The Dark History Behind Ghost's Prequelle

In this video, we delve into the rich and dark themes of Ghost's album "Prequelle," exploring the haunting stories behind each track. From the eerie intro "Ashes" to the plague-inspired "Rats" and the religious critiques in "Faith," we unravel the historical and symbolic layers that make this album a masterpiece. Discover how Tobias Forge's legal battles with former band members influenced songs like "See the Light" and how the album's artwork and instrumental tracks like "Miasma" and "Helvetesfönster" tie into the Black Death narrative. Join us as we explore Ghost's profound questions about mortality, religion, and the human psyche. If you're a fan of Ghost, heavy metal, or music history, this video is for you!
Also celebrating the release of Rite Here Rite Now worldwide
#ghost #prequelle #metal
All the sources can be found here: genius.com/albums/Ghost/Prequ...
All my personal annotations can be found here: genius.com/FGV
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Contents of the video:
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Ashes
1:59 - Rats
3:05 - Faith
5:05 - See The Light
5:51 - The Lawsuit Controversy
7:24 - See The Light (Part 2)
8:19 - Miasma
9:08 - Dance Macabre
10:05 - Pro Memoria
11:46 - Witch Image
12:41 - Helvetesfönster
13:15 - Life Eternal
14:17 - Name and Artwork
16:10 - Conclusion
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[@lehtokurppa7824]

Key points about the lawsuit: 1) The only Ghoul to ever contribute to any writing of Ghost material was Martin Persner (Omega, who wrote instrumentals for Year Zero and the entirety of Zenith) was not a part of the lawsuit. None of the Ghouls suing Tobias had ever written anything for Ghost, and were from the beginning hired as live musicians, the drummer and bassist at the time had been in the band for a year. 2) The lawsuit started after the Ghouls wanted a pay raise, which Tobias did give them, but afterwards they claimed they couldn't understand the new deal since it was in English (all the previous deals were also in English). After Tobias presented them with a deal in Swedish, they refused it and sued him, leaving Tobias without a band with a world tour around the corner. 3) Ghost wasn't originally a band in 2006, it was just Tobias showing some riff ideas to his longtime musical friend and collegue Gustaf Lindström aka "Gurra", who he recorded the demos with later on. Gurra along with Martin Persner and former drummer Aksel Holmgren all supported Tobias, in that Ghost was always a solo-project of Tobias. The Ghouls were originally hired when Tobias had released Opus Eponymous and needed a touring band for the live shows to support the album. 4) After the Ghouls lost the lawsuit, they complained about the decision, but lost the following cases as well. This did not stop them from becoming absolute pathetic humans and acting like children. Their most despicable act was making a sexual fan-fic of Tobias and his dead big-brother, who was somewhat of a father figure to Tobias and one of the most important people in his life. He died the same day Tobias uploaded the first Ghost songs into MySpace, and he has since then it felt like a brutal deal, where he managed to start his life-ambition project, but had to lose his brother. The Ghouls also rip off Ghost's thematic's in their own projects, and keep typing insults in Ghost related comment fields. Ghost is Tobias, Tobias is Ghost, it has always been his and he nearly lost it due to greedy former "friends" who wanted to ruin his life's work, and we nearly lost the privilege of having Ghost around because of the Ghouls, luckily all is well now and he has a cast of professionals working with him and Ghost is going strong.

[@PokeJoltz]

I already had generally bad vibes from an ex-Ghoul because to this day he still won't stop bashing TF and seems to come up with new allegations that don't fit the timeline or weren't previously mentioned during the lawsuit but if 4 is real.. I feel so bad for Tobias and he is beyond justified for the intensity of the lyrics. That is absolutely despicable and goes to directly affirm one of the themes of Ghost; the "devil" isn't in hell but the evil in this world.

[@Tracy-rf7ri]

They made a fan fic of his brother? Omg they are losers for sure, pathetic.

[@SPITEFLESH]

1:01 not just any little girl, Minou Forge (TF's daughter!) provided the eerie vocals for "Ashes"!

