| The Smiths – Panic Lyrics | 2 years ago |
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@[jenny11837:42103] You're welcome. I should point out that of course it's all speculative / conjecture - nobody would truly know other than the man himself, and anyone around him that he happened to let in on it. It's likely not necessarily explicitly 100% about one thing or another. Like an onion, songs can have many layers. But I do think when you closely at some of the lyrical references and the original promo video content then it does appear to be a veiled way of putting it out there. The original promo video is a bit of clue and is a bit harder to find online these days for those looking as its been replaced by an updated one that overlays live footage onto the main imagery mainly obscuring it. However, I did find it with ease on Vimeo this morning so it's still out there. I think many of those who instantly dismiss this theory perhaps aren't looking at this original promo video and connecting the dots. It's at least a little bit odd it got updated to obscure much of the content, and it's more difficult to find the original version. As well as all the potential lyrical references, and the references mentioned earlier, there's other imagery in this video to pick up on that seem out of place with the song if it's purely about Steve Wright and Radio 1 music etc., but seem to go hand-in-hand with the Savile scandal. Plus, the subject seems to have been an open secret amongst many in the music industry at the time and wider afield. It's really not a far stretch that Morrissey was aware of him, and this was a way of putting it out there. Others were also putting it out there in the 80's, some in a far more explicit and obvious manner. Many dismiss it all as nonsense, there is some discussion about it elsewhere on the t'interweb, but personally I don't think so, and many others have picked up on the same things. Me and a sibling had a near-miss with the guy as kids ourselves in the late 70's / early 80's - thankfully nothing happened... but needless to say he was at a school, my siblings school, which happened to be a school for children with a particular disability, he turned up as a guest of honour as it was celebrating some sort of anniversary. |
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| British Sea Power – No Lucifer Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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Part of a British operation within WW2 was codenamed Operation Lucifer in 1940. So I think Lucifer in the context of this song may refer specifically to that but it's probably more general and maybe refers to German soldiers or planes and the Axis powers in general. The song sounds like it's about what young British men faced the prospect of around this time. The reference to the bicycles (a Carlton Corsair men's racing bicycle and the Raleigh 20, a ladies bicycle) and that whole segment there paints a bit of a picture of a young couple in love out on a bike ride enjoying nature and their time together with the black cloud of war looming. It might involve an element of conscientious objection. "To Sodom I will go, not to Meggido" perhaps inferring the subject matter of the song would rather be out on that bike ride with his partner enjoying nature and go to Sodom for sinning (possibly by objecting) than go to Meggido (the Armageddon of war). Or alternatively, and I think more likely is the subject had the dilemma of having to kill (and have to square that up with going to Sodom if it was seen as a sin as opposed to going to Meggido should the Allied forces not defeat the Axis powers). I think a key line might be... "Is that what the future holds... kevlar or cherry wood, malevolence or good" - it's about the prospect and dilemma young people of this time were faced with, and really having no choice to do this for their future and our future. It's a fantastic song, a real sonic adrenaline rush with beautifully written and thought provoking sentiments, by a fantastic and criminally underrated band. |
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| R.E.M. – Man On The Moon Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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I think from something Michael said on stage that this song is actually more about death itself with the main point of reference being the whole Andy Kaufman thing. Michael introduced it on stage as a song "about a journey, it's a beautiful journey, it's one that we're all going to take some day, and we had to choose somebody to go on this journey for us in this song, and we picked the greatest comedian of the 20th century by my estimation... Mr Andy Kaufman". |
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| The Smiths – Panic Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Well, seems to me like a lot of the entertainment industry of that era knew to at least some degree of Savile's behaviour, be it through rumours, or something more concrete. Jimmy Savile was a resident DJ in at least one Manchester club for awhile so maybe thats how Morrissey knew. My guess though is he probably heard one or two things from other folk in the music industry back at the time, maybe even through JP when doing Peel sessions, not that JP is on a pedestal nowadays either, but maybe somebody like JP mentioned it. The band Half Man Half Biscuit were alluding to his behaviour back in 1985 with the track 'I left my heart in Papworth General' (go look it up its on Youtube), and then you've got Mark Lamarr and others on the music panel show 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' referencing it numerous times, pretty much a decade ago. Many people knew for a long time it seems. Many folk tried to speak out, but were silenced or ignored it seems. To me this looks like Morrissey putting it out there indirectly without finding himself subject to being sued and potentially something more sinister happening, bearing in mind those that Savile associated with. |
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| The Smiths – Panic Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Looking back, this song is clearly about reVILEd DJ Jimmy Savile, which Morrissey must have had knowledge about, some 26 years ago. 'The Leeds side streets that you slip down, the provincial towns you jog 'round', it's so obvious now listening to it. The original promo video shows the lead character smoking throughout (albeit a cigarette and not a cigar) and passionately kissing a skull at the end (a reference to one of Savile's bizarre 'interests'), and throughout has a first person view of an outstretched hand running down sidestreets in a groping fashion, whilst switching back to children playing in the playground, as the line 'Hang the DJ' is sung by youngsters. There are also other possible references in the video. It's funny the original promo video was remade with live footage overlaid over the original video, obscuring most of the content in the process, but both can be found on YouTube. I'm sure some of the inspiration may have come about because of the Steve Wright / Wham thing referenced earlier, and the line 'the music that they constantly play' is clearly in tune with that line of thinking, but I'm almost certain this is about Savile. |
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