Released: January 2009 on the album To Lose My Life...
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGEjz12YLiM
Lyrics: http://www.songlyrics.com/white-lies/to-lose-my-life-lyrics/
Among the sea of somewhat simplistic relationship songs comes this one. There are probably a few ways that it could be interpreted, but to me it's a song about what is an unpleasant reality: who dies first - you or those you care about? The wish in this song would be dying "at the same time", to prevent the pain of living without the ones you care about - so it's an unwelcome "choice": to lose your life or to lose your love. Along with that is another worry: once those you love pass away, will there truly be a time when they will be seen again? Sort of a "does the soul exist" question that strikes many of us that comes from the line in the song: "...and there's a part of me that still believes my soul will soar above the trees, but a desperate fear flows through my blood: a dead love's buried beneath the mud". My thought here is that the song is stating a hopefulness for the afterlife because it means that there will be the opportunity to be with those that were important to you once again, but at the same time there is concern that it won't turn out to be that way.
Whew! Hefty stuff for a catchy song! And - as one reviewer put it - a song that is "strangely sweet"!
The band itself has been together for just the past three years - forming in October of 2007. To Lose My Life... was the group's debut effort, and it was a hugely successful one. Despite a lukewarm critic response, the album went immediately to #1 on the British charts, and the song did the same thing - holding off attempts from Lady Gaga, The Script and Kings of Leon to unseat it. That was followed by a number of award nominations, appearances on Carson Daley's and David Letterman's late night talk shows, and tours where they provided support for Snow Patrol, Kings of Leon and Coldplay, and also headlined a number of short tour schedules. About the only bad thing that has happened to the group was a cancellation of some of their concert dates due to an illness that struck lead singer Harry McVeigh - but after he recovered, the concert tours continued and the cancelled ones were rescheduled.
They've become amzingly busy. So much so that the band wasn't able to work on new material until this year. Accordingto the Wikipedia article, the new album is completed and is scheduled for a mid-January, 2011 release, so apparently the group works quickly once they decide that it's time to get into the studio!
The band has been compared favorably to the 70's group, Joy Division. Interestingly, that group knows all about the complexity of emotions behind my interpretation of the song: in 1980, their lead singer and primary lyricist, Ian Curtis, died via suicide after suffering from a terrible bout of depression. This event took place just prior to the release of their first album. His friends and band members continued on after his death, but renamed themselves "New Order", who wound up becoming very successful, partly due to songs Ian had wrote before his death that the band used in later years.
Also interesting is that the band members of White Lies don't share the thought that they have a sound inspired by Joy Division, New Order or Interpol (another band that they get compared to). Their primary reason for the disagreement is that they weren't alive when those bands were at their peak, that their music is more uplifting and appealing, and that they favor a band called Secret Machines as being much more of an influence to their style.
I found that to be a somewhat ironic response - that a band who has a single called Death, and then has this song which references dying, would say they are "more uplifting" than anybody! But they do seem to be a good band, and I do like this song. It reminds me somewhat of Billy Idol's White Wedding in its sound as well as its darker undertones.
The other songs I've listened to are also catchy, have a danceable style, are a tad dark, and seem to be equally thought-provoking.
Other songs: Farewell To The Fairground, Unfinished Business
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