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Echo & the Bunnymen — The Killing Moon
Album: Songs To Learn And Sing
Avg rating:
7.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 3498









Released: 1985
Length: 5:38
Plays (last 30 days): 1
Under blue moon I saw you
So soon you'll take me
Up in your arms
Too late to beg you or cancel it
Though I know it must be the killing time
Unwillingly mine

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

In starlit nights I saw you
So cruelly you kissed me
Your lips a magic world
Your sky all hung with jewels
The killing moon
Will come too soon

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

Under blue moon I saw you
So soon you'll take me
Up in your arms
Too late to beg you or cancel it
Though I know it must be the killing time
Unwillingly mine

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him
You give yourself to him

La la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la
La la la la la

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him
You give yourself to him

La la
La la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la la la la

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

La la la la la
La la la la
La la la la la
La la la
Comments (330)add comment
Such a great track and still sounds good upon every listen.✌️
 AhhtheMusic wrote:

I always loved this "tune", but listening to it closely, it is really disgusting.  Along with the dark sound (which I always liked) the words are 

Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

That is not cool.  I have removed this from one of my favorites to "hate".  Its creepy and disturbing.






So I guess "Under My Thumb" is on your naughty list too.
 AhhtheMusic wrote:

I always loved this "tune", but listening to it closely, it is really disgusting.  Along with the dark sound (which I always liked) the words are 

Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

That is not cool.  I have removed this from one of my favorites to "hate".  Its creepy and disturbing.





I think you are too precious and fragile.
There is far worse written.
 AhhtheMusic wrote:

I always loved this "tune", but listening to it closely, it is really disgusting.  Along with the dark sound (which I always liked) the words are 

Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

That is not cool.  I have removed this from one of my favorites to "hate".  Its creepy and disturbing.





I think may be reading it too literally. The songwriter says its about pre-destiny and everything in life. The "he" in this song is probably more representative of God than a man.
I always loved this "tune", but listening to it closely, it is really disgusting.  Along with the dark sound (which I always liked) the words are 

Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

That is not cool.  I have removed this from one of my favorites to "hate".  Its creepy and disturbing.




I'm always very excited when I hear the intro, but once the singer starts I lose interest. This song has a really fantastic sound, but the vocal melody just isn't for me. It's a line that walks back and forth, with a lot of emphasis but never treading any new ground, a bit like it was a prisoner in a cell.

It makes me feel desolate, which a lot of music manages, but also repressed, so there's none of the joy or satisfaction you usally get out of it with other songs. (Maybe that was actually the intention?)

In the solo break in the middle, I can imagine a little bit what the song could have been.
 GoodKarm wrote:


I've walked into a cool surf shop in Hawaii, had RP in the air... and a little treasure shop on Salt Spring Island BC also playing it there.   I want to hear beloved RADIOPARADISE everywhere!!!    Love From Ottawa...   123K  (must admit, I rated this one particular song Sucko Barfo though... a rare move on my part... sorry bunnymen!)
 
Yay for Ottawa. It's where I discovered RP, before moving to the U S of A a few years ago, literally a couple hour's drive from Paradise, CA. I gave this one a 7 since I remember it when it came out and have liked it ever since, though it still sounds a bit over-wrought, but nothing like Hunger Strike that just got played next, ooof. PSE...
cool
This is nice and everything, but what the world needs right now is a nice, old-fashion The Smiths singalong. 
Good,  but I like Pavement's version more,...
There was a game show in the 90s like pictionary, and the answer was Echo and the Bunnymen.  No one playing the game knew what that meant. They tried to draw it any way
I saw them earlier in 2019 at a very small venue in Detroit; great energy
 Fin85 wrote:
Just stumbled across radio paradise in an English country pub - awesome! ☺🍺☺ Echo & the Bunnymen takes me back... loving the blues/rock/world mix ☺☺
 

I've walked into a cool surf shop in Hawaii, had RP in the air... and a little treasure shop on Salt Spring Island BC also playing it there.   I want to hear beloved RADIOPARADISE everywhere!!!    Love From Ottawa...   123K  (must admit, I rated this one particular song Sucko Barfo though... a rare move on my part... sorry bunnymen!)
A rare triple-10 for me with this song.

The Cinematic Orchestra, To Build a Home
Simon & Garfunkel, Scarborough Fair
Echo & The Bunnymen, The Killing Moon

How I do love RP...
A profound Chicken~Skin Giver of a tune ; >
Your music mix makes my life better! 
used in Billions recently too - great tune.
Grosse Pointe Blank & Donnie Darko, two of my favorite movies!
Also on the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack   {#Smile}
Although I was in college when this came out, this song is now stuck in my mind as part of the Donnie Darko soundtrack.
One of the most original bands and sounds of their era, and among Liverpool’s finest. This song is cinematic and endlessly interesting. Even some of their more recent albums continue to be worthwhile. I particularly dig “Siberia.”
Nobody said there aren't bunnywomen too; this just isn't them.
 javelipix wrote:
Is it just me or is this Radiohead, the prequel?

