Can I kiss your skin?/There's hunger in the desert/And missiles in the sky/And every soul is interwoven before the wrong or right/I know we'll live again/Though it's just a feeling/I know we'll never end/Now there is no beginning/And when it's cold at night/I'll kiss your velvet skin/I know we'll never end/I'll keep you company
The most terrifying and genuinely gorgeous tribute to a serial killer comes from New York's no wave and post-rock gods Swans. Swans are notoriously difficult to tie to a specific genre, going through vastly distinct eras, but their more "gothic" period in the late-80s/early-90s saw them pen a truly stunning portrayal of British murderer Dennis Nilsen. Nilsen, a lonely man described as the "British Jeffrey Dahmer", killed men that he romanced and brought back to his flat before befriending and having sex with their corpses. He believed his methodology was humane, strangling or drowning his victims before bathing them and dressing them in fine clothes. Swans' Michael Gira was so amazed by Nilsen's story that he felt compelled to write a lyrical study of his motivations and emotions. Killing For Company is the most sympathetic portrayal on this list, and in its attempt to understand Nilsen's actions it is also far and away the scariest. The track opens with an odd looping synth sound before clashing percussion takes over. It is a truly atmospheric and weird introduction, enhanced by the eventual arrival of the stunning cyclical keyboard, drum and guitar combination that accompanies Gira's droning and multi-tracked vocal. The lyrics are the finest and most beautiful ever penned about a serial killer. Gira captures Nilsen's loneliness and depraved misunderstanding of love immaculately. Nilsen longs to "kiss" the skin of his victims, to keep them company and stop them from becoming as lonely as he is. He pleas with his victims to remember that he can't stop himself, that his actions are taken solely to heal himself. The line "if I heal your wound, we will make love again" is brilliant in conception and execution, reflecting Nilsen's desperation to remain in a relationship with his victims even after he has murdered them. The spoken word section at the song's climax, quoted above, is utterly mesmerising. Gira's Nilsen pleads with his victim to never let their relationship end, asking them to let him hold them "when it's cold at night" as Jarboe's choral backing vocals sweep in and out of the mix. Genuinely stunning - and absolutely horrifying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHtVd8UDYPE
