Long Gone - The Firelight Opera - a Playlist by musicto

Music to Navigate A Life

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Now, before I go off on one - in my inimitable and fawningly effervescent style - please do yourself a favour.

Find this song - COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN

By this band - THE FIRELIGHT OPERA

Listen in reverence… Thank me later!

Ok, that’s yet another total classic (rock) track in my desert island discs collection. It’s a masterpiece, a real tour de force. And yet, due to SOD’S LAW, the lyrics of that song don’t quite fit the theme of this ‘NAVIGATING A LIFE’ blog. But hang on to your hallelujahs, because some cosmic benevolence has steered me towards their latest song LONG GONE, and this time the lyrics are perfect.

The rest, as they say, is history. Well, not history exactly - just a few paragraphs of prattle that you can read below… unless of course, you’re already BORED OUT OF YOUR TINY LITTLE TREE.

Whereas COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN leans towards slightly more complex musical maneuvers, and perhaps even the cinematic scope of an actual Led Zeppelin song, LONG GONE seems to be a more straightforward proposition, more visceral, more basic, more rock and roll. However, the production on both is really top-notch. Sound-wise, the songs shimmer with the sort of polish you’d generally associate with popular U.S. outfits like THE GOO GOO DOLLS, FOO FIGHTERS, and AUDIOSLAVE.

Now, one unusual and defining aspect of this band is that they sport no designated frontman as such. Instead, they have four (yes four) vocalists, all of whom can comfortably slip into lead singer mode at the drop of a hat or the crash of a cymbal. I haven’t a clue who’s singing on this track tbh, but they’re bloody good at it.

So, why this song for the playlist then? Well, it’s about that person, that lover, that angel, that saviour who gets you through the lowest period of your life. Who sees you through it all. To the sunshine and the sandcastles. It must have been difficult for them. God knows it was hard for you. But they had two lives to look out for. You only had one. You were a child. They were your parent-partner. They were incredible, indispensable, they were your miracle pill. And now you can’t live without them. And that’s good because now you truly know how far they’re prepared to go for you.

And I hope you do forgive me
I could not see the pain I was causing you
Despite that you saved me
And I hope you know what you mean to me
I just can't make it on my own

Hey, how did they pick that band name?

Well, many moons ago, some pesky Viking hordes developed a really annoying habit of raping and raiding Britain’s exotic east coast (that’s where this band are based by the way). At the end of each hard day’s pillaging they were then wont to settle down (that’s the Vikings, not the band), to sing songs together in the warming glow of a large and lovely campfire. A hell of a lot later, some Italian’s went and randomly invented a form of musical torture that some call Opera. Subsequent legend has it that the boys of this wild and bloodthirsty menagerie The Firelight Opera liked nothing better than to spend some summery Sunderland evenings sitting around their own little campfire, singing sad songs of hope and… yes! Opera.

Cur non isti dictum ex occasione?

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