 
It's just you.


 Brilliant  {#Clap}

ziggytrix wrote:
FEET. UP AGAINST YOUR WHEEL.


 


{#Bounce}{#Bounce}{#Bounce}
 kcar wrote:


{#Stop}

This is tableau noir perfection, dark dreams finding voice. Radiohead is mostly cross-eyed navel-gazing warble-angst. 
 
AHHHHH!    "Warble-angst"   {#Clap}  (E+Bm Super)
 On_The_Beach wrote:
I am outraged by the term Bunnymen.
Bunnypersons would be far less offensive.

 
Don't go down that rabbit hole!
FEET. UP AGAINST YOUR WHEEL.

 javelipix wrote:
Is it just me or is this Radiohead, the prequel?

 
For a start, this man has a VOICE. Not thinly pitiful moaning and squeaking like Yorke guy.
 javelipix wrote:
Is it just me or is this Radiohead, the prequel?

 

{#Stop}

This is tableau noir perfection, dark dreams finding voice. Radiohead is mostly cross-eyed navel-gazing warble-angst. 

{#Meditate} love da bunnies !
I am outraged by the term Bunnymen.
Bunnypersons would be far less offensive.
Love the Bunnies
Is it just me or is this Radiohead, the prequel?
not for everybody but I've loved this from the first moment hearing it (on WLIR back in the 80's   : )
this band mattered
Trippy as hell, wicked as sin; party with abandon till the whole shit-house goes up in flames, all right, all right, all right...
Still great live if you get a chance - GO - while you still can.
 fgraver wrote:
My favourite song when I was 17, and every time I hear it I feel 17 again.
 
Def one of my favs.....def brings me back to a time.... "what was her name again?..."
Where is Donnie?
the other lads from Liverpool
A rarity - 30+ years on - a song that actually gets better with age.
These guys are great.  They have put some good albums in this century also.
My favourite song when I was 17, and every time I hear it I feel 17 again.
Ha, my youth was cool, and I thought I was the coolest guy on earth. {#Laughing} {#Cheesygrin}
 oppositelock wrote:
Still a 10

 
Ha, I was going to say that but I already did.  ;)
Lost the damn CD a while back.  Need to buy another one. 
Still a 10
{#Crown}
   l wait until you'll take me.
 So you'll give yourself to me.
David R.I.P.
Cover reminds me of Olsen Gang
Olsen Gang (Danish movie characters)
and Material's compilation cover
Material - Secret Life 
Just stumbled across radio paradise in an English country pub - awesome! ☺🍺☺ Echo & the Bunnymen takes me back... loving the blues/rock/world mix ☺☺
 AndyJ wrote:
Some songs get overplayed when they first arrive. 

 
This song surely was NOT getting played anywhere on the airwaves in my vicinity 30 years ago, let alone "overplayed".

But we sure got a heavy dose of The Outfield & a-ha in the Midwest.
keep hearing REM Man on the moon in there
This pairs well with Woodkid.  Time to throw Bill & Rebecca some $'s.  {#Notworthy}
isn't that fredriley's Chesire cat smile on the album cover?  love this 
 fredriley wrote:

The singer's an awful pretentious ponce. Undoubtedly the lyrics have some gnomic I-know-not-what meaning that may be comprehensible to Buddhist monks living at the top of some isolated peak in the Himalayas - for a bit more info, see this article in the UK Guardian, in which Mr Modesty claims "I’ve always said that The Killing Moon is the greatest song ever written", a quote which got him a deserved mention in Private Eye's Pseuds Corner.

Best ignore the lyrics and yer man's ponceyness, and just enjoy the music. This song was a guaranteed floor-filler at alternative discos back in the 80s.

 
Oh, Fred, you're such a caution.
 melzabutch wrote:
Under Blue Moon


 


 rpdevotee wrote:
Can anyone explain the lyrics?  I have the basic gist, but don't think I quite grasp the full meaning.  When Ian says "him" in the refrain, is he referring to himself in the third person?   

 
The singer's an awful pretentious ponce. Undoubtedly the lyrics have some gnomic I-know-not-what meaning that may be comprehensible to Buddhist monks living at the top of some isolated peak in the Himalayas - for a bit more info, see this article in the UK Guardian, in which Mr Modesty claims "I’ve always said that The Killing Moon is the greatest song ever written", a quote which got him a deserved mention in Private Eye's Pseuds Corner.

Best ignore the lyrics and yer man's ponceyness, and just enjoy the music. This song was a guaranteed floor-filler at alternative discos back in the 80s.
 AndyJ wrote:
Some songs get overplayed when they first arrive. Years later it still seems this has been play 4 times this morning.

