1001 Songs Challenge #935: Televators (2003)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenge of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post every day (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be… legendary!

 

The Mars Volta – Televators (2003)

 

 

We’re remaining in the US today, dear reader, but are leaving Las Vegas and making our way to El Paso in Texas. Formed in 2001 The Mars Volta gained a reputation for their stunning live shows as well as their penchant for concept albums. We join them in 2003 with the release of their debut album, De-Loused in the Comatorium and from there 1001 Songs have favoured one of the later tracks, Televators. 

De-Loused in the Comatorium is a concept album concerned with a character by the name of Cerpin Taxt who overdoses on a concoction of rat poison and heroin before slipping into a week long coma. The album deals with his experience and state of mind as a result of this event. The album drew parallels with Julio Venegas, an artist who was friends with the band members, but he sadly committed suicide in 1996 by jumping from a bridge onto a busy freeway. In Televators, Cerpin Taxt has regained consciousness from his coma and returned to the real world. However, he too takes his own life in the same manner as Venegas, leading into the album’s denouement. 

Televators is a track that takes its time with a steady build up and beginning quietly before gradually rising in intensity. The whole album sounds intriguing though undoubtedly dark. Based on Televators it is an album I am planning on sampling in its entirety in the near future. The group continued to produce critically acclaimed albums before announcing a hiatus in 2012. A few months later fans received unwanted confirmation that The Mars Volta had broken up. Talk of reunions continue to be whispered but at the time of writing this is yet to come to pass.

 

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

The Doors – The End (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)

U2 – One (1991)

Radiohead – Paranoid Android (1997)

Snow Patrol – Run