very evocative of a time and place. The music matches it perfectly, so you have a sound that actually SOUNDS like what the lyrics describe. That’s pretty rare.
5. Colours
This is sort of a deep cut. On my Floodland album I bought way back when in the mid 90s, this was the last track, and it was a real dark way to end that experience. I loved it, of course – it sounded as dark as could be, and pushed an oppressive mood filled with a kind of finality onto you at the end. I love it because of how dark it is, how dreary, how mechanical it sounds. Like everything falling into place to become silent…Lyrically the song is nothing special, it isn’t painting a picture, despite the clever title. The mood it sets though, that’s the good stuff.
4. Black Planet
“Still so dark over Europe…”
Oh, here’s where things get complicated and tough, on the top half of the list. Black Planet was one of the first songs I had at #1 and shuffled around 1-4 before I was happy with the arrangement. Probably the most quotable of the Sisters songs, and if this song starts up (even before the chorus!) and doesn’t grab you immediately, this song will not be your cup of tea. However, for those of us who feel it, you know what you’re feeling with the music – Wayne Hussey (of the Mission U.K.) is all over the music. Jingle-jangle guitars and a great ear for using space between the different instrumentation. Great song, and is one of the best reasons I have to love the Sisters of Mercy.
3. Ribbons
This one’s off of Vision Thing, an album that I bounced off of as it was a bit of a departure for the Sisters sound (not as if I was yknow, growing along with them or anything at the time. It just sounded different to me when I got ahold of it way back when.) It sounds quiet and sexy and I love that about this song. There’s a lot of good balance between sounding quiet and shouting. It just feels right, god dammit.
2. Marian (Version)
Don’t ask me what the (Version) means in this. That’s just how it looks. Marian is probably their best love song, or rather, absence of love song. Pleading to the ocean, the world, trying to be heard…there’s a lot to process there. Beautiful song and eclipsed by only one song…
1.Lucretia, My Reflection
Another sing-along, mega-popular hit, but its a hit for a reason. This song really has it all – and an exceptional bassline. The chorus is uplifting in the right ways, encouraging everyone to sing along with it (whether in front of others or just in their heads) and then a moment to breathe right before the chorus ends. Then we’re back into it. Its their best song, bar none, and there’s actually very little to say because it leans so heavily on excellent songwriting along with what I feel is a very pedestrian set of lyrics. However, that isn’t a knock–it simply doesn’t hang as one of their finest, lyrically. The song itself rises above this, and it is definitely their best song.
Top Ten From Who?! 