How to Survive November 2022 – 21

HIM (sometimes stylized as H.I.M.) was a Finnish gothic rock band from Helsinki. Music critics have referred to the music of HIM as gothic rock, gothic metal, alternative rock, alternative metal.

Oh girl we are the same
We are young and lost and so afraid
There’s no cure for the pain
No shelter from the rain
All our prayers seem to fail

In world so hollow
It is breaking my heart
In joy and sorrow my home’s in your arms
In world so hollow
It is breaking my heart

The band has referred to its music as “love metal”, the title of the group’s fourth studio album. According to Ville Valo, the term “love metal” was coined as a response to people having difficulties categorizing HIM’s music. Regarding HIM’s reputation as a “goth band”, Valo stated: “We can’t do anything about that [label], but I think we are a special shade of goth, more tender than others. In Finnish tradition, our music is very melancholic.”Valo has also described HIM’s sound as “sentimental, hard-hitting rock music”. The band’s intent has always been to combine more melodic and melancholic elements, with its heavier influences.

Lyrically the songs of HIM largely deal with themes of love. According to Valo: “I feel like there is no subject more important for a song than relationships. It’s the only thing that moves me.”Valo also takes inspiration from literature, but only certain aspects of it, explaining: “As a guy who writes songs, I get excited about an idea, or a book, or a sentence. I don’t necessarily get excited about the whole of Tolkien, I just get excited about Uruk-hai. Just a little detail that just makes my mind work overdrive.” Valo’s lyrics have been described as “oozing with blood-dripping hearts and gothic melodrama”.

The song in my opinion says what we need today.