Nostalgia

"Nostalgia" was released by MIRROR, a multimedia project created by Canadian singer-songwriter Thomas Anselmi, on the album called Mirror. The album was produced by Vincent Jones, former member of Grapes of Wrath, and keyboard player for Dave's band during the Paper Monsters tour. This song features Dave Gahan on vocals.

"Vincent played with Dave, and he sent Dave what we were doing and Dave really liked it, and we asked him to sing it. I really wanted something special for that song. I can sing that song, and it was kind of a natural song for me to sing, but, with me singing it, it didn't have that extra dimension that I was looking for. Of course Dave brought something I couldn't have been looking for. He has such an incredible style, but also there's the other part of it; it added something because of his history, and the fact that he is that to so many people, that a lot of people have so many memories that they attach to music that he's sung." -Thomas Anselmi¹

Lyrics

My Take

This is such a beautiful and underrated song and among my absolute favorites of those featuring Dave. I would classify the music as modern classical, as the light and melodic piano gives that old-school classical feel but later on when the synths and rocking electric guitars come in, it gives the whole thing a very modern twist. This song sounds like something Paul McCartney might've written for The Beatles, too. And Dave's vocals on this are just top-notch! I would say this is probably one of his best vocal performances, period. As for the lyrics, they really speak to me. Nostalgia is such a powerful thing and that is expressed so eloquently here; sometimes it can cause us to make brash and perhaps unwise decisions, such as running back to a toxic ex or trying to recreate past experiences that can no longer exist in the present. It is a feeling that I wallow in quite often and I have to stop myself sometimes from succumbing to it because if I don't, then I end up missing out on the things of the present. Anyway, I believe that there is no such thing as the perfect song, but this song comes nearest to it as can be for me, all because of the combination of very relatable lyrics, Dave's fine vocals, and exquisite instrumentation.

Music Video

The entire video is framed by an ornate, gold frame, as if all of the scenes are taking place in a mirror mounted on the wall. The video opens with the text, "MIRROR presents Dave Gahan in Nostalgia," and then the scene changes to Dave approaching the mirror. "Reflected" behind him in the mirror is a fancy, warmly-lit stairwell and other details from the room he is in. While looking at the mirror, Dave adjusts his shirt collar and the scene behind him changes into a misty forest as he begins singing the song. Throughout the song, we are treated to various scenes within the mirror- ocean waves, train tracks, cabaret dancers, images of war- most of which are black-and-white scenes and video footage from decades past. Another scene shows Dave standing on a sidewalk in front of a shop having a smoke; the sign on it reads "Salonik Fryzur" (Polish) or "Hair Salon" (English). Later, we see him walking along a dark road lined with trees and street lamps lit up, and then the scene changes back to him standing in the room in front of the warmly-lit stairwell from the beginning, closing out the song before it fades to black.

My Take

First of all, I just want to say that Dave's performance and poise in this video is nostalgic in itself; the way he sustains the viewer's gaze and eyes full of feeling while singing is reminiscent of Depeche Mode music videos like "See You," "Stripped," "Useless," and many others. Anyway, I adore this video for that reason, and I also really dig the mirror-on-the-wall theme...and both the album and group are called "Mirror," so that's a nice little touch. Though, if I saw Dave singing to me while looking in a mirror, I would totally freak out! So, I guess this is supposed to be a magic mirror then, because of that, and also because the scene dynamically changes while we're looking at it. And as fitting to the theme of the song, the scenes are meant to depict memories of the past. The memories don't appear to be specific to the person looking at the mirror, though, otherwise I'd think we'd see more specific scenes that are personal to Dave, such as that of his family and friends, or of course, Depeche Mode! The scenes seem to be more generic, as if from a collective memory, but they are very human-oriented memories, as the images of war, dancers, people's faces, and man-made things like train tracks and city scenes seem to be prominent. Some scenes probably speak to certain people more than others, especially if they have personal experiences related to them. Dave is simply acting in the role of curator of these memories and narrator of our feelings, it seems. In the latter scenes of him in front of the hair salon and walking down a road, he looks very much like a Byronic hero, thoughtful and somewhat wistful as if he's remembering his own personal memories, perhaps.

P.S. Well, I was wrong; my interpretation of the gold frame as a mirror is actually incorrect! Apparently, according to Thomas Anselmi himself, he originally intended it to resemble an oil painting.¹ That makes total sense, too. The link to an interview with Thomas is below in the "References" where he also shares some interesting tidbits on working with Dave, as well.

References

1. "Thomas Anselmi: Mirror", SuicideGirls.com (March 5, 2009)