I was listening to all of Barbara Morgenstern’s albums chronologically today (she’s fantastic), and as usual when Night-Time Falls started, I paid extra attention, because I just can’t believe those lyrics.
I mean, Morgenstern usually does a mix of earnestness and bizarre, almost psychedelic dead-pan humour in her lyrics — constant shifts between reality and fantasy — but this is just… even more so.
So once again I googled for what the lyrics actually are, in case I’m mishearing, and once again, nobody has transcribed them. So now I’m going to. You can listen to the song and read along:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UohkywMfVE
Night-Time Falls
I was in a club
In Marseilles (?)
And I spent the night
With a promoter
He looked like me
‘K (?), but better
In the morning
My bad conscience raised
And I wanted to go back home
And be with you
There’s no lies between us
Night-time falls upon my brain
Makes up the secret of my days
Subconscious calls from an inner place
And reveals (?) my secret spaces
I decided
To escape from
The dilemma
I was trapped in
So I mixed an
Overdose drink
Gave it to you
You died
And everyone was full of grief
And my tears melted into relief
Night-time falls upon my brain
Makes up the secret of my days
Subconscious calls from an inner place
And reveals (?) my secret spaces
Mmmm
So — she sleeps with a guy, but feels it’s too embarassing to tell her partner about it. So she kills him, and is relieved. Happy ending!
But what did I find on the Internet? This article from 2012:
The lyrics don’t get much deeper than the song titles imply.
[…]
“Spring Time” is about spring time.
“Night-Time Falls” is about wanting to go home at night.
How… how is that even possible. Didn’t this complete moron even listen to the song before writing this reviews? I AM OUTRAGE
For an artist who released seven records I have to assume there’s someone out there who is going to buy this and perhaps more importantly, inadvertently encourage Barbara to make another one. I tried far too many times over repeated agonizing listens to find something to appreciate here and I have to say that with complete honesty there is only one positive thing I can write about this record. Like the song titles relative to their content, the title of the record is equally literal. You knew this was coming. By the time you reach the end of these 13 tracks… [Dramatic Pause] The silence is sweet, indeed.
Rating: 1
There’s opinions and there’s opinions, but then there’s this article. It seems to reach an entire new level of villainy and idiocy, don’t you think?
(Morgenstern’s subsequent album had German lyrics, presumably to avoid the ignominy of having to suffer reviews like this.)
But I’ve now done my duty and pointed out that somebody on the Internet was wrong. You’re welcome. And here’s some more songs by Barbara Morgenstern:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akiIlzLVkYE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKmocsYHpKk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MvfOj_sLMU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDMT1Roms3U