Tag Archives: music

Music Video

Onward Christian Soldiers

Marching as to war…

The track Onward Christian Soldiers by This Window offers a layered reinterpretation of the 1865 hymn penned by Sabine Baring-Gould, blending historical, religious, and pop-cultural motifs into a provocative multimedia experience. While Baring-Gould’s original lyrics were intended as a rousing call to Christian unity and spiritual warfare, This Window reframes the hymn through a lens of wartime nostalgia and modern critique.

  • Religious Undertones: The original hymn, famously set to music by Arthur Sullivan, evokes themes of divine mission and moral righteousness. This Window retains this spiritual backbone but juxtaposes it with imagery that complicates the notion of “holy war”—especially in light of 20th-century and contemporary conflicts.

  • Commando Comic Book Aesthetic: The video draws heavily from the visual language of 1960s Commando comics—bold, heroic, and often jingoistic depictions of WWII. This retro styling serves both as homage and critique, highlighting how war was mythologised for young readers while subtly questioning the glorification of violence.

  • European War Retrospective: By referencing the European theatre of WWII (1939–1945), the track situates itself within a historical continuum of conflict. The use of archival-style visuals, evokes the trauma and propaganda of the era, while also gesturing toward the cyclical nature of war.

  • Modern-Day Parallels: The inclusion of contemporary conflict references—whether visual, lyrical, or symbolic—suggests that the “marching” of Christian soldiers is not confined to history. It invites reflection on how religious and ideological fervour continue to shape global tensions.

     

This Window’s version isn’t just a cover—it’s a conceptual reimagining. By weaving together religious fervour, wartime propaganda, and modern critique, it challenges viewers to reconsider what it means to march “as to war.” Baring-Gould’s ties to Baring Bank adds another layer—hinting at the entanglement of faith, finance, and empire.

 

This Window

 

Music Video

Sunglasses, Accusation, and a Smile

This Is War – Love and Hate as Two Sides of the Same Coin

This is War is about how relationships can turn from love to hate – neither extremes are probably correct, perhaps both parties have different dreams and a compromise is perhaps not possible. Life can sometimes turn into an existential novel…

An Existential Novel in Three Minutes

Life can unfold like a fragmented novel, each verse a chapter of yearning, regret, and defiance. This Window’s lyrics read like pages torn from a diary: raw, unflinching, and searching for meaning amid the wreckage. The relentless rhythm mirrors the rush of thoughts that swirl when love feels doomed.

A Dual-Edged Narrative

In “This Is War,” This Window lays bare how love can fracture into hate when two hearts chase different dreams. Neither extreme—idealistic romance or seething bitterness—holds the whole truth. The song suggests that sometimes compromise isn’t possible, and the struggle itself becomes the point of no return.

When Dreams Diverge

Relationships often hinge on shared visions. When those visions diverge, connection turns into conflict.

  • both parties hold steadfast to personal ideals
  • dialogue shifts from gentle persuasion to emotional standoffs
  • bridges of understanding collapse under mismatched hopes

Visual Symbolism: Sunglasses, Accusation, and a Smile

The official video alternates between moments of concealment and revelation. Sunglasses mask vulnerability one moment; in the next, accusing eyes lock onto the lens. A fleeting beautiful smile suggests hope or perhaps a final surrender. This interplay of masks and expressions underscores the song’s themes of defence, exposure, and the fine line between affection and antagonism.

Watch “This Is War” by This Window on YouTube and immerse yourself in its haunting exploration of emotional warfare.

Music Video

The Girl in the Black Bikini – Video

This video is made using a piece of home movie 8mm film from the 1970’s.

The Girl in the Black Bikini is a wistful vignette wrapped in sunlit melancholy—a sonic and lyrical meditation on fleeting beauty, memory, and the quiet rituals of observation. The track unfolds like a slow-motion snapshot, where every detail is imbued with symbolic weight: fluttering deckchairs, sand scattered with tiny stones, and the ephemeral imprint of a towel on the shore.

Lyrical Atmosphere:

The lyrics evoke a cinematic stillness, reminiscent of British seaside nostalgia filtered through a lens of existential longing. Phrases like: “She lays on her towel like a ribbon drawn with sunlit ease” “The English rose reclines into time’s indifferent cradle” …suggest a delicate tension between presence and impermanence. The girl in the black bikini becomes both muse and metaphor—her beauty reigning briefly before being erased by the tide.

Musical Texture:

While the lyrics carry the emotional weight, the music (as heard in the YouTube video) complements the mood with understated instrumentation. There’s a sense of restraint, allowing the words to breathe and the imagery to settle like sand on skin. The pacing mirrors the poem’s rhythm—unhurried, contemplative, and quietly cinematic.

Symbolism & Tone:

This Window leans into British symbolism—the “English rose,” “striped deckchairs,” and “pink bow”—to evoke a cultural archetype of beauty and nostalgia. Yet, the tone is never indulgent. Instead, it’s reflective, almost mournful, as if the narrator knows this moment will dissolve, like the sand imprint that “soon [is] erased.”

Music Video

Video by Star – Beachgirl

Blue Eyes — A Love Story Written in Shadows

In Blue Eyes by This Window, desire is not a gentle tide but a riptide—pulling the narrator into a love that feels as much like possession as it does devotion. The song’s central image—“she stole my soul in her lipstick case”—is a perfect encapsulation of its mood: glamour edged with danger, intimacy laced with theft.

The woman at the heart of the story is no fragile muse. She is strong, independent, and entirely self-possessed, her beauty sharpened by the knowledge of her own power. She is the kind of figure who could walk out of a Bronte novel and into a neon-lit city street—equal parts Catherine Earnshaw and a heroine from a glossy chick-lit paperback, the kind who wears heartbreak like perfume.

Love or Hate?

The narrator’s voice trembles between worship and accusation. Is she a saviour or a destroyer? The song never answers outright, and that’s its brilliance. The “blue eyes” are both sanctuary and snare—windows to a soul that may never truly be his. The romance is painted in chiaroscuro: moments of tenderness lit against the looming shadow of loss.

The Gothic Pulse

Like Wuthering Heights, Blue Eyes thrives on emotional extremity. Love here is not safe—it is elemental, a storm sweeping across the moors. But instead of wind and heather, the setting feels urban and cinematic: lipstick-stained glasses, rain-slick streets, the hum of late-night bars, hanging out at the beach . The woman’s independence is magnetic, but it also makes her untouchable. The constant throbbing of a bass guitar, almost stuck in a constant loop.

The Question of the Ending

Will it end in tragedy? The song leaves us suspended in that exquisite uncertainty. The narrator seems to know that loving her is a kind of slow undoing, yet he cannot turn away. If this is a love story, it is one written in the ink of obsession—where the final chapter could just as easily be a broken heart as a lifetime of longing.

In the end, Blue Eyes is less about resolution and more about the exquisite ache of not knowing. It’s the kind of story where the beauty lies in the bruise, and where the soul—once stolen—might never want to be returned.