This song is as strong as it was when I first heard it almost two decades ago. And you can't say that about many songs. Hence the extended analysis. Indulge me.
CULTURE SUCKS DOWN WORDS
Encapsulates the two key strands of the modern language dilemma. One, cultural appropriation renders language meaningless - hence 'no-one uses words like 'happy' and 'sad', do they? Unless they're in advertising' (Thom Yorke). Two, according to Foucault language always operates within the boundaries of acceptable discourse, hence in this present culture ageing, death and meaningless and the like are sucked into a void - or more literally, we catch the words in our throats and suck them back down rather than say the unacceptable.
ITEMISE LOATHING AND FEED YOURSELF SMILES
A key theme in the early Manics albums - consumerist goods equal degradation and self-loathing rather than self-empowerment as purported by advertising. 'Feed yourself smiles' emphasises the vicious circle of low-self-worth leading to consumer binges that allow only the briefest satisfaction - anything from a Big Mac to heroin, it's the same psychology.
ORGANISE YOUR SAFE TRIBAL WAR
This equals the Machiavellian doctrine of divide and rule. Consumer culture and material hierarchy create division between the people which weakens them and staves off revolution. But Richey is referring to the application of this principle across history, as the 'us and them' mentality has always been the most effective tool of social control.
HURT MAIM KILL AND ENSLAVE THE GHETTO
A difficult line. The violence suggests the brutality in a third world state, such as the anecdotes from my physiotherapist this evening about Gambian police beating citizens with no prevarication. But Richey was not afraid to use the Plathian technique of linking large scale atrocity to mental states of torture. So in this case the 'ghetto' is also a mental state, a feeling of enslavement or debilitation in an increasingly impersonal and dehumanising society.
EACH DAY LIVING OUT A LIE
LIFE SOLD CHEAPLY FOREVER, FOREVER
Tying the first verse together. Consumerism, tribalism and culture all purport to empower the individual and confer a sense of identity, but in fact cheapen and degrade the individual and mask their worthless in a system that requires disposable robots.
UNDER NEON LONELINESS MOTORCYCLE EMPTINESS
UNDER NEON LONELINESS MOTORCYCLE EMPTINESS
These lines really hit home when the song came on my Ipod randomly as I watched the sun rise over Shinjuku, Tokyo. Only later did I discover that the video for Motorcycle Emptiness was filmed here. What I saw from my vantage point 20 floors up was young Japanese dudes and their girls on these outlandish big motorbikes straight out of a comic book, Tokyo neon all around. Cool as f*ck - and devoid of any purpose or meaning whatsoever. Underneath all the clothes, the posing and the 'movie of my life' is the gaping awareness of our own significance and the sense of fruitlessness in a world teetering on the brink of self-extinction.
This song is as strong as it was when I first heard it almost two decades ago. And you can't say that about many songs. Hence the extended analysis. Indulge me.
CULTURE SUCKS DOWN WORDS Encapsulates the two key strands of the modern language dilemma. One, cultural appropriation renders language meaningless - hence 'no-one uses words like 'happy' and 'sad', do they? Unless they're in advertising' (Thom Yorke). Two, according to Foucault language always operates within the boundaries of acceptable discourse, hence in this present culture ageing, death and meaningless and the like are sucked into a void - or more literally, we catch the words in our throats and suck them back down rather than say the unacceptable.
ITEMISE LOATHING AND FEED YOURSELF SMILES A key theme in the early Manics albums - consumerist goods equal degradation and self-loathing rather than self-empowerment as purported by advertising. 'Feed yourself smiles' emphasises the vicious circle of low-self-worth leading to consumer binges that allow only the briefest satisfaction - anything from a Big Mac to heroin, it's the same psychology.
ORGANISE YOUR SAFE TRIBAL WAR This equals the Machiavellian doctrine of divide and rule. Consumer culture and material hierarchy create division between the people which weakens them and staves off revolution. But Richey is referring to the application of this principle across history, as the 'us and them' mentality has always been the most effective tool of social control.
HURT MAIM KILL AND ENSLAVE THE GHETTO A difficult line. The violence suggests the brutality in a third world state, such as the anecdotes from my physiotherapist this evening about Gambian police beating citizens with no prevarication. But Richey was not afraid to use the Plathian technique of linking large scale atrocity to mental states of torture. So in this case the 'ghetto' is also a mental state, a feeling of enslavement or debilitation in an increasingly impersonal and dehumanising society.
EACH DAY LIVING OUT A LIE LIFE SOLD CHEAPLY FOREVER, FOREVER Tying the first verse together. Consumerism, tribalism and culture all purport to empower the individual and confer a sense of identity, but in fact cheapen and degrade the individual and mask their worthless in a system that requires disposable robots.
UNDER NEON LONELINESS MOTORCYCLE EMPTINESS UNDER NEON LONELINESS MOTORCYCLE EMPTINESS These lines really hit home when the song came on my Ipod randomly as I watched the sun rise over Shinjuku, Tokyo. Only later did I discover that the video for Motorcycle Emptiness was filmed here. What I saw from my vantage point 20 floors up was young Japanese dudes and their girls on these outlandish big motorbikes straight out of a comic book, Tokyo neon all around. Cool as f*ck - and devoid of any purpose or meaning whatsoever. Underneath all the clothes, the posing and the 'movie of my life' is the gaping awareness of our own significance and the sense of fruitlessness in a world teetering on the brink of self-extinction.
Anyone fancy having a go at the next verse?
Liminal2 - really enjoyed your piece on this song... I had a crack at more of the song's lyrics if you'd like to see/discuss.
Liminal2 - really enjoyed your piece on this song... I had a crack at more of the song's lyrics if you'd like to see/discuss.
Cheers.
Cheers.