On Wednesday (April 9th), Garbage dropped their new song “There’s No Future In Optimism” off of their upcoming studio album “Let All That We Imagine Be The Light.” Now, singer Shirley Manson has shared some insight into the meaning behind the track.
“I love the title. The band sent it to me and I was like, ‘This is great. I’m keeping that.’ But the lyrics are an action against that title,” she explained. “Because if we allow our fatalism or our negativity to really take over, we will crumble.”
“It’s about a city, in my case, Los Angeles, but it could be anywhere where bad stuff is happening,” Manson added, going on to share the one event that shaped the meaning of the track. “After the George Floyd murder, which is one of few things in my life that I wish I’d never seen: I was changed entirely by seeing the footage of that cop kneeling on George Floyd’s neck. In Los Angeles there were huge protests and a lot of upheaval after that.
“Above our house in Hollywood, there were helicopters all day long, for days on end. It was really precarious, chaotic and terrifying.”
Manson also explained the overall theme of their new album “Let All That We Imagine Be The Light,” saying:
“This record is about what it means to be alive, and about what it means to face your imminent destruction. It’s hopeful. It’s very tender towards what it means to be a human being. Our flaws and our failures are still beautiful, even though we’re taught that they’re not. This is a tender, thrilling record about the fragility of life.”