[@Tracy-rf7ri]

Well she's not any better than any other little girl so ya, a little girl.

[@kestrelwcuee]

Did Minou do that? That’s such a sweet detail!

[@SPITEFLESH]

@@kestrelwcuee yee, if you check the credits for the song, you'll see that she's contributed for the vocals!!!

[@leenahusa1806]

It's actually both Minou AND Morris

[@SPITEFLESH]

@@leenahusa1806 huh i didnt know that! on the song credits for the prequelle vinyl it only credits Minou on that track but its cool either way!

[@drummonkey9643]

Faith is a straight up reference to how Ghost started and the lawsuit

[@graveyard_baby666]

this video was beautifully explained :) thanks for making this!

[@see.these.thoughts]

So happy to hear you enjoyed it!

[@TeilerTeiler]

Amazing video! Made me appreciate Prequelle more than I already did. Would love to see the other Ghost albums as well :)

[@dereksendrak]

What a masterpiece of an album! Great video my man! Job well done🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@azriphale9967]

I really, really want you to do all the Ghost albums. This was fantastic.

[@see.these.thoughts]

I already have a few albums with interesting stories listed for videos down the line, but I'll surely revisit Ghost as it's one of my favorite bands with really interesting lyrics. So don't hesitate to subscribe to be notified when I revisit them! 🤟🏼❤️

[@kxtulapsi]

The lyrics of Faith could also very well be referencing the lawsuit. ”The accuser sends the bill” and ”a pack of fools can take the stand” both definifely give off that vibe. I also saw someone mention that if you switch Faith to ”Ghost”, the lyrics will say ”Ghost is mine” which could be referencing to Ghost being a solo project. Then again that’s just speculation and quite far fetched🤷‍♀

[@Tracy-rf7ri]

Yep 👍

[@see.these.thoughts]

Definitely! I mean, there are so many different references to the lawsuit throughout the album as well as more historic references sprinkled throughout the lyrics. Sadly I could not fit them all in one video!

[@VannrithSourisVa]

Prequelle is my favorite ghost album

[@torjlou]

Thank you for this. I LOVE this album.

[@christinevitanovitz1616]

Really enjoyed this one! There's a third story being told (about Copia's rise), but I love that you compared the association between the plague and the lawsuit. Well done! ❤

[@catalinajaramillof]

I love the edition of this!!!! And the background story is so interesting! Thank you

[@see.these.thoughts]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lindseynikki7832]

I enjoyed this video so very much! I didn't know any of this so thank you for making it! Do you think you could do the rest of the Ghost albums? That would be so interesting to know about the rest.

[@see.these.thoughts]

So glad you enjoyed this video! ❤️ Of course I plan on deep diving into other Ghost records down the line! I have a list of several artists with interesting lyrics coming down the line so don't hesitate to subscribe to check them out! And Ghost is such an incredible band with hidden messages that there will surely be a second video coming eventually 🤟🏼

[@bladepuppetmaster1]

Fun fact: The girl singing in Ashes is actually Tobias's daughter

[@cw-mr4hn]

Absolutely loved watching this- your analysis is so detailed. Now I need to re-listen to the album! thanks for sharing

[@jo-will-ker9765]

awesome work man ! I really enjoyed it

[@see.these.thoughts]

Thanks a lot! I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed it!

[@helmyt666]

such a good video!

[@Drewster6]

That was awesome and educational.

[@chrisvoa]

When hearing this album it was blatantly obvious it was a coveted FUCK YOU to his old bandmates with a story about the black death. Hes a clever cookie.

[@rig6568]

👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@SaabJitsu]

Great video but this is nothing new. Roger Waters/Pink Floyd, the Van Halen brothers/Michael Anthony, Gene and Paul/ Ace and Peter. Someone always wants more especially now when making a living in the music business is only for those who don't actually make music. I'm looking at you Spotify, Ticketmaster, Livenation and every investment firm buying up catalogs.

