jasonjohn wrote: Fri 13 Jun 2025, 2:37 am
Nothing abstruse about Bullet for Narcissus or The Dictator Decides, lol.
There's no "name dropping" for one thing, and that makes it a bit more generic, abstract and malleable to interpretation and interpolation.
Pet Shop Boys are at their best when they deploy subtle allusion. Contrast with direct expressions such as "the poison of Putin" and "the lies of its [Russia's] leaders". Not much subtlety, flexibility or room for error at play there. In the past they wrote singles with a political focus, i.e. I'm With Stupid, about Blair and Bush, and if you didn't read between the lines, you could very easily think it was just a song about an intercontinental dalliance between a couple of immature celebrities.
Retro.
"Politics are too emotional now. Contemporary culture generally is too emotional, really... I'd rather people looked to the truth." (Neil Tennant)
Can you list ALL THESE songs where he specifically names people politically?
You're ranting like he's been doing it constantly. He hasn't. Agenda and Zero Hour don't mention names. They're equal with Bullet, Stupid, Shopping, etc.
In Hymn he has chosen to be very explicit about the topic. Good. It's his song.
jasonjohn wrote: Fri 13 Jun 2025, 5:44 am
Stop whining.
I'm not whining. In fact, if your comprehension skills were any good you would have noticed I was explicitly giving thanks for the quality control that sees their more "artistic" tracks find their way onto the albums, and the more "overt" tracks finding their way onto miscellaneous releases like this. I'm not even saying the more overt songs are bad songs necessarily - simply that they're not their best.
So Jason... calm down, and stop being so hot under the collar.
Retro.
"Politics are too emotional now. Contemporary culture generally is too emotional, really... I'd rather people looked to the truth." (Neil Tennant)
jasonjohn wrote: Fri 13 Jun 2025, 5:44 am
Can you list ALL THESE songs where he specifically names people politically?
You're ranting like he's been doing it constantly. He hasn't. Agenda and Zero Hour don't mention names. They're equal with Bullet, Stupid, Shopping, etc.
In Hymn he has chosen to be very explicit about the topic. Good. It's his song.
Here they sit
talking rot
Saddam Hussein
and Pol Pot
Mao Tse Tung
bares his gnashers
at Idi Amin’s
and Emperor Bokassa’s
There he is
Josef Stalin
thick as thieves
with that old bore Lenin
Look at the two of them
putting the boot in
ranting and raving
and bitching ’bout Putin
Hell, hello!
It’s hell in here
Evil is a bore
with a big idea
Hell, hello!
What’s not to fear?
Love death not life
and make it hell in here
It’s a real no brainer
the blood just oozes
when Vlad the Impaler
meets the Ceaucescus
It’s getting mighty crowded
and hot as wasabi
but they’ll have to make room
for Robert Mugabe
Caligula
spits stale panini
at Adolf Hitler
and Mussolini
Napoleon
casts a withering sneer
at Kim Il-Sung
from North Korea
Hell, hello!
It’s hell in here
Evil is a bore
with a big idea
Hell, hello!
What’s not to fear?
Evil is a bore
which makes it hell in here
Serial killers,
begging your pardon,
are beyond the pale
and so’s Osama Bin Laden
Heinrich Himmler’s
doing his best
to avoid the attentions
of Fred West
Ivan the Terrible
isn’t terribly nice
when Giles de Rais
seeks his advice
Hell, hello!
What’s not to fear?
Evil is a bore
which makes it hell in here
It’s hell in here
Hell, hello!
The big idea
Love death not life
and make it hell in here
It’s hell in here
Hell in here
jasonjohn wrote: Fri 13 Jun 2025, 5:44 am
Can you list ALL THESE songs where he specifically names people politically?
You're ranting like he's been doing it constantly. He hasn't. Agenda and Zero Hour don't mention names. They're equal with Bullet, Stupid, Shopping, etc.
In Hymn he has chosen to be very explicit about the topic. Good. It's his song.
Here they sit
talking rot
Saddam Hussein
and Pol Pot
Mao Tse Tung
bares his gnashers
at Idi Amin’s
and Emperor Bokassa’s
There he is
Josef Stalin
thick as thieves
with that old bore Lenin
Look at the two of them
putting the boot in
ranting and raving
and bitching ’bout Putin
Hell, hello!
It’s hell in here
Evil is a bore
with a big idea
Hell, hello!
What’s not to fear?
Love death not life
and make it hell in here
It’s a real no brainer
the blood just oozes
when Vlad the Impaler
meets the Ceaucescus
It’s getting mighty crowded
and hot as wasabi
but they’ll have to make room
for Robert Mugabe
Caligula
spits stale panini
at Adolf Hitler
and Mussolini
Napoleon
casts a withering sneer
at Kim Il-Sung
from North Korea
Hell, hello!
It’s hell in here
Evil is a bore
with a big idea
Hell, hello!
What’s not to fear?
Evil is a bore
which makes it hell in here
Serial killers,
begging your pardon,
are beyond the pale
and so’s Osama Bin Laden
Heinrich Himmler’s
doing his best
to avoid the attentions
of Fred West
Ivan the Terrible
isn’t terribly nice
when Giles de Rais
seeks his advice
Hell, hello!
What’s not to fear?
Evil is a bore
which makes it hell in here
It’s hell in here
Hell, hello!
The big idea
Love death not life
and make it hell in here
It’s hell in here
Hell in here
I like the song but it's very much a smorgasboard of foreign villains as signposted by the UK and US media. There is no mention of the reformed Roman Catholic formally known as Tony Blair. Yes, Fred West is in there but he was a small-time landscape gardener compared to some of these bastards.
