Swastikas for Goddy

Durtro 017CD, 1987, Running time: 48:02

Swastikas for Goddy
  1. Benediction - 01:59
  2. Blessing - 01:49
  3. North - 00:41
  4. Black Sun Bloody Moon - 00:55
  5. Oh Coal Black Smith - 05:29
  6. Panzer Rune - 05:56
  7. Black Flowers Please - 03:43
  8. The Final Church - 05:13
  9. The Summer of Love - 01:53
  10. (Hey Ho) The Goddy (Oh) - 01:42
  11. Beausoleil - 08:34
  12. Scarlet Woman - 00:59
  13. The Stair Song - 00:26
  14. Angel - 01:30
  15. Since Yesterday - 04:03
  16. Valediction - 01:01
  17. Malediction - 02:07

This CD is actually a 1993 re-release of the album SWASTIKAS FOR NODDY. With the exception of all instances of “Noddy” being changed to “Goddy”, the albums are the same. Now, I know I’m going to have a lot of people disagreeing with me about this, but I honestly don’t think this is one of their more outstanding works; much better (in my opinion) is the re-structured and re-recorded version of this album, Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God. As a point of interest, this album was referred to as Current 93’s “pop” record when it was released. A very silly, sinister, and twisted pop record, if you ask me (but compared to their early experimental releases, I suppose it was pretty poppy in comparison). Somewhat interesting to me is the fact that Tibet’s lyrics and vocals don’t appear much in this album; there are a lot of guest vocals, and many of the lyrics are taken from various literary sources. Most of the lyrics are included in the liner.

The first track, BENEDICTION, is a nice acapella tune, slow and quiet, sung by Ian Read.

Track two, BLESSING, is a similar a capella piece sung by Freya Aeswynn.

NORTH is also sung by Freya Aeswynn, though this time she’s accompanied by a simple strummed guitar.

The fourth track,BLACK SUN BLOODY MOON, features the first vocal appearance of David Tibet on this album. Simple strummed guitar with Tibet’s vocals.

OH COAL BLACK SMITH has always been one of my favorite songs, and while this version isn’t as cool or intense as the version on Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God,it’s still a lovely piece. Vocals by Tibet, strummed guitar by Douglas P., and backing vocals from Rose McDowall. The song is credited as “English traditional,” and I’m told that it has a more common title of “The Two Magicians.” The piece ends with a short lecture from Boyd Rice about the history of the human race, fading into Tibet speaking the last lines of the song.

Track six, PANZER RUNE, contains more vocals from Freya Aeswynn, accompanied by drums and industrial-sounding background noise (Panzer tanks, perhaps?). There’s a strange operatic loop that fades in early in the song, and is later joined by some dramatic orchestral melodies. As I’m not really a fan of Freya, this piece doesn’t hold much interest for me. However, it does end with a nice (though brief) verse from Tibet.

BLACK FLOWERS PLEASE begins with an a capella melody sung by Rose McDowall, and soon is joined by Tibet’s sinister vocals and a music box. The second part ofthe song is an intense folk-style song sung solely by Tibet.

This time, Freya’s spoken vocals open THE FINAL CHURCH, though the rest of the song is sung by Tibet, with backing vocals by John Balance. It’s nice,slow folk song with a rather pleasant melody.

Somewhat suprising, to me, is this cover of the Blue Oyster Cult song THE SUMMER OF LOVE. I haven’t heard the original, so I can’t comment on it’s faithfulness. It’s another folk song with Tibet on lead vocals and Rose backing.

The tenth track, (HEY HO) THE GODDY (OH), features some lovely vocals from Rose (with backing vocals from Freya), accompanied by a music box and spooky background noises. In some ways, this piece is a continuation of BLACK FLOWERS PLEASE, especially when Tibet joins in with his menacing voice. Musically and lyrically, it’s a pretty sinister song.

BEAUSOLEIL is Tibet’s Charles Manson epic, focusing on Bobby Beausoleil. It’s another fast-paced folk song, slightly silly, and bordering on hippy-ish (though maybe that’s the point of it). Boyd Rice breaks in every so often with some spoken vocals.

Track twelve, SCARLET WOMAN, seems to me a little pointless; it’s simply two lines repeated over and over (by Freya?) for about a minute.

Always a favorite, THE STAIR SONG is short, silly, and very very evil.  Love this piece.

ANGEL (listed in the liner notes as HELLO ANGEL) is another great tune, featuring wonderful vocals and guitar by Douglas P. It’s kind of sweet, and kind of menacing at the same time.

A lecture from Boyd Rice opens SINCE YESTERDAY, but the rest of the piece is a cover of a Strawberry Switchblade song (Rose McDowall’s earlier band), sung by Tibet. It’s a little bit simple, but pleasant.

Honestly, I don’t really get the point of VALEDICTION.  It’s simply Tibet hissing unintelligable words.

And finally, MALEDICTION reprises the opening track. It’s still a capella, but there are several layers of vocals mixed together. Very nice ending.

No epilogue.