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BARONS OF DARKNESS/HOLD ON TO THE DREAM - Hello! - Steve Watts here...

(C) Hill/Watts (1991)

There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're going
Or which way the wind is blowing
Is it raining? Is it snowing
Is a hurricane a-blowing
Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Oh, the fires of hell are glowing
Is the grisly reaper mowing
Yes! The danger must be growing
For the rowers keep on rowing
And they're certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing!
STOP THE BOAT!

Willy Wonka (1971)

I don't know about you, but being a child of the 1970's, I far prefer the 1971 version of Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to Tim Burtons re-make. For a start it doesn't have Gene Wilders intense goggle-eyed Willy Wonka in it, and the "Oompa Loompa's" just aren't right.

Also missing is this famous quote:

"We are the music makers...and we are the dreamers of dreams"

Such a quote reminds us of the things we learn to miss as an adult that we took for granted as a child. No matter how romantic that may appear in todays' cynical new millennium, very often we go through stages in our adult life yearning for a golden age where it seemed possible to live the dream. Artists and musicians often use this notion not just for inspiration, but also as a pertinent excuse to remain in a state of childhood or permanent adolescence. Roald Dahl managed to tap into this twilight world of dreams and nightmares. He understood the world from a child's point of view -- he held onto the dream.

I think it's become increasingly difficult for us to do that these days. We live in a culture that expects children to become and think like adults at an ever earlier age, bombarded by media icons and material that forty-years ago would have appeared excessive even in the adolescent-driven swinging 1960's.

Or maybe (unlike Peter Pan) I'm just getting old?

Roald Dahl stories always put children and their dreams first, no matter how much adversity (usually in the form of bitter adults who have lost it), tries to prevent their dreams from becoming a reality (usually in the form of bitter adults who have lost it)... chips with that shoulder anyone? The adults who are the good guys, always appear to be holding on to their childhood dreams, helping to create a world where adult and child are equal and happy, and dreams really can and do come true.

Most Demon albums hold on themselves to this egalitarian quality in the form of hope: a hope for the end of a Conservative dystopian future ("The Plague"); the hope of a positive outcome of human evolution ("British Standard Approved"...regardless of our desire for a first-class ticket). "Breakout's" original concept was based around "Peter Pan", J. M. Barrie's story of an eternal child who refuses to grow up, and then of course there's the personal, political and social hope prevalent in "Hold On To The Dream", "Heart Of Our Time" and "Taking The World By Storm"

I think joining a band at a young age is a similar process for most of us. You start full of dreamy hope...you end up wishing for one of those first-class tickets; or at best...learning to live with the chip.

Still, while the rosy-glow lasts it's a wonderful thing, but beware... your dreams can create all kinds of tensions between you and your creative partners, especially if their perspective comes from the vantage point of a different generation. The meaning of the dream changes depending on your point of view. Collaborations of this kind can often work, the tension and creative differences bouncing around in a competitively productive way, but very often it leads to creative and personal differences that ultimately lead to meltdown.

The Demon song "Barons of Darkness" is a good example of these creative tensions working at their best (or worst depending on your point of view). The compositional arrangement of the song is very similar to "Remembrance Day", it's also very similar thematically in that both songs are about war, but where Remembrance Day is hopefully optimistic ("A Song For Peace"), Barons (originally titled "Columbia") is much darker and cynical.

It opens in similar style with a romantic introduction to represent the notion of child-like innocence, but this is soon smashed by a cycle of crushing guitar riffs and rapidly shifting time-changes that unbalance both track and listener.

Follow the rest of this blog from Steve Watts on the-demon.com Forum!

http://the-demon.com/index.cfm?sidoID=540

and follow the link: HARD TIMES FOR DREAMERS

STEVE BROOKS: Guitar
SCOTT CRAWFORD: Drums
ANDY DALE: Backing vocals
DAVE HILL: Vocals
KEITH MULHOLLAND: Bass Guitar
JOHN WATERHOUSE: Guitar: Backing Vocals
STEVE WATTS: Synthesizers and Keyboards