À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu

On Placebo’s new 2026 tour and my twenty-plus intermittent years with their music.

A sigh, a blink of an eye,
twenty years passed by.
I’ve been much working
and also a bit pondering,
while some riffs and lyrics
came back in wave-like visits.

Stubborn ghosts
carrying on my behalf
a self blurred by distance,
all the graceful shadows,
the rough seduction
of my collapsing youth.

Protège‑moi
from forgetting;
merci
for the feverish melancholy,
for the songs that stay,
and for you, not yet leaving the stage.

There’s a need to sing
that feels very present;
for desires are prettier
in dimly lit darkness,
and my inner teenager
is angrier than ever.

Despite what mirrors give away,
I tried to never forget
to be the way I am,
even if it sometimes meant
being unknown and undercover.
See you in November.