Tune in next week, when we’ll deconstruct The Ramones’ “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”…
Okay, here’s what I know and don’t know:
I do know there’s a great deal of commentary at large in the land that this song is criticizing the silly nationalism of the 1980 Olympic boycott. Obviously that’s just the springboard.
I do know that there was a French game-show called “Jeux sans Frontieres,” in which contestants dressed in outlandish costumes. The British version was called “It’s a Knockout.”
I don’t know (for certain) the point of the names in the first three lines. If anybody knows some sort of specific reference there let me know. Since I don’t know any, here’s what I think -
I think they’re non-specific, intentionally international names. As in, kids will all play with other kids.
I think he’s developing a little hint of the childish jealousies that turn into international tragedies for adults when he says “Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again.” Or else it just rhymes.
I do know that line four is crystal clear, unless he’s intentionally misleading us. I’m thinking we all know a very famous Adolph who built bonfires. Because Adolph built bonfires (and did all the thing represented thereby,) it became possible for Enrico (Fermi) and others to do the work that resulted in nuclear weapons.
I do know that the first line of the “Whistling tunes…” bit, and the whistling itself, evokes for me soldiers whistling regimental songs marching from point A to point B. They seem to do that in WWII movies. But that might be idiosyncratic.
I have no idea why we’re kissing baboons in the jungle.
The hook “If looks could kill they probably will” through “war without tears” is compact and completely understandable, but a little on the slant side. You have a statement that applies pretty well to the '80 Olympics, where we’re doing an “If looks could kill” sort of thing, and that turns the Olympics to “war without tears.” But I think it’s simultaneously a statement that we think of war as a game as well, and don’t shed too many tears for the fallen, especially the other guy’s fallen.
Andre has a red flag - Likely Andre Malraux, the French leftist, who wrote La Condition Humaine (The Human Condition), documenting a Communist uprising in Shanghai in 1927
Chiang Ching’s is blue - The blue flag of the kuomintang, as represented by Chiang Ching, son of Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek.
They all have hills to fly them on
Except for Lin Tai Yu
There’s a character in classical Chinese literature by that name, an emotional girl of exceeding beauty and intelligence. You know, the trampling-of-innocence-by-politics-and-war thing. Can’t be Lin Tai Yu when the choices are KMT, PRC, or run.
Dressing up in costumes, playing silly games
Hiding out in treetops, shouting out rude names
Another compact statement that evokes both the game shows of the title, and war (whether played as a game by kids or in deadly earnest by adults.)
Then back to the hook.
I don’t know if this is at all helpful but I woke up way too early, so there it is.
Mr. Peter Gabriel, ladies and gentlemen! [applause]
I always heard the line as: “She’s so Freudian.”
…and nothing about zombies in war!
Peter Gabriel’s lyrics could always be described as “enigmatic.” This song is no exception.
///GAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMEZZZZZZ///
I don’t consider it obvious at all. I get that the song is an anti-war song, but only in a vague sense. The specific lyrics, especially the “games without frontiers” part, are essentially meaningless to me.
It was worth reading a 2-year-old thread just for this post.
I always knew “She’s avuncular” made no sense, so I, too, decided “She’s so popular.” Didn’t even know until today what the line really was.
You mean “I Wanna Piece of Lady”?
But will anyone truly reveal the impenetrable depths of AC/DCs lyrics? Obscure imagery like, “Let Me Put My Love Into You” and “Givin’ the Dog a Bone” still elude experts to this day.
Many years ago there was a TV game show. It was called, variously, It’s A Knockout, Games Without Frontiers, Jeux Sans Frontiers. Teams from across Europe would compete, “dressing up in costumes, playing silly games”
Here’s a sample.
The lyrics compare inter-country politics to this game. Obvious when you know the show, hard to understand if you’ve never seen it.
Now if only we could find someone who knows the title of that Duran Duran song.
It’s The Bus that Couldn’t Slow Down.