I thought it was a cover, it turned out to be so much more
May 17th 2022
I love Palaye Royale. Lets get that out of the way.
I love this band, their look, their music, their personality, they are amazing, and/but they also have a treasure trove of unreleased songs. Wasted, 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, The Metropolitan, I wont go on, because this would become a rant if I did.
However in the case of this unreleased song, it actually made it on the album. At first. The chorus "How can we dance when our earth is turnin'? How do we sleep while our beds are burnin'?" is from Australian band Midnight Oil's hit 1987 single of the same name. Despite this being the only part of the song that interpolates the original, the permissions to use elements of the song weren't granted, meaning the song couldnt be put on The Bastards when the album was released in 2020 (which was the Covid-Era cure to insanity for me personally).
However, we did eventually get the song, which based on Mad World, their Tears For Fears cover that came out a few months later, I assumed that it was a cover. It was not, and this is a very good thing, save for the pang of regret that it couldn't have taken its rightful place on the album. The track is a slow build, starting with piano and synth lines, adding in a heavy saw bass in the second verse. The track feels dark and ominous, bright and bittersweet. It's a beauty, and would have fit perfectly on the bastards too. The verses are original lyrics written by the band, as well as most, if not all, of the melodies and arrangements.
The lyrics, as I said above, are simply incredible, my favourite has to be the end of the second verse when Remington brings the vocals up a bit, singing "So take my life and steal my crown (steal my crown)" Followed by a perfect little bassline buildup and Remington repeating "Is this the end" four times over, starting in a near whisper, and leading up to a full shout, which breaks into three more renditions of the chorus.
I have only one gripe, and its very insignificant overall, but I feel like I should mention it. the chorus, save for at the very beginning and end of the song, is sang in a back and forth with a choir. The choir sings each line, with Remington backing by repeating each line as it's sung. However this means the line "How do we sleep while our beds are burnin'?", which by the choir is sung same as it is in the songs namesake, is not sung with those high notes by Remington, which back when I first listened to the song I was hoping to hear at least once, as previous songs have demonstrated that Remington can reach those notes. However seeing as the track is a masterpiece I can't really complain about that too much.
Overall, and especially where I have had some time with this one, I give Beds Are Burning an A+, despite my one little thing I bitched about, the song is damn near perfection, and deserved to get the recognition it deserved by being on the album. I only hesitated to give it a 100, which for me is best songs of all time, because I was able to admit that there are songs from Palaye, such as Punching Bag, (which I will be doing a review on, along with all of the other Fever Dream Singles) that I know are 100's and that I distinctly love more than this, but the margin isnt too large, I would say I likely would have given it a 96, if I gave things percentage grades.
Thats about it,
Tyler.
Beds Are Burning is available on youtube. I wont give the link because while the link was leaked to the Palaye Royale fandom a few months back by the band, the video asks that the link not be shared. However if you want to listen, you will find the link is easily found.
The Cover Art given up top was created by me using the art, fonts, and imagery of Emerson Barrett and Palaye Royale, dont use it without crediting me unless you are a member of Palaye Royale, in which case it rightfully belongs to you anyways.
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