Line #51 Music/Hourglass


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dave_gahan_hourglass.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"So in your infinite wisdom, show me how this life should be."'']]
3
4	''Hourglass'' is the second solo studio album released by Dave Gahan, the frontman of English AlternativeDance band Music/DepecheMode. It was released on 22 October, 2007. The album takes on a more {{Industrial}} style compared to other material, with a dirty energy to boot. During the promotion of ''Music/PlayingTheAngel'', Dave Gahan was motivated to write some songs, and decided to collaborate with touring members Andrew Phillpott and Christian Eigner (Das Shadow) to create songs together. Dave had also created his personal website in coincidence with the creation of the album.
5
6	The first sign of the album was when "Kingdom" first released on the 8th of the same month, preceding the eventual release of the full album. The single reached a 44th UK Singles chart position, gaining traction for the album. The song was released with a music video, on Dave Gahan's website and [[Website/YouTube YouTube]] channel.
7
8	Dave had previously collaborated with Andrew and Christian on ''Playing the Angel'' with "Suffer Well", "I Want It All" and "Nothing's Impossible", serving as co-writers, and in the following album, ''Sounds of the Universe'', they also co-write "Hole to Feed", "Come Back", and "Miles Away/The Truth Is".
9
10	----
11
12	!!Tracklist
13
14	# "Saw Something" (5:14)
15	# "Kingdom" (4:34)
16	# "Deeper and Deeper" (4:34)
17	# "21 Days" (4:35)
18	# "Miracles" (4:38)
19	# "Use You" (4:48)
20	# "Insoluble" (4:57)
21	# "Endless" (5:47)
22	# "A Little Lie" (4:53)
23	# "Down" (4:34)
24
25	!!''I trope and I wait, and I trope... still wishing for a divine intervention, to trope me from my chair'':
26
27	* AirQuotes: In written form, what is [[ImpliedTrope implied]] to be air quotes are included on Dave's handwritten title for "A Little Lie".
28	* AlbumTitleDrop: In "Endless":
29	-->''Watching the '''hourglass'''''\
30	''On that night''
31	* AlternativeDance: All the songs on the album are high-energy, electronic dance songs, with a dirty, raw, intrusive AlternativeRock twist, [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated]] and PlayedForHorror regarding the sound. [[LighterAndSofter "Miracles" and "Insoluble"]] not accounted for.
32	* AmbiguouslyChristian: The chorus of "Kingdom" refers to God in Christianity, but it's unknown if it's meant literally.
33	-->"If there's a kingdom beyond it all, is there a God who loves us all?"
34	* {{Angst}}: As per the usual with Music/DepecheMode, there is a lot of angst in ''Hourglass'', mostly resulting from [[FeelingTheirAge Dave feeling his age]].
35	* AxCrazy: Dave, the singer, sounds especially violent in his tone during "Deeper and Deeper" and "Use You". Compared to the other songs on ''Hourglass'', where he sounds either neutral or heartfelt, he is motivated by violent tendencies during the aforementioned songs.
36	* BrutalHonesty: Of Dave himself, being an indie release when he felt the most in-tune with himself. Each song on ''Hourglass'' is notable not just for ''what'' is stated by the narrator, but ''how'' it's stated too, that being with an overwhelming sense of internal honesty, with there being songs about religion, lust, and death without any lyrical or musical filter.
37	* BSide: "Tomorrow", the B-side of "Kingdom", and "Love Will Leave (Das Shadow's Rewerk)", the B-side of "Saw Something".
38	* CabinFever: The verses of "Use You" are majorly about the stress of being trapped somewhere with someone for an extended period of time. "It's killing me, to be in this room, I've gotta get out, I've gotta get out soon. Hurting you, with everything I do, it's too long, too long in this place."
39	* CentralTheme: The album's general theme is how to savor the individual aspects of life.
40	* ColorMotif: Primarily black/dark grey or silver/white with the burning gold of the hourglass symbol. This gets [[InvertedTrope inverted]] as white with a red hourglass due to negative colors.
41	* ContinuityCameo: In a [[{{Pan}} right pan shot upwards]] to the house in the music video for "Kingdom", Mr. Feathers from ''Music/PlayingTheAngel'', the album prior to ''Hourglass'', briefly appears in the window, looking down at the viewer.
42	* CoolShades: Dave wears double-bridge sunglasses as an accessory motif, donning them on the album's front cover and various pictures in the lyric booklet, as well as the back cover. Christian Eigner also wears a pair in one of the booklet pictures.
