Ever Present Past: Goddess Florence

Florence Welch seems to be the goddess of our time, and for good reason too!

The 25-year-old singer takes much influence from the past. Her voice echoes from the speakers like some old turn-of-the-century record player scratching with the most beautiful loud voice escaping into an old house where wood cracks with every step you take. She sings about the beginnings of love and its foreseeable end, and about death by force you can almost see Virginia Wolfs ghost standing translucent in front of her. Of course her fashion sense may be the most romantic thing about her; long nude and pastel chiffon bat wing dresses adorn her extremely tall thin frame as she dances around like a nymph on stage. Paul Poiret and Madeleine Vionnet would have died to dress her art nouveau frame. You can almost see her posing for one of the romantic painters like John William Waterhouse when she stands still. Of course she has a darker side with long black gowns adorned with jewels, or a strappy S&M body suit with a chiffon cover-up and super high heels. She towers over the mic ready to scream her ceremonial songs. Her fantastic auburn hair makes it seem almost as if she has set her own soul on fire. She has so much talent and beauty I can only hope I will one day be able to witness it live on stage.

On Death

Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream,

And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by?

The transient pleasures as a vision seem,

And yet we think the greatest pain’s to die.

How strange it is that man on earth should roam,

And lead a life of woe, but not forsake

His rugged path; nor dare he view alone

His future doom which is but to awake.

John Keats