Tuesday 13 April 2010

It might be worth having a little look at the lyrics.

CHANGE. HOPE. FAMILIES. DECENT HARD-WORKING TAXPAYERS. CHANGE.

In the light of that 'message', being fridgemagneted and madlibbed by all three of the major parties in the run-up to the election, the choice of Keane's 'Everybody's Changing' for the launch of the Tory manifesto must have seemed like a brilliant idea. Firstly, it's totally cutting edge (it was released as recently as 2004!) plus, also, CHANGE. Everybody's changing, see? Like, changing their vote to David and his team of DECENT, HARDWORKING, FAMILY TAXPAYERS for CHANGE?

It's a shame, of course, that nobody asked Keane- whose drummer has already expressed his horror via twitter. But, if the Tories have paid their PRS money, they can play whatever they like. What's a real shame is that they didn't bother to work out that songs have lyrics as well as titles.

'You say you wander your own land
But when I think about it
I don't see how you can'


Not bad so far, I suppose. Bit BNP-ish, I suppose- 'CAN WE EVEN CALL BRITAIN OUR ROYAL LAND ANY MORE?' and all that, but otherwise neutral enough. Oh- maybe they're talking about right to roam, though? Let's see what's next.

'You're aching, you're breaking
And I can see the pain in your eyes
Since everybody's changing
And I don't know why. '


Great start to this verse, for Honest Dave and co. The country is Broken Britain- it's aching, breaking, and in pain. For a bonus, there's almost an echo of the great Billy Ray Cyrus, too. And look- Everybody's Changing! There we have it. CHANGE! HOPE!

Oh, I've just seen the last line of the verse. Surely the Tories ought to know WHY Everybody's Changing? I do hope they're not confused. Well, only one way to find out:

'So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same. '


New, tough choices for a Brighter Britain. Or a description of someone having a nervous breakdown?

I can't think of a better example of the poverty of our national debate than the party which is likeliest to form the next government co-opting a song on the basis of two words, and not even thinking to check what else it said. Soundbites, kids. That's all we're going to get.

5 comments:

jondrytay said...

You, evision, are some kind of robot. Leave my blog alone.

David said...

Review of Radio 3 Music Matters' 'ask the arts ministers' suggested that their messages were equally bland and lacking in anything but woozy generalities. But what would you expect from Ben Bradshaw.

As for these spammers, d'you reckon they get anything out of the effort entailed? You can always go for modding, you know.

katetf said...

It could have been worse, Jon. They could have gone for A Change is Gonna Come. I would pay actual money to watch Cameron keep a straight face as that played at a Tory manifesto launch.

Katie B said...

Lovely blog. Well done the Tories for not thinking it through. (Is it wrong of me to find Evision rather sexy?)

Glory von Hathor said...

Broken Britain, eh. Ever feel like the entire country finds itself yearning for a moment in the fifties that only ever existed on telly?

Wow. Actual robots love your blog. That's so Doctor Who...