43	* DarkerAndEdgier: The album as a whole is notable for its darker style, overwhelming with despair and sadness, as well as some degree of loathing in the sound. There's a lot of distortion, but also a lot of energy in the sound. The album particularly stands out amongst other Depeche Mode-related works due to its distinctive darkness.
44	* DeadlyEuphemism: The chorus of "Down", the last song, refers to the narrator presumably dying of old age, alone in the snow of winter, as evidenced by mentions of "feeling old" in the pre-chorus, and "ending up on the ground by morning".
45	* DeathSong: Fitting the theme of Dave's seniority angst at his 40s by the time of making the album, "Down" is seemingly about the idea of slowly dying while in someone else's care, and it's a very melancholic song for sure.
46	* DownerEnding: "Down", the final song on the album's main songs, takes any sense of the melancholy from the opening song, "Saw Something", and makes it cut even deeper than the aforementioned ever could.
47	* EpicInstrumentalOpener: For the album as a whole, "Saw Something" features a minute of inquisitive, dancing synths, playing a catchy, sonic tune.
48	* EpicRocking: The longest song on the album is "Endless", clocking in at 5:47.
49	* EternalLove: "Endless" appears to discuss the concept, as the protagonist refers to himself and his lover being "endless", as the title suggests.
50	* ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter: The antagonist referred to by the narrator in the story of "21 Days" apparently "reads all his victims like a book."
51	* FaceOnTheCover: Dave is depicted on the cover for the album as a whole, though [[ZigZagged his actual face is blocked out by a stain]], as well as the European release for "Kingdom" (which is the same image as the album cover with different text and imagery), and his face is blended into the cover for the single release of "Saw Something".
52	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: The echo at the end of "21 Days" fades into the synths at the beginning of "Miracles", and the echo at the end of "Insoluble" fades into the white noise at the beginning of "Endless".
53	* FakeLoud: The chorus of "Use You". With all the shouting and deep cutting of the bass sound, the chorus dynamics are actually rather light, with somewhat-soothing sound design.
54	* FeigningIntelligence: "I'm still '''pretending''' I'm '''not''' a fool." Though there are many negatives, the overall meaning is to continually feign intelligence, or, in his words, "pretend one isn't a fool." To make it less confusing, to pretend one ''is'' a fool is ObfuscatingStupidity, which the line doesn't refer to.
55	* HandwritingAsCharacterization: All of the text (besides the copyright markers) is handwritten by Dave Gahan himself, including the lyrics, with the lyric booklet itself containing the lyric sheets he wrote on. The amount of revisions alongside his very concise method of writing lyrics demonstrates his level of precision in arranging songs, and his aggressive handwriting style shows his cynical side.
56	* HarshVocals: [[ExaggeratedTrope Dave takes this trope to a great extreme]], making his vocals sound as angry and harsh as possible, with audible growling.
57	* HotterAndSexier: Somehow manages to be a mashup of this and DarkerAndEdgier, but Dave clearly did not hold back on trying to make ''Hourglass'' sound as smooth and intimate as possible. It even rivals Depeche Mode's other albums in how far it goes, especially with "Deeper and Deeper", which is the most straightforward Dave has arguably ever been about lust in his career.
58	* IHateSong: "Use You". [[ImpliedTrope Though not specific]], it's a general expression of hatred for others.
59	* IntercourseWithYou: The third song, "Deeper and Deeper", revolves around Dave's intense lust for someone. He wants this person no matter what it takes, and wants them by his side at all times, in order to do questionable things with them, no matter the partner's desires. This is especially shown in a lyric like "You can't tell me, that you don't want it, you know that I like it when you put up a fight."
60	* LastNoteNightmare:
61	** "Kingdom" ends with an audio loop of the screeching of electric guitar feedback.
62	** "Use You" ends with an isolated "robotic" synth melody, abruptly following the madness of the song's final section, before the song cuts out entirely.
63	* LighterAndSofter: Though the {{angst}} is strong on ''Hourglass'', it's most certainly a downgrade from ''Playing the Angel'' before it, especially in its more soothing and emotionally-driven sound design.
64	* LoveHurts: "Love Will Leave", pretty much the entire song is about love being a disappointing pursuit full of lies and betrayal.
65	* MadnessMantra: Besides "Kingdom" and "Miracles", which are arranged differently, each song includes a certain phrase that is repeated almost ad nauseum by Dave:
66	** "Saw Something": "I saw something in your eyes, maybe I saw it, I wanted it for myself."
67	** "Deeper and Deeper": "I want to love you, I want your love."
68	** "21 Days": "Building a tower of fear by the river, building it up, build it up."
69	** "Use You": "We have each other, you are my brother, sitting here beside of you, I just want to use you."