Maybe I can appreciate this in 5 more years...

This is not only song I have burn-out issues.  It's my problem, I'll deal with it.
 
This song always seemed overplayed to me...never cared for it In the first place :(
Most Excellent kcar!  Thanks for that!!!  (I'm a stodgy atheist who checks horoscopes and watches for ufo's and Joan of Arc level heroes, and also creates artwork on half-awake dreams : )
 rpdevotee wrote:
Can anyone explain the lyrics?  I have the basic gist, but don't think I quite grasp the full meaning.  When Ian says "him" in the refrain, is he referring to himself in the third person?   

 
Ian gives it a go:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Moon#Lyrics

According to the liner notes of Echo and the Bunnymen's Crystal Days box set, Ian McCulloch woke up one morning with the phrase "fate up against your will" in mind. In a 2015 interview McCulloch said: "I love (the song) all the more because I didn’t pore over it for days on end. One morning, I just sat bolt upright in bed with this line in my head: 'Fate up against your will. Through the thick and thin. He will wait until you give yourself to him.' You don’t dream things like that and remember them. That’s why I’ve always half credited the lyric to God. It’s never happened before or since". McCulloch attributed the use of astronomical imagery in the song to a childhood interest in space. 
Can anyone explain the lyrics?  I have the basic gist, but don't think I quite grasp the full meaning.  When Ian says "him" in the refrain, is he referring to himself in the third person?   
Wonderful
{#Dancingbanana_2}Time machine
Some songs get overplayed when they first arrive. Years later it still seems this has been play 4 times this morning.

Maybe I can appreciate this in 5 more years...

This is not only song I have burn-out issues.  It's my problem, I'll deal with it.

(dragging of images into post editor is not allowed)


 Lazarus wrote:
Everybody in my alien space craft loves this song...  we be dancing cross-eyed and buck naked like Willy Shakes...  love sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll...

 
What is "LOVE SEX", Laza, my Russ...?

Never heard of such a thing and doubt it exists! 
Everybody in my alien space craft loves this song...  we be dancing cross-eyed and buck naked like Willy Shakes...  love sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll...
Echoing my days in the East Village....  we loved these guys then.  I still do.
  Top stuff  {#Wave}
 aspicer wrote:
Saw them LAST night in Chicago - great show - still got it!  However would have liked more from Heaven Up Here and Porcupine.....  Did a cover of The Doors "People are Strange," and did this tune also.  Only 3 tracks I think from the new album which was surprising - and they were great!

 
Damn!  Sorry I missed that one.  It's not too often Ian Mac shows up withing an hour of my humble abode.  Looks like they covered ALMOST all of the bases I'd be interested in.

Here's the set list list you saw (and i didn't):


 
 
 
 
(The Doors cover)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Encore:
 
 
Encore 2:

P.S.-"Do It Clean" RULES!

P.S.S.-Where the hell was "Silver" and/or "The Back of Love"?





Saw them LAST night in Chicago - great show - still got it!  However would have liked more from Heaven Up Here and Porcupine.....  Did a cover of The Doors "People are Strange," and did this tune also.  Only 3 tracks I think from the new album which was surprising - and they were great!
Saw them last year in Bournemouth, great and magic like this song...
 xnavy wrote:
What kind of church do you go to??
 
I have a mushrooming multitude of churches now...  we be dancing buck ass naked...  love this song...
 {#Roflol}moodfood wrote:
they ain't quite got that Abbey Road crosswalk thing down on the cover..

 


they ain't quite got that Abbey Road crosswalk thing down on the cover..
 bushrat wrote:


good cover but it reminded me of why pavement doesn't work for me, the voice

 
Yeah, I checked that song out too. Arggh. Pavement does a garage band version and that singer's lucky to be even in the garage. 

This is my fave E&tB song. Very moody, noirish and fatalistic. Makes me understand why teens loved the Twilight movies.  
{#Bananapiano}  Wonderful Stuff   8 >>>>>> Godlike 
{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}{#Fire}   This song is on fire!
Ahhh...the band U2 never was.
REALLY nice segues Bill!  RH Codex to Scarborough Fair to this.....that flowed VERY nicely! {#Clap}
 Lazarus wrote:

Everybody in my church loves this song...
 

 

What kind of church do you go to??
 oldfart48 wrote:

I VOTED FOR THAT BOZO TWICE AS HE IS SANER THAT A NWET MIT, HE IS STILL A LYING OPERTUNIST AS ARE ALL POLS and has destroyed what was left of our BILL OF RIGHTS and our CONSTITION. then again what would YOU do with a gun on your childs head? Way past time to prosecute the TREASONIST Bush Klan.......

