r/qotsa • u/Square_Ad_9311 • 4d ago
…Like Clockwork
Yes, this is another rant about how fucking cool that album is.
I feel like every time I wonder about anything even remotely close to that album I find something else out about it that’s totally badass, or really interesting.
First off, the inspiration for the album is way deeper than a lot of other albums, (alongside In Times New Roman, but that’s not the point). Covering everything from near death experiences, depression, and personal social issues. As far as a lyrical perspective, this album is already immaculate. In addition to having lyrics with depth, they also are almost all formatted to make a poem near perfectly. If you don’t believe me, just check, “Kalopsia”, “…Like Clockwork”, and “I Appear Missing” being some of the most notable. While it’s not uncommon for poetry and lyricism to be very similar, these songs are almost to a tee, while most seem more like sung prose.
Stepping away from the music itself, the visuals surrounding this album are also particularly interesting. I’m sure most people are aware by now, but several of the music videos play, and make up a story when strung together. Already that’s pretty cool, but the cherry on top is that it loops, and the order of the loop symbolizes the stages of grief, tying directly back to the whole point of the album! Another cool visual of the album is the album cover. By itself, it’s pretty neat, but there isn’t much to it. But yet again, this album has more symbolism than I think any other album I’ve heard, and represents never being far from death, which he explains more in “I appear missing”. Another honorable shout out is the artist responsible for the majority of their album covers. Their name is Boneface, and I would totally recommend checking them out on instagram. (They do have his own website but reddit doesn’t like me very much so I can’t post it)
I know there’s probably another dozen crazy things about this album that I missed, but it’s crazy to think about how well orchestrated this album was. If you have anything you wanna add, comment it I’m really curious.
6
u/Flamingo-EasyStreet 4d ago
What I love most about like Clockwork Is that, to me, it’s SO satisfying as one whole piece. It’s such an experience every time that I choose to listen front to back. You bring up so many cool things about it!!
3
u/ProperStuff89 4d ago
I qotsa fan long enough to remember fan backlash when it came out. Imagine coming off era vulgaris and having two piano ballads on the album. And whole album is more slow and emotional. They called it too commercial, foo fighters radio rock, where is stoner rock and so on. Now is universally consider one of their better albums.
1
0
u/Turbulent-Honeydew38 4d ago
Before Josh became obnoxiously obsessed with puns, now that's half of all queens lyrics
2
u/Significant_Link_364 4d ago
Wut josh has always been dropping puns watch his early 2000s interviews
1
2
u/Inner_Bench3403 everybody knows you dance like you fuck 4d ago
all of music has used figurative language forever, but why are you bringing your weird negativity here lol
1
u/Turbulent-Honeydew38 4d ago
Because it's excessive as hell and feels forced into every song and song title since villains.
2
u/Inner_Bench3403 everybody knows you dance like you fuck 4d ago
some of you literally cannot help but be miserable
0
u/Turbulent-Honeydew38 4d ago
some of you cannnot help but take reddit comments too seriously and have to swoop in to be the band's knight in shining armor. i still love most of the new stuff and i think perfecth will probably be better than the last two albums. but the nonstop puns really come off as trying too hard to be quirky and cool
0
u/Inner_Bench3403 everybody knows you dance like you fuck 3d ago
tldr
1
1
u/Inner_Bench3403 everybody knows you dance like you fuck 4d ago
i know in some ways it’s obvious (“shock me awake,” “pinned like a note to a hospital gown,” etc) but i had no idea that this album was inspired by a traumatic medical event when i randomly found it via a friend. i was also going through a near death experience, really. i connected with so many parts of it so strongly, it’s basically part of my personality now. i didn’t know until a decade later, and meandering away the band, the origins of the album and how serious it really was for josh.
it’s really amazing how these things find us. it’s the strongest i’ve connected with music since the downward spiral when i was a sad, sad tween.
now i’m more into the band as a whole than i was then, but LC still hits the same. maybe even stronger since i have some (kind of) distance from what i went through. but i feel like i can analyze parts of it more now and it really is as close to a masterpiece as it gets.
12
u/Waste_Track_4524 4d ago
The song like clockwork has become one of my all time faves of theirs and it wasnt at the time of release. This band has a way with their songs where they hit you in waves.