Barney's lyrics

Originally posted by Martin Gray Anyone here remember Barney's crazy explanation for how he gets his lyrics, around the time of Brotherhood in 1986-1987: he was banging on about this "ball of juice" in his head and how this thing inspires him to write what he feels it tells him to. Honestly - what drugs was he on then? I think this appeared in an interview in Melody Maker around this time (Ted Mico probably wrote the piece) - when his surreal sense of hummous was perhaps at its most extreme. What a wag!

Yeah, I remember that piece.

brian, martin i totally agree....barneys never been one of the great lyricists but somehow it didnt matter so much before; he seemed to carry the daftness off with a bit more panache. im not looking for "meaningful" lyrics, or incredible insight(though barney manages that sometimes)or poetry; ive not got some kind of stalinistic attitude towards assessing a lyrics merits. fuck that, id merely like a rest from the often trite, cliched and predictable lyrics found on "get ready".

god, my post seems fucking harsh....despite all that, barney, yure still the cats whiskers..

completely agree that early lyrics can appeal on a deeper level than the on GetReady, look at the lyrics on LowLife for instance...

other lyrics i think are worth noting off the top of my head are Round&Round and Special both of which can be taken on many levels of understanding.

I think many lyrics Barneys done with Electronic are quite sublime as well, the first album is pretty much acclaimed as being of a very high standard (if u forgive the ermm.. "experimental" feel every beat!) B ut who can forget Forbidden City off Raise the pressure?? What an inspired way to start an album with the line -

"There's not a hope, While you're in this kind of mood"

class!!

Originally posted by Jeff White > Originally posted by Patrick> By the way, Jeff, is "wanker" a term that you picked up here? It's not a word I had ever heard before seeing it used here.

actually, the first time I heard the term wanker...it was on a tape made by a drunken Dudley Moore and one of his pals...they talked about metallic penises...wankers...they sang a song about a man jumping from a burning building (they told him to jump into the blanket that they were not holding)...it was actually a very amusing tape, unfortunately, I have no idea what the heck happened to it!

saw an episode of married with children once set in wanker county in the us of a & everyone was called wanker. made it much funnier in the uk & was surprised it was shown at all over here

Originally posted by Buster Klumpy > Originally posted by Martin Gray> Anyone here remember Barney's crazy explanation for how he gets his lyrics, around the time of Brotherhood in 1986-1987: he was banging on about this "ball of juice" in his head and how this thing inspires him to write what he feels it tells him to. Honestly - what drugs was he on then? I think this appeared in an interview in Melody Maker around this time (Ted Mico probably wrote the piece) - when his surreal sense of hummous was perhaps at its most extreme. What a wag!

Yeah, I remember that piece.

Gosh! I'm glad someone does then! Glad because it means people aren't gonna assume I'm making things up again.... I can always count on you for the occasional factual verification Buster! You Rock!!

Originally posted by dave hibell > Originally posted by Jeff White> > > > Originally posted by Patrick> > By the way, Jeff, is "wanker" a term that you picked up here? It's not a word I had ever heard before seeing it used here.>

actually, the first time I heard the term wanker...it was on a tape made by a drunken Dudley Moore and one of his pals...they talked about metallic penises...wankers...they sang a song about a man jumping from a burning building (they told him to jump into the blanket that they were not holding)...it was actually a very amusing tape, unfortunately, I have no idea what the heck happened to it!

saw an episode of married with children once set in wanker county in the us of a & everyone was called wanker. made it much funnier in the uk & was surprised it was shown at all over here

Not half as funny as, back in 1990, when I taught my (then ) 12-year old American cousin the meaning of the word "Wanker" and - in an hilarious echo of the notorious Matt Bianco debacle on BBC1's Saturday Superstore in 1984 - he called into a live dial-in pop roadshow that came to Nevada and told the special guests of the day New Kids On The Block : "Gee you guys are such wankers". The band thought he was complimenting them and thanked him graciously on air, not realising what he meant.... I pissed myself at that one. So now Alex, aged 23 and now happily engaged, has never looked back. What a trooper! Ha ha ha ha

"the lyrics is an observation the way normal people live", just this.

barneys lyrics are ambiquios. i always found them very intriging and understood them and related to them as i was growing up. the ones i didnt understand made me delve deeper into his work and mind which was both scary and fasenating. the worst time i had was questioning life and taking drugs while using new orders lyrics as a guide, now that was brilliant and stupid but not regrettable. remember if you take on some elses mind be prepared as you might not like what you find, as ive found it had a profound effect on me and will haunt me to my death bed...yet strange after being thru what i went thru all the pain and the dark stuff of psyschosis and delusions, they are now the only band i play and the music i listen too...

