Living in the ruins of a castle built on sand

It's the biggest cliché. It really is. Any music blogger who is into indie music, and specifically British indie rock, is going to write something about The Libertines. So fine, I'm a cliché, but I can't help it. I feel the need to expound.

My story begins almost a year ago - August 2004. (And anyone who knows anything about them realizes how late to the party I was. Pete wasn't even with the band anymore. Granted, I was just getting into that music scene; I might have heard of them sooner if I had done so sooner.) My friends and I met these two British guys at a bar and invited them to a party. Along the way, I struck up a conversation about music, ever eager to get the inside scoop. (Gives new meaning to the term 'one track mind,' eh?) "What do you think about Franz Ferdinand?" "Roooobish." "Really? Then who would you recommend?" "The Libertines." "Oh, never heard of them. I'll have to check them out." (Turns out they had played in New York two days before that.)

And I did. I bought The Libertines. And I listened. And aside from the first song, ("Can't Stand Me Now") nothing really grabbed me. Oh well, a cd's worth of money gone in the name of experimentation.

Fast forward a few months, and I was involved in several online communities, and more importantly, speaking to several people from said communities who were fans. When you talk to British music fans, you can't escape The Libertines. They're everywhere. They are an integral part of the social fabric of the UK and have been so for years. And I hadn't even heard of them. A couple of people in particular that I was close to were passionate about their love of the music, and I thought, "Hmm, maybe I should give them another chance?"

So I popped the cd back in, and holy shit, it was a revelation. HOW FUCKING GOOD. I couldn't believe it. I had to buy the first one as well, and I've also bought singles and EPs, even a 7" vinyl that I'm all excited about. All that's left of The Libertines is their legacy - their music. And what a legacy it is. They have it all. They have the fucking amazing beats in songs like, to name a few, "Don't Look Back Into the Sun," "Vertigo," and "Last Post on the Bugle." Then they have the songs that move you, just, incredibly, like "The Good Old Days," "Tell the King," and "Music When the Lights Go Out." (Everyone has their own; these are mine, but so many more as well.) Then you have a song like "What Katie Did" that just stands on its own - who even uses "shoop shoop shoop delang delang"s in this day and age, much less so fucking effectively?!

And I was gone. Because the saga had already fascinated me, and once I loved the music, that was it. But it's strange, because it's a vicarious fascination - I'm fascinated because of how much everyone else is fascinated. I'm lucky, because I missed all the scandal, all the drama. I live in an NME-free world, and the music is completely untainted for me in that way. But you speak to people, and there are literally factions. You have your Pete people, your Carl people, your Pete and Carl people, and then the people who think the other two are both wankers and John and Gary are the real unsung heroes of the band. It's like they're political parties. Some people don't even like the music because of all the drama that went along with the band. Drugs, band members breaking into fellow band members' flats, arrests, kicking one of the main members out, more drugs. "What a waster, indeed," I was told. (I'm proud to say that I convinced one such person to listen to one of my favorite songs of theirs, and she now hates me because she loves it.) There are all the different sessions they've done, that fans will trade freely, when they've only put out two actual albums. It's almost like a cult.

Then there's Pete. Peter Doherty. The name evokes adoration, hatred, admiration, and yes, fascination. How many people are fascinated by Pete? He's a force. It seems he's a man of the people, and the people worship him. And he brought the music to the people - I've been told he was the one who started The Libs' practice of holding gigs in their flats. (His new band) Babyshambles doesn't show up for gigs, and people riot. It's unbelievable. (And I had never even heard of this guy!)

People say that Carl was the musician and Pete was the lyricist. You have people selling badges on eBay that say "pete doherty, poet laureate." As far as I know, Carl does not inspire the same reaction in people - oh, except the females. But historically, it's always the lyricists, the poets, that capture our hearts. Take Bob Dylan for example - the man is a musician, he has made album after album, yet what is he best known and loved for? His lyrics. Because even if you can't stand to listen to him sing his own songs, you know when you hear other people singing them that they are damn good. And you know that it's a Dylan song. Pete's lyrics do that for me, and for so many others. If this post weren't already epic, I would quote some. Ok, maybe just the one, the one that so many people know, that resonates with anyone who loves music about as much as they love anything else in the world - "But if you've lost your faith in love and music the end won't be long." Fuck me, I couldn't hope to ever write anything like that.

Pete has become a tragedy, though. What the drugs, the lifestyle, has done to him. But think back to all the most creative people in history, and how many of them were manic-depressive? People have questioned whether the mania drives the creativity, whether it's what makes them so extraordinary. If they were psychologically sound, would they be just regular Joe Schmoes? Couldn't the drugs be seen as sort of self-induced mania? Which leads to the question - would Pete be "Pete Doherty" without the drugs? People want him clean for his life, but does he need to stay high for his art?

Although, I have to say, that as much as I love "Fuck Forever" and like "Killamangiro," I think that Pete's Babyshambles music is inferior to most of what The Libertines have done. The lyrics may be there, but there's something lacking in the melodies, the music. I find them to be a bit draggy, not as well-formed, not as mind-infiltrating. The magic is missing, and it seems that the secret ingredient was the combination of Pete and Carl. I've yet to hear any of Carl's solo stuff, but it will be interesting to see if the same holds true for it.

Now, here we get to the part where I'm entirely unlucky. Having missed this all as it was happening, and, being of a different nationality, there are so many things I don't get. First there are all the British references that simply go over my head. Things like "Albion" and "Arcady" that I had to look up. And I hate it that I just don't understand why "Time For Heroes" is so anthemic. People worship that song, and it means nothing to me, really, other than the line, "there’s fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap" amusing me no end. I want to know. As I want to know about the mythology that surrounds this band. Albion and Arcady are not just historical British references, but they have meaning in terms of the foundations of the band that go beyond what I can discern from this distance, though I've begun to get some idea. But things like, why the similarities in the beginnings of "Tell the King" and "The Man Who Would Be King?" What exactly is Babyshambles? Where does it come from and what does it mean? Why did Pete choose it as his band's name? Having done sessions entitled the Babyshambles sessions, clearly it predates Pete's new band, and has something to do with Libs' mythology. But you don't want to ask, because it marks you with a big "N" for newbie, and as friendly and open as the fans are, doing so would just make you feel pretty stupid. Besides for the fact that it's just so over. I've missed it. And I'm just left playing catch-up.

In fact, because of my distance to all this, both geographically and chronologically, this whole analysis is most likely incomplete and/or incorrect. (Please don't lambast me if it is!) But that's the thing about this band. They inspire people, inspire them to make music, inspire them to love music, and inspire them to love and be fascinated by them and their music.

Which clearly I am. Well done, lads.