F#A#infinity was originally released on August 14, 1997, in the form of only 500 vinyls. The LP was the formal debut of the post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The album name itself refers to the tuning of the guitar strings featured on the album.  The first two strings of the guitar, typically tuned to E and A, would be tuned to F# and A#. Additionally, the string portion of the last song on the vinyl features a locked groove. This means that the vinyl, when played on a turntable, would repeat the innermost engraving of music into infinity.

The music on this record is, in a word, haunting. To many the album can come across as long-winded, with long portions of the record consisting of field recordings. A train, a choir, and a siren are among the recordings brought onto the record. These recordings perfectly match the postapocalyptic, droning mood created by the album’s lyrics. In my listens of the album, the daunting 16-minute first track, “The Dead Flag Blues” resounds with me more than any other. The song’s lyrics take the form of a poem read over a string movement. This poem is actually an excerpt from the band’s guitarist’s screenplay, which was never published. 

As an advocate for audiences to interpret their own meanings to lyrics, I will not explain the meaning behind the following stanzas, taken directly from “The Dead Flag Blues.”

The government is corrupt

And we’re on so many drugs

With the radio on and the curtains drawn

The sun has fallen down

And the billboards are all leering

And the flags are all dead at the top of their poles

We woke up one morning and fell a little further down

For sure as the valley of death

I open up my wallet

And it’s full of blood

Although this album was published in 1997, the lyrics hold special significance even now. Like many albums that have stood the test of time, these lines were nigh prophetic when published. I implore the reader to, in their analysis of these lines, recognize the symbolism of a billboard. Why do billboards, a form of advertisement directly tied to consumerism, stand even when the natural law and order of the Sun has fallen. What does this say about modern moral values? Additionally, I’d like to place emphasis upon the radio on and curtains drawn. In the context of the 90s, radio and television took the place of the internet as a means of artificial connection in the age of information. Curtains act as a means of shielding one’s eyes and mind from external influence. From a modern lens, what do these lines mean in regard to the romanticization of social media as a form of communication, devoid of contrasting ideas?

In no way is this album traditional. Its harmonic movements and hymns are meant to make the listener feel as though they are in the same desolate dystopian landscape depicted in the music. Although the questions posed are worth the time and effort to think through, the album is long and winding. For this reason, I recommend thinking about the lyrics brought to focus, and listening to the album if there is time.