rigorousintuition.ca

Ok, I've not been around long enough, at least not visibly, but I was shocked and frankly disgusted to put both Fatima Mansions and PopeMobile To Paraguay into the Search and turn up nothing related. The finest parapolitical band of the Nineties, who at times threatened to breach the mainstream, and yet there was no mention of them whatsoever on this board. So I thought I'd start this thread simply to post some of their finest works. The lyrics are the thing, of course - the words are the soul of the piece.

These guys were like the good U2, and Cathal Coughlan was the honest Bono. In 1984, while fronting MicroDisney, he released the rather less-than-popular album "We Hate You South African Bastards." The Fatima Mansions themselves were named after a pretty rough Dublin housing block. Their (fantastic) last album, Lost In The Former West, featured a cover of Scott Walker's Nite Flights, about the transport of CIA "electricians" to South America. Cathal is still doing good work, far from the mainstream. I think he deserves our respect, and his songs are of a sufficiently doom-laden and well-researchjed quality that they could even cheer the likes of us up, maybe a bit.

And no, I don't work for him.

PopeMobile To Paraguay (live, sadly): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F45rYQna ... re=related

Check out the lyrics, they're not particularly subtle. I especially like the lines: "A man with your knowledge of electrical goods,
Should not be condemned because he's misunderstood."

If you like it, and you know it, clap your hands!

Cathal means "battle ready", "battle ruler", "battle mighty" or "don't mess with me" in Gaelic.

annie aronburg wrote:Cathal means "battle ready", "battle ruler", "battle mighty" or "don't mess with me" in Gaelic.

Nice! That fits. And here's another I forgot, has obvious Northern Ireland connotations with the title The Loyalizer, but is obviously meant to apply to all oppressive states and their mechanisms. Nice reference to "The Tower And The Abyss" too. Easier to make out the words in this one (not live).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3m5J5ZpWoo

annie aronburg wrote:Cathal means "battle ready", "battle ruler", "battle mighty" or "don't mess with me" in Gaelic.

Sorry for double-quoting and double-posting. I meant to give a better reply in the first place, but had that link burning on me clipboard. I'm Scottish but don't speak Gaelic, sadly, Annie. I understand the odd word or two, but Cathal wasn't one of them (though it should've been - my feeble excuse is going to be that it's Irish Gaelic, hehe).

Seriously, though, Cathal Coughlan, as far as lyrical content goes, could perhaps be Dylan's Bad Twin for the RigIntiverse.

Song titles like "Ciao, Caeucescu," and, um, others that I can't recall right now.

Lines like, "James Jesus Angleton sells sun-lamps door-to-door."

In fact, just about every line from every song I can't name right now, though the pseudo-heavy-metalness does put some folk off, I must admit.

Belong Nowhere is a classic as well.