Ditto Ptolemy's comments. I would only add that in interpreting any Gang of Four song you have to bear in mind their heavy Marxist influences and their related belief that capitalism creates alienation and internal contradictions on multiple levels. Marx argued that capitalism would destroy itself but that, before it did so, it would creep into every corner of our lives. In this song, that process is creeping into our pursuit of fulfillment--but it's not natural. We cannot truly feel fulfilled from a new purchase, and so this heaven gives me migraine.
I'm not a Marxist, btw, but I'm a economist and so have read a lot of Marx. And I love Gang of Four!
Ditto Ptolemy's comments. I would only add that in interpreting any Gang of Four song you have to bear in mind their heavy Marxist influences and their related belief that capitalism creates alienation and internal contradictions on multiple levels. Marx argued that capitalism would destroy itself but that, before it did so, it would creep into every corner of our lives. In this song, that process is creeping into our pursuit of fulfillment--but it's not natural. We cannot truly feel fulfilled from a new purchase, and so this heaven gives me migraine.
I'm not a Marxist, btw, but I'm a economist and so have read a lot of Marx. And I love Gang of Four!