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power in the darkness (demo)
composer
Words and music: Simple Minds
publisher
© 1989 Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd
background
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"One more song left out was called The Power And The Darkness. It had a great backing track but I could never get
a continued feel on it." - Jim - Street Fighting Years book.
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It started off as a piano driven instrumental brimming with ideas and riffs, Power In The Darkness was one of the
quieter demos from the first reel of the Street Fighting Years library
in the Virgin archive. One of the key motifs of the song - the chorus - is clearly the prototype of
what would become Wall Of Love.
Very much in the style of
the Street Fighting Years material, Instrumental Demo #1 features
Charlie,
Mick and
John and
Mel. The track does have a discernable
verse-chorus structure and is classic Simple Minds. However, it is not a good recording, and
suffers from distortion and lack of clarity.
By the time Monitor Mix #1 is recorded, the song has clearly moved on and moved away from
Wall Of Love (which was also now being recorded separately). It includes
well defined verse, chorus and middle-eight, along with lyrics. However, the coda and end of the song still needs work
and it ends hesitantly. At this stage, the melody and some of the lyrics point to it eventually becoming
Song For The Tribes.
Monitor Mix #2 is of the same quality, but is more tightly edited, and is missing the intro and middle-eight.
The lyrics have been also rearranged and changed. This version also lacks the meandering edit, by coming to a quick
and dramatic end.
Monitor Mix #3 builds on Monitor Mix #2. It has the same arrangement, but the instrumentation
has moved on significantly and there are further slight changes in the lyrics (with more material being brought back from
Monitor Mix #1.) It still comes to a quick end but it's a
much better version. As it's a monitor mix then certain elements are exaggerated
(John is given precedence) so the bass is high.
(The original tape has marked this as an edit, but it's a different mix, and Monitor #2 Mix is
probably the edit.)
Monitor Mix #4 still builds on previous mixes. The arrangement of the song has changed slightly, but the
biggest difference is the lyrics, where Jim has removed the more rushed lines
in the choruses. This leaves the song feeling rather sparse and empty in places. It starts to fade near the end before
coming to a chaotic finish.
Monitor Mix #5 Instrumental was recorded several months later. Now just an instrumental, this
version could've been the backing track for the Street Fighting Years album.
It retains its verse-chorus structures but there's now a middle-8 featuring a solo from
Charlie. The bass is slightly too high in the mix. It fades out
at the end.
Despite working on the song throughout the Street Fighting Years album sessions, it
was eventually shelved and put in the library. It remained forgotten for almost a decade until, lacking enough material for
Neapolis, Jim and Charlie
returned to the song. It was stripped down to the bones, reshaped in a softer acoustic form, graced with new lyrics and finally
released as Song For The Tribes. Apart from the melody, the only echo from its previous guise
was a lone lyric: "Feel real power in the darkness".
see also:
Wall Of Love (Demo)
Wall Of Love
Song For The Tribes
lyrics
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Monitor Mix #1
Power in the darkness
A special love that comes crashing in from above and escapes from me.
You never know just what this world might bring,
Dragging into night, I wanna scream and fight - I believe in something.
Bed's so hard to lie on, it's so sweet to die on too.
If there's one special love comes crashing in from way above and escapes from me.
Sweet, sweet power in the darkness,
The more I see, the more I sense.
This sweet, sweet power in the darkness,
I can't stop to hang around.
You walk alone and you look for home,
By the way, that's home.
Your bed so hard to lie on, so sweet to die on too.
If there's one special love that crashing in from way above and breaks away from me.
Sweet shine of life, shine through the mirror and wait until hope comes through,
Through the sunshine and through the lifetime I've never known 'til your dreams come through,
And if ever I should stumble, I should fall, I'll stumble into you,
I see you in the doorway and I call out, and I call to you.
Sweet, sweet power in the darkness,
The more I see the more I sense,
I feel the sweet power in the darkness,
I can't stop to hang around.
Power in the darkness, sweet shine of life, shine through the mirror and the whole race through.
Pull me through the sunshine, pull me through the lifetime I've never known I should call for you.
Let's talk about power in the darkness, never hold you through,
You send my senses reeling, I'm all mixed up, and feeling lost for you,
I'm caught between the madness and the sadness - and still I look for you,
You tell me there is heaven, but I know that it's hell outside of you,
I can feel it, I can feel it, and the hope comes through.
And I feel it every hour and the hope comes through.
You got me on the move. You got me on the move.
I go from east to west, until the love comes through.
You're summer when I'm springtime will I ever be at peacetime - all for you?
