104 Popular Culture Review
struggle , turning away from the church , denial of transcendence .] ( 64 )
We can use Eykmann ’ s statement about Trakl to characterize many German and Austrian Gothic bands ’ position towards religion . Their lyrics are full of religious vocabulary as a sign of protest against the more and more rationalist and technology-oriented march of human society where “ the heart ” and “ the soul ” ( Stueve ) are lost . At the same time , we find sharp criticism of the spiritual emptiness , the dogmatism and the abusive paternal authority of the church .
As we have seen , Georg Trakl launched his first attack on the church in his poem “ Die tote Kirche .” In its musical interpretation , L ’ ame Immortelle provocatively tries to highlight the poem ’ s relevance to life in Vienna around the turn of the millennium . As in “ Nachtlied ,” the music is only a vehicle of delivery for the lyrics . It lacks development ; is static because it does not matter . What matters is the text . Although in the broadest sense , one could dance to this music , it seems to be much more important to listen to the words .
The song begins with a dark-colored string instrument that repeats the same tone throughout most of the song ( ostinato ). The first two lines are spoken softly . The next line is louder and the word “ verhangt ” ( concealed ) is spoken with special emphasis . The following line marks the first major change in the song . Rainer ’ s voice becomes unstable and scratchy and a new melody is added to the song . The instrument begins with one note , then repeats a pattern of three notes through most of the song beginning with : “ Und triib und wie verhangt das Wundenhaupt ” ( And gloomy and covered is the head full of wounds ) until “ Vor schlechten Betem mit erstarrten Herzen ” ( In front of poorly praying people with rigid hearts ). The second major change in the song begins with the following line . All instruments stop except for the drums and Rainer ’ s voice is pitched to give this line of the song the most emphasis thus far : “ In seelenlosem Spiel mit Brot und Wein ” ( In a soulless play with bread and wine ). Before the line “ Hullt sich in Dunkelheit , und die Verzweiflung ” ( Covers itself in darkness , and despair ), the string instruments join in again . The word “ Verzweiflung ” is sung more than spoken , in contrast to the rest of Rainer ’ s vocal work on this song . Later a new melody played by one of the string instruments is added in the background ; it repeats until the song ends .
The vocal delivery is very guttural making the music sound demonic : “ Das Todesgrauen wuchs ” ( The fear of death grew ) is repeated twice , then the words “ Erbarme dich unser ” ( Have mercy on us ) are spoken once , before “ Erbarme dich unser — Herr !” ( Have mercy on us — Lord !) is screamed three times . The words are then repeated with satanic laughter . There is a short pause ; the words “ Die tote Kirche lebt ” ( The dead church is alive ) are then repeated twice , once again ending in the devil ’ s laughter : “ Das Todesgrauen wuchs : Erbarme dich unser — Herr !” ( The fear of death grew : Have mercy on us — Lord !). The song continues with all of the instruments playing their familiar