Now while some of these song were not written by GBS they are in my mind GBS songs, so just roll with it.
French Perfume works as dark for me! Ghosts, criminals and suicide are just kinda downbeat subjects I think.
Many GBS tunes sound upbeat but have darker underpinnings.
Lukey's Boat is so tongue in cheek and has such an upbeat sounding tune it is hard to remember it's very much about about some poor man's piece of s*&t boat, his inability to feed himself and his indifference to the death of his wife.
Unrequited Musician's lust is the core of Margarita.
From Haven't Seen you in a Long time comes for me the creepiest line in any song they do... Can you feel me, when he's making love to you?
It smacks of envy, obsession and a stalking mentality that sets me on edge.
Recruiting Sargent about the death of 500 Newfoundland lads in one of the more ill fated military campaigns you can think of.
Widow in the Widow again is very much about obsession , firstly of the widow who can't let go, but also of the protagonist, who wishes to change the widows outlook but does not accept that that it is not within his power, and darkest of all... when the background singers go
FLOwowowowoERS, FLOWOWOWOWERS FLOWOWOWOWOWOheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeERS!
Creeps me right the f*&k out! I am ready to shoot myself every time I hear it!
Some people see a dark side when they learn Ferryland Sealer is about, well, not surprisingly, Sealing, "with our bats in our hands, it was early for to go!"
and as mentioned above, Fisherman's lament, Process Man and Nothing out of Nothing paint a bleak picture.
What keeps the darkness from overwhelming even these dark tune is the positive energy, and underlying positive attitude the band brings to the music. It often obscures the depth of the negative content. Now if you want negative energy from your Celtic influenced POP music, get a couple of Pouges albums!
Whack Fall The Day
Nick