[Content deleted by melanie on 2/27/2003 7:03:46 AM EDT]

Originally posted by melanie barneys lyrics are ambiquios. i always found them very intriging and understood them and related to them as i was growing up. the ones i didnt understand made me delve deeper into his work and mind which was both scary and fasenating. the worst time i had was questioning life and taking drugs while using new orders lyrics as a guide, now that was brilliant and stupid but not regrettable. remember if you take on some elses mind be prepared as you might not like what you find, as ive found it had a profound effect on me and will haunt me to my death bed...yet strange after being thru what i went thru all the pain and the dark stuff of psyschosis and delusions, they are now the only band i play and the music i listen too...

Blimey!

I do kind of get your drift tho....

I find that half of the time I love Barney's lyrics and half of the time I'm embarassed at how awful they are. (Exhibit A: Lonesome Tonight.) He writes a mess of trite crap and then will toss in a zinger that redeems the song (Exhibit B: Your Silent Face). I don't know, for somebody who never set out to be a lyricist he does a decent job, even if he's Mr. Rhyming Couplets most of the time.

I think part of Barney's problem is that he's not Ian Curtis, who was a devastatingly incredible lyricist, and Barney will always in some sense be at least subconsciously compared to Ian.

As for the complaints about Run Wild-- I agree, although I was under the impression that while the song was inspired by Grace, it was written to not necessarily be exactly about that. It could just as easily be directed to a girlfriend, frankly. And the "Live to get high," while inappropriate for a song about a dying child, may work in the sense that the song is about cheering somebody up ("good times around the corner") and, well, since Grace isn't dying, that might be why B can be somewhat flippant about it.

This is interesting. I had always loved his lyrics up until Republic (which still had some incredible lyrics, but it had an inordinate amount of crap lyrics too). I love some of his stuff on Movement, even though its self-concious and I hate the album itself. And then there is Procession, Mesh, Cries and Whispers, Everything Gone Green, Blue Monday, Thieves Like us (equally cheesy and beautiful, pure Barney), your silent face, leave me alone, sunrise, this time of night, love vigilantees, as it is when it was, broken promise, All Day Long, BLT, True Faith, 1963 Loveless, ALl the way, Vanishing Point, Regret, Special, Everyone Everywhere. There are a lot of tremendous lyrical songs.

Your right, few would compare him to Ian, but on the other hand Barney certainly had a greater lyrical range to his lyrics, if not equal depth, in comparison to Ian. I don't think Ian could write equally well about heartbreak and devestation as he could about joy, and pleasure, and basic fun. Ian's tunes dealt with very specific themes, Barneys lyrics deal with everything conceivable from soccer to lost love, to drugs, to child abuse, to war and everything inbetween. He'll never write anything as consistently magnificent lyrically as Closer, but he can write lyrics, song by song, that are up to the qualities and the standards of the very best songs off of Closer.

And I actually like the lyrics on Lonesome Tonight. :)

Originally posted by DoN i've always found Barney's lyrics to be quite enigmatic believe it or not!he did an interview for Electronic some while ago where he mentioned his "insouciant" lyric writing style!

i think Barney's lyrics are some of the most enigmatic i've ever encountered, in ANY kind of music, especially pop.

the ambiguous political/personal meanings of the songs, particularly around the Power Corruption & Lies era (even the title of the album) are as enigmatic as pop lyrics get, in many ways.

Bloody hell, this thread's a bit of a blast from the past, isn't it??!

Listen to This Time Of Night quietly and alone and the lyrics can almost make you shiver as their so cold and scathing yet at the same time strangely comforting.. Barneys voice was also still quite subdued at this stage with a lot more empathy in his voice than he managed on GetReady i reckon.

His lyrics have a pop strength which other groups' writers don't quite possess--he can get away with practically anything because if it's singable it's a winner. And that is a key in pop music--i mean otherwise how could Fine Time have been a hit single? Blue Monday is a classic dance tune because it set the stage for platitudinal lyrics and virtually every dance act has followed that lead since.

And let's look at the target audience here, who is New Order appealing to? It isn't to the 50+contemplative rock audience who are into Tracy Chapman and Bruce Springsteen, it's about clubs and drugs....and nutters like us all

I've always used the rule of 1/3 with Barney's lyrics.

1/3 are very meaningful (Your Silent Face, Cries & Whispers)

1/3 are silly but good (Crystal, 60MPH, Perfect Kiss)

1/3 are just awful (slow jam, run wild, rock the shack)

From, Will