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How Boards of Canada’s Geogaddi is a Weapon Against the Occult
- Andrew Munnik
- May 5
- 4 min read
While not necessarily as massive as some of the legends in music today, The boards Of Canada's Geogaddi has helped them garner a cult following amongst their audiences, with the pun very much intended. Geogaddi, released in 2002, is woven together with obvious cult and occult-based influences, but the press surrounding the album has been minimalistic at best.
This lack of press has only driven Boards of Canada’s fans to dig deeper into their research, stunning even the band with what their searches have uncovered. A look at the history of the occult and how it has shaped music through the ages can give us a vague understanding of Geogaddi’s themes. It’s only through unpacking the album itself, however, that we can see the ways Boards of Canada speaks back to the dark history it apes.
Boards of Canada: Geogaddi’s Obvious Occult Influences
Music and magic have gone hand in hand for centuries, from witches singing folk hymns to soothe a bleating lamb to Mick Jagger’s fascination with Satanism.
Today, with access to the internet, that is even more true, allowing truly anybody to share their music and/or occultism with the world. That’s why, when looking at Geogaddi, it’s easy to overlook just how steeped in the occult this album is.
Compared to modern names like Manson or even certain Tumblr threads, the album is quite subtle in its references.
In lieu of chanting or Latin whispers, the usual musical shorthand for Western magical practices, Boards of Canada opted for eerie distortions and harsh soundscapes.
They also happened to include a silent track that brought the total runtime to 66 minutes and 6 seconds.
The group very clearly attempted to forge an album that invoked a sense of tension and almost supernatural fear, and when finally the lyrics hit, those eerie themes solidify into commentary.
Most notably, in “1969,” the group clearly makes mention of David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidians, a cult behind the Waco siege. In context, this reference alludes to the poor handling of the Waco incident by authorities, while speaking to the terror this incident instilled in the American people.
A History of the Occult in Music
With the access granted by the internet, musical occult practices are more common than ever, but never were they more centred in public conversation than during the 80s.
Coined as the ‘Satanic Panic,’ a massive cultural explosion took place across the United States at the time, prompting parents to intervene in the entertainment habits of their children.
Jesus was out, rebellion was in, and artists found themselves at odds in a cultural skirmish.
While few artists actually engaged in anything that could remotely be viewed as witchcraft, the horror it inspired in audiences swayed many to adopt the aesthetics of the craft.
Every group from Metallica to Milli Vanilli was accused of having connections to either Satan or the occult, and groups like Black Sabbath leaned heavily into this iconography.
One could go into great depths on the connections between Rock 'n Roll and the Satanic Temple (the modern one, that is), but the similarities are not tough to see. Rock ‘n Roll is a rebellion against the man- a rejection of the norms, and if there’s one literary figure in history known for standing against a grand authority, it’s the Devil.
The problem with this connection, however, lies in the true darkness that can exist in the occult. Not only are there incidents such as the Waco siege, but countless lives have been affected by traditional Satanists. Child sacrifice, murder, sexual violence and torture are just a few of the abhorrent behaviours inspired by the dark side of the occult, and Boards of Canada seem to understand this on a granular scale.
Boards of Canada Refuses Occult Norms
While the group might have been fascinated by the occult and cults at large, this was a morbid curiosity.
They saw the grief brought about by the wrongdoers within occult circles and sought to comment on this grief through their music.
The aforementioned example of Waco referenced in “1969” is one of many nods to real-life horror stories linked to occult practices.
Another example, “Julie and Candy,” seems to reference a child’s death during therapy, perhaps even suggesting occult influences in this case. These examples, however, can only ever be speculative without a response from Boards of Canada. The lack of press remains a final roadblock in deciphering this album’s myriad layers of meaning.
Looking at Geogaddi’s rejection of traditional musical shorthands (such as Judeo-Christian motifs) to perform the occult, and mentions of real-life tragedy, it seems obvious that Boards of Canada were attempting to push back against the glorification of the occult in music. As artists always have, they did so with flair and an appreciation for the artistry they were commenting on, but this does not dilute the scorn. Behind Geogaddi’s playfully creepy tone lies a truly twisted history and lyrics that seek to remind us just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
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