Lyrics by Mick. I'm printing them out even though they're written on the screen so you'll have no trouble discerning them through the earnest noise. I'm just guessing you won't listen through. Plus, if we can read them, we can analyze them:
We took it on the chin/The numbers were so grim/Bossed around by pricks/Stiffen upper lips...
Pricks/Stiffen... That's literary art.
Pacing in the yard/You're trying to take the Mick...
To take the mick is to tease somebody, and his name is Mick, so he's taking the butt-of-the-joke position.
You must think I’m really thick/Looking at the graphs with a magnifying glass/Cancel all the tours footballs fake applause/No more travel brochures/Virtual premieres I've got nothing left to wear/Looking out from these prison walls/You got to rob Peter if you're paying Paul/But it’s easy, easy/Everything's gonna get really freaky/Alright on the night/Soon it'll be a memory you'rе trying to remember to forgеt/That's a pretty mask/But never take a chance...
He's tired of the lockdown, and you should be too. He proceeds to list the stupid things he thinks you're probably doing:
TikTok stupid dance/Took a samba class, I landed on my ass/Trying to write a tune/You better hook me up to Zoom/See my Poncey books...
"Poncey" shouldn't be capitalized there. It's not a proper name. Not like there's somebody named Poncey whose books you've been reading. "Poncey books" are just the kind of books a "ponce" would have around. What "poncey books" have you been reading (or looking at) during the lockdown?
Teach myself to cook/Way too much TV its lobotomizing me/Think I've put on weight/I'll have another drink then I'll clean the kitchen sink/We escaped from the prison walls/Open the windows and open the doors...
Time to end the lockdown.
But its easy, easy/Everything’s gonna get really freaky/Alright on the night /t’s gonna be a garden of earthly delights/Easy, sleazy it's gonna be smooth and greasy....
According to the Urban Dictionary, "Greasy" means "sketchy, fucked up or sleazy." We're told the word can apply to a wide range of things — "from, taking a picture of your bros nipple, to brutally raping someone." Yeah, but "smooth and greasy" must be on the nicer end of that disturbing continuum.
Urban Dictionary adds: "Greasiness as a philosophy incorporates nihilistic and libertine values, it may be both respected by some and abhorred by others." "Greasiness as a philosophy" — what a concept!
Back to Mick:
Yeah easy, believe me/It’ll only be a memory you're trying to remember to forget/Shooting the vaccine Bill Gates is in my bloodstream/It's mind control....
Ha ha ha. Mick passes on the Bill Gates conspiracy theory.
The earth is flat and cold/It's never warming up/The arctic’s turned to slush/The second coming's late/There's aliens in the deep state....
Mick makes sure we understand the conspiracy theories are nutty.
And now we're coming in for a landing. It's all repetition from here on out... except for one very funny line that harks back to the grand old Stones-versus-Beatles question:
We'll escape from these prison walls/Now were out of these prison walls/You gotta pay Peter if you're robbing Paul/But it's easy, easy/Everything's gonna be really freaky/Alright on the night/We're all headed back to paradise/Yeah easy, believe me/It'll be a memory you're trying to remember to forget/Easy, cheesy, everyone sing ‘Please Please Me'/It'll be a memory you're trying to remember to forget....
Does Mick comically gives the victory to The Beatles? "Everyone sing 'Please Please Me.'" Oh, I don't think so. I think he's saying we're sick of the lockdown and sick of everyone coming together and earnestly pleasing everyone who's demanding to be pleased. Time to break out with some individualism, and please yourself.
FROM THE EMAIL: Khematite points to "No More Lockdown" by Van Morrison (from last October). Lyrics here. Sample: "No more lockdown/No more government overreach/No more fascist police/Disturbing our peace/No more taking of our freedom/And our God-given rights/Pretending it's for our safety/When it's really to enslave/Who's running our country?/Who's running our world?"
I never noticed that before, so I have to assume that it didn't get much attention. Why not? Too right wing?!
AND: Joseph writes:
I enjoyed the analysis of Mick's single. I think Van Morrison has recorded at least four tracks, one with Eric Clapton, criticizing the lockdown. Some grousing about it ensued, as you might expect. One of the complainers was Rolling Stone, and you'd think a magazine that sees its circulation shrinking as interest in music fades might pause to consider the effect all this staying at home will have on live music and, by extension, on music as a cultural phenomenon. In truth, Van, Springsteen, et.al. are probably the last generation of musicians to bring people into large venues. They're driven to play live. None of them needs the money, but neither did Johnny Cash or BB King, who toured until the end. It feeds a need in them.
On a more mundane, local level, this last year has probably killed live music in bars and restaurants. It was already in trouble. Musicians I know who play regularly are in four different bands and are still lucky to play once every weekend. When my wife and I were in a couple of bands in the 90s, we played 5 gigs a month in a bad month, as many as 7 or 8 in good months. Part of this change is generational. People under 40 just don't go out to a bar to hear music. Another thing that changed the interest in live music--and I know this is not a popular observation--is non-smoking laws passed by various state and local governments. If you tell people they can't smoke and, on top of that, decrease the acceptable level of alcohol to a point that if they have more than a beer or two they risk a DUI, they stay home. I'm willing to bet that you can chart the decline in live music to non-smoking laws and the success of MADD.
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