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I’ve just returned from seeing No End In Sight, yet another documentary detailing the gross incompetence that lead us into the Iraq War, so it seems fitting that we should now be talking about an emblematic battle of the first military quagmire of the last century. That would be Passchendaele, which also happens to be the title of today’s feature on Required Listening, by GoodBooks.
Who are GoodBooks?
GoodBooks are four friends from school who love making music together and who have done so for as long as they can remember.
Why do you create?
We create simply because we have creative energy, because we always have. Music is a great way to show how you see the world we all live in, how the colours, the sounds and the experiences seem through your eyes. The need to set this personal view of the world down is I think the essence of creative energy.
Passchendaele begins by telling the story of a young Englishman through the personal moments of his life, up until his death at Passchendaele - a battle of the First World War which resulted in nearly 750,000 casualties. You create an intimacy with your protagonist, and then reveal that his death was just one of hundreds of thousands during this three-month quagmire of war. What is the message of that tonal transition?
I think it’s just an observation of a certain facet of human nature. The point of the song is that after each of the two major conflicts of the last century, people resolved to fight no more, and to make constructive efforts towards a more peaceful world - the UN being one physical embodiment of that intent. And with the passing of time, the inability to resolve disagreement without violence inevitably resurges. And perhaps that will continue forever; for all our big words of peace, we can’t change human nature, and there will always be a part of our race that becomes violent.
If I sound knowledgeable about the great battles of World War I, it’s only because I’m paraphrasing Wikipedia. How did you learn of Passchendaele, and what inspired you to write a song about it?
I’m not going to lie, I spent a lot of time on google the day I wrote the song; the word Passchendaele had been going round my head for a few weeks - I think I’d seen it on a documentary, but the choice of the battle was irrelevant for me - I was just looking for one with three syllables to fit with this chorus. The chorus was pretty much finished by the time I settled on Passchendaele - this beautiful word with such a terrible meaning.
The pictures on your MySpace page are excellent - I especially like Johanna Reubel’s beautiful umbrella shot. In addition to your sound, you’re also conscious of your image. How significant is the visual aspect of Rock ‘n Roll for GoodBooks?
I think the visual aspect of any band is extremely important. I suspect that more people judge you on how you look than how you sound, which is a shame, but maybe an inevitable reality. But I’m not sure how much we identify with “Rock ‘n Roll” per se; people use that term for a seemingly random set of ideals. Some of these fit with us, some don’t. So if there’s one thing that we want to put across in our photos or image or whatever, it’s that we don’t necessarily stick to a pre-defined template. We didn’t want to just do the traditional band shots where you jump in the air or something.
Thanks to GoodBooks for sharing Passchendaele here on Required Listening.
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