Power in the darkness.
Monitor Mix #2
Ohhh.... OK
If there is one special love that comes crashing in from way above and away from me.
You never know just what this world might bring,
Drag me into night, I wanna scream and fight - I believe in something.
Your bed's so hard to lie on, too sweet to die on too - oh, I love you.
If there's one special love that comes crashing in from above and breaks away from me.
Power in the darkness, sweet shine of life, shine into the mirror and night and the whole comes through.
Pull me up into sunshine, and into the light and come on - to the holy view.
You're never home but where is home?
Drag me into light, I want to scream and fight - I believe in somethings.
This bed is hard to lie on, so sweet to die on too - I love you.
If there's one special love that comes in from far above and breaks away from me.
Power in the darkness, sweet shine of life, shine through the mirror and night and the whole comes through.
Pull me through to sunshine, pull me into lifetime, and ever rushing forth - come away from you.
And ever I should tumble, I should fall and I should crumble, all unto you.
I see you in the doorway and I shout out, and I say "All for you."
I feel...
I feel this power in the darkness,
The more I see the more I sense.
Sweet, sweet power in the darkness,
I can't stop, I can't hang around.
I've got power in the darkness, shine of life, shine into the mirror until the whole comes through.
I've got power in the darkness, shine of life, shine into the mirror until the whole comes through.
And ever I should fall and tumble, ever I should call for you.
You send my senses reeling, and you've got me, I'm all mixed up, and feeling lost for you.
And then I'm caught between the madness and the sadness - until I search.
Monitor Mix #3
If there is one special love that comes in from above and escapes from me.
You never know just what this world might bring,
Drag me into night, I wanna scream and fight - I believe in something.
Your bed's so hard to lie on, so sweet to die on too - all for you.
If there's one special love that comes crashing in from above and takes a hold on me.
Power in the darkness, sweet shine of life, shine into the mirror and night and the dreams comes through.
Pull me up into sunshine, and into the light times - and that's all for you.
You walk alone and you search for home - but where is home?
Your bed's so hard to lie on, so sweet to die on too.
If there's one special love that comes in from above.
Power in the darkness, sweet shine of life, shine through the mirror and night and the dreams comes through.
Pull me through to sunshine, into lifetime, and the whole of you.
And ever I should tumble I should stumble into you.
I see you in the doorway and I call out, and I say to you.
Sweet, sweet power in the darkness,
The more I see the more I can sense.
Sweet, sweet power in the darkness,
I just don't want to wait or hang around.
I don't want to hang around.
I can't hang around.
I've got power in the darkness, shine of life, shine into the mirror until the whole comes through.
Pull me through to sunshine, into lifetime, until the whole comes through.
And ever I should fall and stumble, and if I fall, I tumble into you.
I've got my senses reeling, I'm all mixed up, and feeling lost to you.
And then I'm caught between the madness and the sadness - I'm lost to you.
You tell me there is heaven, but I know that it's hell inside of you,
You've got me on the move.
You've got me on the move.
You've got me - you've got me on the move.
I go from east to west, until the love comes through.
And I feel it every hour and the power and the hope comes through.
You're summer when I'm springtime will I ever be at peacetime - I'm going to sing it.
And I'm knock, knock, knocking...
Monitor Mix #4
You never know what this world might bring,
Grab me into night, I wanna scream and fight - I believe in something.
Your bed's so hard to lie on, so sweet to die on too.
If there is one special love that comes in from above and takes a hold on me.
You walk alone and you search for home - but where is home?
Well your bed's so hard to lie on, it's so sweet to die on too - all for you.
If there's one special love that comes in from above and takes a hold me.
Pull me through to sunshine, into middle light, and the whole of you.
And ever I should tumble, if I should fall into you.
I see you in the doorway and I know I'm going to call for you.
Sweet, sweet power in the darkness,
The more I can feel it more I can sense.
Sweet, sweet power in the darkness,
I just don't want to hang around.
Pull me up through to sunshine, into middle light.
And ever I should fall or stumble, ever I should tumble into you.
I can see you in the doorway and I know I'm going to call for you.
You've got my senses reeling, got me all mixed up, and feeling lost for you.
You tell me this is heaven, but I know that it's all hell inside of you.
I feel the power in the darkness in the hour - I'm going to fall right through.
You've got me on the move.
You've got me on the move.
I've got summer when I'm springtime will I ever be at peacetime - all for you.
I go from east to west, until the love comes through.
You've got me thinking of love - all for you.
I can feel it every hour - all for you.
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demo discography
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