[@seemi9600]

I want to be your friend based off this educated response. Such a refresher.

[@VynylFantasy]

Ring around the Rosie is actually associated with the great fire of London, not a plague.

[@electrojones]

So, Tobias is the Morrissey of this band. Tight-fisted and duplicitous.

[@annechoyrocks]

Why? It was his concept and his investment into the band.

[@annechoyrocks]

I disagree. He won the lawsuit. It was his concept, and his investment into the band. He hired the bandmates, so they didn't have the same rights to the proceeds.

[@neonspec]

Don’t compare Tobias Forge to that fuckwad…

[@David-id4qy]

No he is ghost .Nobody else just him .Its that simple

[@lehtokurppa7824]

It's not a band, it's his solo-project.

[@dobedobedooo]

Tobias betrayed his friends. And you need to learn how to pronounce ’Tobias Forge’ correctly.

[@veenoir1991]

Prequelle was a shitty record anyway imo. The music is lame, and tobias's vocal melodies just don't hit. It all feels so ironically hollow.

[@PokeJoltz]

I think there's more to the story in general honestly. Situations like that are rarely black and white especially when an industry (music, Hollywood, etc.) gets involved. there's labels and lawyers and agents and so many people trying to grip onto something. From what I've seen, everyone retells the story differently. CC has mostly kept to the same story but has added details over the years and still conducts interviews while TF hasn't said much directly. Could be a deal or advice with his label but he hasn't really put out anything in opposition to the claims made nor has he gone on to bash anyone involved, resorting to just speaking ill of the entire situation. Things get messy when you involve people you care about with business and it's honestly no wonder there are so many falling outs when it comes to bands. To me it reads as a huge series of miscommunications and lack of/disregard for consideration on multiple levels (Management and TF to the band, etc.). Also he did his best on the pronunciation. I screw it up too with my speech impediment so I get it lol

[@lehtokurppa7824]

Key points about the lawsuit: 1) The only Ghoul to ever contribute to any writing of Ghost material was Martin Persner (Omega, who wrote instrumentals for Year Zero and the entirety of Zenith) was not a part of the lawsuit. None of the Ghouls suing Tobias had ever written anything for Ghost, and were from the beginning hired as live musicians, the drummer and bassist at the time had been in the band for a year. 2) The lawsuit started after the Ghouls wanted a pay raise, which Tobias did give them, but afterwards they claimed they couldn't understand the new deal since it was in English (all the previous deals were also in English). After Tobias presented them with a deal in Swedish, they refused it and sued him, leaving Tobias without a band with a world tour around the corner. 3) Ghost wasn't originally a band in 2006, it was just Tobias showing some riff ideas to his longtime musical friend and collegue Gustaf Lindström aka "Gurra", who he recorded the demos with later on. Gurra along with Martin Persner and former drummer Aksel Holmgren all supported Tobias, in that Ghost was always a solo-project of Tobias. The Ghouls were originally hired when Tobias had released Opus Eponymous and needed a touring band for the live shows to support the album. 4) After the Ghouls lost the lawsuit, they complained about the decision, but lost the following cases as well. This did not stop them from becoming absolute pathetic humans and acting like children. Their most despicable act was making a sexual fan-fic of Tobias and his dead big-brother, who was somewhat of a father figure to Tobias and one of the most important people in his life. He died the same day Tobias uploaded the first Ghost songs into MySpace, and he has since then it felt like a brutal deal, where he managed to start his life-ambition project, but had to lose his brother. The Ghouls also rip off Ghost's thematic's in their own projects, and keep typing insults in Ghost related comment fields. Ghost is Tobias, Tobias is Ghost, it has always been his and he nearly lost it due to greedy former "friends" who wanted to ruin his life's work, and we nearly lost the privilege of having Ghost around because of the Ghouls, luckily all is well now and he has a cast of professionals working with him and Ghost is going strong.

[@DrCockNBalls]

@@veenoir1991shut your goofy ass up 🤣😂

[@shawnmichaelslazyeye5417]

No witch image?