The REAL meaning behind "1963"?

Alright, can someone clear this up for me? I know what NOOL says about it, but I also remember listening to an interview with our favorite lads right before their first "Area: One" show (in Mountain View, California - USA)---which, if I remember correctly, the interview was hosted here on NOOL---and Barney himself said that 1963 was just a fictional story about a jilted lover...

Benny? JG? Anybody? True or false?

Originally posted by M. Domingo Alright, can someone clear this up for me? I know what NOOL says about it, but I also remember listening to an interview with our favorite lads right before their first "Area: One" show (in Mountain View, California - USA)---which, if I remember correctly, the interview was hosted here on NOOL---and Barney himself said that 1963 was just a fictional story about a jilted lover...

Benny? JG? Anybody? True or false?

Oh, this one again... Crops up every two months without fail. I have the answer saved as a text file on my hard drive, ready for cutting and pasting (and please, no one tell me it's about JFK/Marilyn Monroe again, or I might go quite mad:

This one crops up every month or so on this forum. The last time was http://neworderonlinecom.nexpoint.net/thread.asp?action=&thread\_id=5609&forum\_id=1 where the gist of the posts is as follows...

The comments about 1963 and JFK was just Barney talking generally about the year 1963, and JFK, not the song. There was an online streamed interview at the time Get Ready was released (an interview from GetMusic. To hear the interview just follow this link http://www.getmusic.com/calendar/audiochats/neworder/index.html and click on Hear The Chat Now) and a fan emailed in the question about the lyrics to 1963, and Barney just said it's a song from the point of view of a wife, being shot by her partner Johnny, then him going on to get another wife. The interviewer was a complete twat. Barney explained "1963" lyrics, saying that is a fictitious story about a man who kills his wife and the guy went "It sounds like an Eminem track to me". Really embarrassing.

The description he gives in that book doesn't marry up with the lyrics, as that would mean JFK shooting his missus, then remarrying, wouldn't it?

Hope that clears it all up, once and for all - although I'm sure someone else will be posting this question again in the near future!

Regards, Andrew Morrison Website: http://www.TrustNoOne.org.uk

YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

I heard the same interview, then! I remember that! The interviewer was a complete JACKASS. He called Barney "Bernerd"! Even though I'm an American, I wanted to kick that guy's ass! :p

Ehmm...so, since we're right...shouldn't the facts be changed on the NOOL link for the lyrics of 1963? Nudge-nudge, wink-wink ;)

Sorry to have brought it up, but thanks for being cool about it! :)

There is a lot of confusion about this. In the booklet to the (2000) re-release of the Glastonbury 87 gig, the writer argues that 1963 is about Bernard pouring out his 'bleeding heart'! You can draw your own conclusions about what he's getting at: I was always sceptical about such an interpretation.

none of these explanations make much sense to me anyway...

a song written in the viewpoint of a women who is bummed out because her loving husband, even though he didn't really want to hurt her, he just had to shoot her and kill her, and then moved on with his life and got another wife!?!?

i still think that the 'killing' is not literal murder and that it stems from something in Barney's childhood (circa 1963 maybe or so). its such an emotional song. and Barney doesn't seem like hes very open in interviews about his private life anyway, a lot of his comments in interviews are largely bullshit.... and of course, there are the use of drugs once or twice in his past.

Originally posted by pumped full of drugs none of these explanations make much sense to me anyway...a song written in the viewpoint of a women who is bummed out because her loving husband, even though he didn't really want to hurt her, he just had to shoot her and kill her, and then moved on with his life and got another wife!?!? i still think that the 'killing' is not literal murder and that it stems from something in Barney's childhood (circa 1963 maybe or so). its such an emotional song. and Barney doesn't seem like hes very open in interviews about his private life anyway, a lot of his comments in interviews are largely bullshit.... and of course, there are the use of drugs once or twice in his past.

Bernard Sumner's birthday is in January. Just mentioning it 'cause the song begins on the narrator's b'day in January. (Btw the Electronic song "Gangster" also mentions January, and I have read an interview that says that he considered this a very personal song and put a lot of work into the lyrics).

Originally posted by Warm Hands, Cold Heart IT,S A GAY STATEMENT !!!!!!!

No, it's not.

Once again: NO, IT IS NOT.

The only thing remotely intimating that this song could have a gay undercurrent is the freudian obsession of identifying pointy things, namely guns, as phallic symbols.

Well, guns are guns are guns, the main reason they are pointy is to give the bullet speed and accuracy, not to resemble penises.

Originally posted by Budvar Huber Once again: NO, IT IS NOT.

The only thing remotely intimating that this song could have a gay undercurrent is the freudian obsession of identifying pointy things, namely guns, as phallic symbols.

Well, guns are guns are guns, the main reason they are pointy is to give the bullet speed and accuracy, not to resemble penises.

i can see why some people would interpret it as a gay song, cuz most songwriters/lyricists write from the point of view of their own sex. rarily does a man write from a woman's POV, and vice versa. the only other person i can think of who writes from the other sex's POV is liz phair.

Sonic Youth do that too, almost all of the 'feminist' lyrics that Kim sings are in fact written by Thurston

I think he just wishes that he had the gun he had back in 1963. Someone should probably just send him to the Viagra website. It isn't completely natural, but it's better than talking about your gun of years gone by.

I'd always suspected it was about male rape or an adult abusing a young male. I think the gun is a penis. I suspect the young lad, who is getting a (birthday?) 'gift' in 'January' and is being 'used'. Who knows how closely Barney relates to this.

It was always accepted in our class at school that Barney was one of the first if not the first to lose his virginity and that would have been at the age of 12/13. Seems like he has had a long fixation with penises.

Originally posted by a very small boy It was always accepted in our class at school that Barney was one of the first if not the first to lose his virginity and that would have been at the age of 12/13. Seems like he has had a long fixation with penises.

i thought most men had fixations with their penises.

Originally posted by Snucker > Originally posted by a very small boy> It was always accepted in our class at school that Barney was one of the first if not the first to lose his virginity and that would have been at the age of 12/13. Seems like he has had a long fixation with penises.

i thought most men had fixations with their penises.

Not all men Snucker, only amateur freudian shrinks

Didn't you know? The Brotherhood track "Broken Promises" was originally called "Broken Penises". :D

Originally posted by M. Domingo Didn't you know? The Brotherhood track "Broken Promises" was originally called "Broken Penises". :D

right and wasnt "way of life" originally called "gay of life"?

Yup, and Shellshock became "Shellcock"

and who could forget the lost version of "lets go" originally titled "lets go behind that shed for some gay sex"

is this getting out of hand or what?

Originally posted by frank smarra is this getting out of hand or what?

actually, it seems to be getting IN hand

see? look at all this penis and masterbation talk! most guys have fixations with their penises after all!

Originally posted by Snucker see? look at all this penis and masterbation talk! most guys have fixations with their penises after all!

I have a long-standing arguement with mine....

I want to like a girl for her personality, but it takes one look at her breasts and goes wild :D