This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
The High Street shops are boarded up
An' the terrace it is fenced in
See-through shields are walled across
The way that you came in
But there's no need to get excited
As the lorries bring the bacon in
'cause the housewives are all singing
Groovy times are here again
They discovered one black Saturday
That mobs don't march they run
So you can excuse the nervous triggerman
Just this once for jumping the gun
As they were picking up the dead
Out of the broken glass
Yes it's number one, the radio said
Groovy times have come to pass!
Groovy times groovy times groovy times
The intake is on the uptake
The acceleration's pretty grim
I can remember his first appearance
Now look what's happened to him
So they put him in a dog suit
Like from 1964
The king of early evening TV
Groovy times forever more
Groovy times
An' the terrace it is fenced in
See-through shields are walled across
The way that you came in
But there's no need to get excited
As the lorries bring the bacon in
'cause the housewives are all singing
Groovy times are here again
They discovered one black Saturday
That mobs don't march they run
So you can excuse the nervous triggerman
Just this once for jumping the gun
As they were picking up the dead
Out of the broken glass
Yes it's number one, the radio said
Groovy times have come to pass!
Groovy times groovy times groovy times
The intake is on the uptake
The acceleration's pretty grim
I can remember his first appearance
Now look what's happened to him
So they put him in a dog suit
Like from 1964
The king of early evening TV
Groovy times forever more
Groovy times
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Mountain Song
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
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Magical
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
"Ain't things Groovy... Ain't you sick of hearing that for the last thirty years" once exclaimed Strummer.
That's what its about; pretending things are a-okay, when they're quite clearly not. Musically, socially, culturally and politically looking the other way in the name of entertainment and supposéd happiness.
i think its about the riots in London at the time, which were thought of as a good time, because people were taking notice, and it paved the way for public demonstrations, because people finally realised that weight of numbers could not be ignored. but its also acknowledging the price that was paid for this. i think black saturday was one of the bloodiest riots at the time
i think this song is being ironic saying groovy times... kind of like saying 'good times...' you know, when your being sarcastic. i dont know... i dont know what black saturday is... i know ive heard it before.
I love the way this song sounds, with the acoustic guitars and joe's voice...at the time, it was a different sound for them, and i think it worked well
BoHo's right there.
OK This song means a lot to me. First of all, the guys in The Clash were growing up and performing during a time of great civil unrest, massive unemployment and poverty. All the while, the government was doing their best to whitewash the grim reality. This theme is prevalent in many of Joe's songs.
Saying "Groovy times" can refer to music, movies, entertainment, any sort of mantra to tell yourself or others that everything's really better than it seems. As BoHo pointed out, Joe was very clearly sick of the wool being pulled over people's eyes, and I certainly think he wrote and sang these songs in response.
ok the Lyrics:
First verse: He's talking about Riot police storming into an area (as the lorries bring the bacon in) and walling it off with see-through riot shields, perhaps in a shopping (the High Street) or residential area. Suddenly finding yourself barricaded off in an otherwise normal public place could be extremely scary You might be inclined to run or hide and might get shot in the process. But don't worry there's no reason to be nervous because all the police are your friends! If you've done nothing wrong there's no reason to worry right? I'm sure all of the innocents dead in the world would disagree.
Second Verse: if you google "Black Saturday" you'll find many references. Joe could be speaking of December 6th, 1975 in Beirut but more to the point - If you get a large number of people together, what may have started as a peaceful demonstration can turn to a mob in a heartbeat. Tempers can flare, people can get trampled and property destroyed, suddenly you've got a riot.
Now add policemen or soldiers to that mix. They may be there to keep and/or restore order, but now there's a surge of angry people yelling, running, burning cars, throwing rocks and molotovs. That could make even the most seasoned person nervous and before long a shot is going to get fired and someone will die. In the aftermath you'll have the press acting as apologizers saying "Excuse the nervous triggerman just this once for jumping the gun" he acted inappropriately and it won't happen again...not until the next time. Maybe they will try to spin it that the crowd acted in the wrong. It doesn't matter because people are still dead "they were picking up the dead out of the broken glass". Meanwhile you've got the TV and the radio to distract you and tell you everything's ok!
Third verse: I'm not exactly sure what he means by "the intake is on the uptake" by I always felt it meant that the amount of bullshit people are willing to buy is on the rise.
Afterwards he seems to be referencing an English TV icon, and I'm not sure who, but the message is that the media will take something or someone you love and whitewash, re-package, and re-sell it to you over and over until they've taken the piss out of any previous meaning or credibility it may have had.
They'll dress it up and have it dancing around in a chicken suit before you know it.
Remember your childhood heroes because it won't be long before they're doing a 'reality' show or on TV doing commercials shilling some product, because hey we're all getting older and could use a little more money right?
Hey Groovy!
He's referencing Elvis Costello
The "King of early evening ITV" being referenced is Bill Gundy, who was on Thames Television's Today show. Thames was a licensee of ITV. He famously interviewed the Sex Pistols, and the outrage over that interview shoved the Pistols into the public eye and kicked off the punk era as a major thing. It ruined his career