Bauhaus Index

The Happiest Day, The Happiest Hour

The happiest day - the happiest hour
My seared and blighted heart hath known,
The highest hope of pride and power,
I feel hath flown.

Of Power! said I? yes! such a ween;
But they have vanish'd long, alas!
The visions of my youth have been -
But let them pass.

And, pride, what have I now with thee?
Another brow may even inherit
The venom thou hast pour'd on me -
Be still, my spirit!

The happiest day - the happiest hour
Mine eyes shall see - have ever seen,
The brightest glance of pride and power,
I feel - have been:

But were that hope of pride and power
Now offer'd with the pain
Even then I felt - that brightest hour
I would not live again:

For on its wing was dark alloy,
And as it flutter'd - fell
An essence - powerful to destroy
A soul that knew it well.

Edgar Allan Poe

But despite the make-up and mock camp elements, plus the fact that they do a scorching version of 'Telegram Sam', Bauhaus strongly refute any affiliations with glam. They stress the importance of change and not getting put into any one category; in fact they chop and change so alarmingly that just as they take you up, they let go and send you plummeting into the depths of a moody reflection such as 'Spy in the Cab'.

One thing about Bauhaus which has perplexed me since the outset, is their apparent temperamentality and the demands they place on the audience, I've known Pete to insult an audience beyond belief and literally attack them. One horrific night at the Rock Garden he single-handedly took on the entire front row of the crowd.

The look in his eyes was nothing short of insanity.

His brow furrows deeply as he answers "When that happens, it's on a one-two-one level with someone who is maybe throwing a challenge - who maybe is aggravating me, purposely."

In Bristol recently he was set upon by some of the audience after one of his mock attacks went slightly awry.

Why do you refuse to play encores? "Well, if we were to play an encore everytime the audience wanted it, it would be really uninteresting and predictable. it can be anti-climatic."

Kevin adds "The encores should be up to the band, not up to the audience. At some gigs, you just get no feedback. And with that, amid a flurry of wind and rustling leaves, they were off into the dusk, no more than shadows under the terracotta arches. In search of one more way to approach life from underneath the rails."

GILL SMITH - MELODY MAKER, 15th November 1980

Now that your appetite has been wetted, you'll find more info on this truly wonderful band at http://www.bauhausmusik.com/. . . . Enjoy!!

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