70	** "Insoluble": "You have nothing to fear."/"My angel."
71	** "Endless": "Now I am still forever, endless, your body is endless."
72	** "A Little Lie": "Calm down people, it's just a little lie, you know it doesn't mean nothing and I realize you could be right."
73	** "Down": "Down on the ground..."
74	** Regarding [[{{BSide}} B-sides]], "Tomorrow" features "One last kiss, one last time, tomorrow will come."
75	* ManipulativeBastard: What the protagonist in "Use You" admits to being, repeatedly.
76	* MetalScream: Dave does one before the instrumental bridge of "Deeper and Deeper" and at the very beginning of the second chorus of "Use You".
77	* MisspellingOutLoud: "Disappear" is misspelled as [[BuffySpeak "dissapear"]] on the album's lyric booklet, which also features the lyrics ''handwritten'' by Dave himself, not just transcribed. The two songs that feature this error in plain sight are "21 Days" and "Endless".
78	* {{Mondegreen}}:
79	** "Kingdom": "If there's a kingdom beyond it all, is there a God who loves '''you so'''?"[[labelnote:explanation]]The true line is "loves us all", but the enunciation causes it to sound like "you so". "Us all" is meant to refer to all of humanity, while "you so" refers to the listener.[[/labelnote]]
80	** "Use You": "I'm '''staring''' at my cuticles."[[labelnote:explanation]]The true line is "tearing". "Staring" implies to merely be staring at one's cuticles (part of the nails) for no particular reason. "Tearing", however, implies a self-destructive insanity, as if to physically tear at one's cuticles out of blind desperation and uncertainty.[[/labelnote]]
81	* MoodWhiplash:
82	** Going from the [[AmbiguouslyChristian allegedly religious]] and incredibly spiritual "Kingdom" to the aggressively sexual and lustful "Deeper and Deeper".
83	** Similarly, going from the soft and serene "Miracles" to the aggressive and ranting "Use You".
84	* NervousWreck: The protagonist in "Use You" is definitely stressed out.
85	* OneWordTitle: ''Hourglass'', "Kingdom", "Miracles", "Insoluble", "Endless", and "Down".
86	* PhraseSaladLyrics: In particular...
87	** "Miracles": "I don't believe in miracles, and they happen every day. [[PrayerIsALastResort I don't believe in Jesus, but I'm praying anyway.]]"
88	** "Use You": "We have each other, you are my brother, sitting here beside of you, I just wanna use you."
89	** "A Little Lie": "Calm down people, it's just a little lie, you know it doesn't mean nothing and I realize you could be right."
90	* PleaseDontLeaveMe: "Tomorrow", the B-side of "Kingdom". The song is about the narrator's desperation for their love interest to stay with them. The chorus' lyrics consist of the phrase "one last kiss, one last time, all too soon."
91	* PowerBallad: "Saw Something", a notably sad, wistful song with an energetic rock beat to back it up.
92	* RageAgainstTheMentor: The second verse of "Kingdom" appears to be about the narrator believing that whoever is teaching them about life is faking said wisdom.
93	-->''So in your infinite wisdom''\
94	''Show me how this life should be''\
95	''All your love and glory''\
96	''Doesn't mean that much to me''
97	* RemixAlbum: ''Hourglass Remixes'', released in 2008.
98	* SmallStartBigFinish: "Saw Something" and "Endless". The two songs have a softer introduction, before the middle point introduces a dramatic, emotional atmosphere. Though a more {{downplayed}} form, "Use You" can also count, as the song gets far more intense following the repeat in the second chorus for the climax.
99	* SssssnakeTalk: Any time Dave pronounces an "s" in any song on here, expect him to exaggerate it.
100	* SpecialGuest: John Frusciante from Music/RedHotChiliPeppers plays the guitar solo on "Saw Something".
101	* SuddenlyShouting: "Use You" is this in song form. Surprisingly, it's the only song on the album that ''does'' sound like Dave is truly shouting out about his agony from within, while the others that surround it sound more melancholic or lustful.
102	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Miracles", involving absolutely no harsh sounds whatsoever, and Dave singing lightly and carefully. [[ZigZaggedTrope "Insoluble" is not the same, however, due to the extremely haunting sounds]].
103	* SurrealMusicVideo: The music video for "Kingdom" is... quite the trip. To sum up what it is, flashing lights in an urban city environment as Dave walks into a "door to heaven" with a light in his mouth. Yep.
104	* TitleDrop: The title appears at the beginning of the second verse of "Endless", as to reference the time measurement tool itself metaphorically.
105	* UncommonTime: "Use You" has a 3/4 time signature than 4/4.

Context Music / Hourglass