Holy smoke. I'm probably in agreement with this if I took the time to sift through it. But I just came on to say I like this song (quite). Good segue after Woodkid.
 oldfart48 wrote:

I VOTED FOR THAT BOZO TWICE AS HE IS SANER THAT A NWET MIT, HE IS STILL A LYING OPERTUNIST AS ARE ALL POLS and has destroyed what was left of our BILL OF RIGHTS and our CONSTITION. then again what would YOU do with a gun on your childs head? Way past time to prosecute the TREASONIST Bush Klan.......

  Holy smoke. I'm probably in agreement with this if I took the time to sift through it. But I just came on to say I like this song (quite). Good segue after Woodkid.
 mediamarv wrote:

What total nonsense. Go peddle your winger prattle elsewhere.

 
I VOTED FOR THAT BOZO TWICE AS HE IS SANER THAT A NWET MIT, HE IS STILL A LYING OPERTUNIST AS ARE ALL POLS and has destroyed what was left of our BILL OF RIGHTS and our CONSTITION. then again what would YOU do with a gun on your childs head? Way past time to prosecute the TREASONIST Bush Klan.......
Nice
 Lazarus wrote:

marvelous...  love this song...

Obama’s war on journalism

Perhaps most troubling? The president is being aided by a cadre of Benedict Arnolds within the media itself...


Obama's war on journalism

 



 
What total nonsense. Go peddle your winger prattle elsewhere.
still gets me singing in my bad english-accent baritone, trying in a half-assed way to match the lyrics, can't help it...love E&Bmen more then I really need to, but you know, right?   

marvelous...  love this song...
Under Blue Moon



Fantastic song. Shame about the end - he's spinning it too far... Still at least a 9.
 laozilover wrote:
not ready to close to 10 but I just bumped it from an 8 to a 9.
 
Same here. It might become a 10 played at the right time.
Love these guys...
Like no other, simply excellent. The more you listen to this song (and other Bunnymen tunes) the better they get. More please Bill.{#Angel}
This might be my favorite 80's song.
 subgyro wrote:

Everybody in my head loves this song...
 

You must have a big head!

Everybody in my church be dancing...  love this song...
 
 Lazarus wrote:

Everybody in my church loves this song...
 
 
Everybody in my head loves this song...
I used to have a killing moon and now its just a saggy shameful impersonation of its former self.
The beginning of this song gives me deep shivers...just the excitement and anticipation of it. I love the high piano notes....and what a great singer.

Everybody in my church loves this song...
 
Still sounds good today....
 VV wrote:
Bill, you really crapped the bed with the selection of this one at this date and time.
 

We're still here...
Bill, you really crapped the bed with the selection of this one at this date and time.
I don't think this is appropriate. Lyrics with "killing time"? C'mon... Silence the radio for a few moments out of respect instead of playing this song.
Timing for this is poor, or at least in bad taste .....   9:30 EST ... one week later
not ready to close to 10 but I just bumped it from an 8 to a 9.
Had to check and make sure I had given this a 10. I had. What a great song that has lasted, it came from an epochal era of my life.
 joelbb wrote:
Who told this guy he was a lyricist, his Mom?
 
no, he's deaf.
its the album cover that completes my brain's ride to Beckettville, looking like a wide-pants group doing Waiting for Godot

do love them alot 
always and consistently one of my 80's faves...along with fine young cannibals.  
Who told this guy he was a lyricist, his Mom?
 Byronape wrote:
A great cover of this song by Pavement...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpnjuYhcH7U

I'm not a huge Pavement fan, but sometimes they hit it out of the park like they did with this one.  It's a little bit harder and the guy isn't as good of a vocalist, but it's a really fun song.

Damn, I love having a wife with good taste in music.  This is one that she introduced me to.

 
 

good cover but it reminded me of why pavement doesn't work for me, the voice
 sirdroseph wrote:
Terrible song! At least it was not top 40 and I have never heard it before though, so it's all good!{#Wave}
 

It's probably the clangiest song there ever was, clang was something they were good at.   This one requires many listens, though.  You'll like it with repeated listens. Trust me.  I know hearing a song more than once poses major issues for you though.  If you, sirdroseph, don't like something the first listen, then you never give it another chance!!!!  Really, you'd like this CD.   This song sounds too jarring at first, I know. 
A great cover of this song by Pavement...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpnjuYhcH7U

I'm not a huge Pavement fan, but sometimes they hit it out of the park like they did with this one.  It's a little bit harder and the guy isn't as good of a vocalist, but it's a really fun song.

Damn, I love having a wife with good taste in music.  This is one that she introduced me to.

 
The way U2 wanted to sound like, but just never could. Long live Echo.
just what i needed to hear! thanks!
I like the Audi Vampire Party commercial - great use of this song!


Echo & the Bunnymen was one of the bands that turned me on to alternative music in the late 80s, early 90s.  This song and album in particular really opened my eyes to a whole new genre.  Still love it and appreciate their influence on pop music.