Whenever I am listening to A Nine Days Wonder, I find myself wondering if it really gets any better than this; it certainly doesn't get more unconventional. Love songs are a tricky genre, if they are a genre at all. And there is a good reason for that: love may be seen as the most complex, and yet at the same time the clearest of emotions, as well as perhaps the most powerful; it comes to no surprise then that most attempts to pin it down, let alone exploit it, end up sounding nothing more than pretentious, superficial, and predictable. Fortunately, this is not the case when it comes to sophisticated bands; Theatre of Tragedy may fall into this category, but I always felt that their main strength is that they never actually aimed to write a love song. And maybe this is the reason why they got so close.
A Nine Days Wonder, from their final album Forever Is The World, is a good example, as it allows the listener to interpret it any way they want. It is a haunting story of two individuals struggling in a dystopian context, told in a manner which is utterly romantic, in the classic sense of the term, rather than sentimental. This is due to one of Nell Sigland's finest vocal performances, leading to a beautiful climax based on piano and keyboards; and it includes a breathtaking middle section, which is never to be repeated, just like the most exquisite of feelings.
A Nine Days Wonder, from their final album Forever Is The World, is a good example, as it allows the listener to interpret it any way they want. It is a haunting story of two individuals struggling in a dystopian context, told in a manner which is utterly romantic, in the classic sense of the term, rather than sentimental. This is due to one of Nell Sigland's finest vocal performances, leading to a beautiful climax based on piano and keyboards; and it includes a breathtaking middle section, which is never to be repeated, just like the most exquisite of feelings.
We fall for better or worse
I can see the sparkling ice is breaking
I’ve seen you got a speck of dust in your eye
Act as if there’s no tomorrow
Don’t fall, stay awake
I surrender
Lie close untill they’ve gone
A nine days wonder
Days will come; the old once are wiser, and better the truth
Ambiguity speaking
In and out of season the tide is turning
It will be serving you right
We dream of days even stranger
Please stay, get into the rhymes
Turning back, at one way or the other
Proceed, the childhood’s end has only begun
You may run – but you can’t hide from the truth
May you not rest until they are gone
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