# The song "True" by Spandau Ballet **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539 "2014-05-29T04:36:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/1 "2014-05-29T04:36:44Z")
What in the hell is “true”? This much? Of what? What in the hell is true? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/2 "2014-05-29T04:39:27Z")
Uh … “Rio” by Duran Duran? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/3 "2014-05-29T04:49:21Z")
Lyrics written while on drugs and when you believe you’re some kind of poet during the new wave 80s should not be paid attention to. Compare with Duran Duran and the Human League. It’s all incomprehensible pseudo-intellectual gibberish. ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/4 "2014-05-29T04:56:44Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Lyrics written while on drugs and when you believe you’re some kind of poet during the new wave 80s should not be paid attention to. > > Compare with Duran Duran and the Human League. It’s all incomprehensible pseudo-intellectual gibberish. I will never understand what “The Reflex” is about. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/5 "2014-05-29T05:05:18Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > I will never understand what “The Reflex” is about. It’s in charge of finding treasure in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/6 "2014-05-29T05:10:03Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > What in the hell is “true”? This much? Of what? What in the hell is true? It’s right there in the song. “My nose itches, my butt itches, it’s true.” ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/7 "2014-05-29T05:16:53Z")
80’s music brings up so many questions … Does the Safety Dance really keep us safe? Why does the chick at the dance hall have an amethyst in her mouth and why did I not even learn that that was the line until this year? And why do we have to shock the monkey? What did it ever do to us? ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/8 "2014-05-29T05:57:56Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > What in the hell is “true”? This much? Of what? What in the hell is true? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/9 "2014-05-29T06:27:09Z")
I think it’s one of those slightly philosophical things a bit like “I think therefore I am”. What is true is the line itself. Everything else is suspect. Like, wow, man. Either that or its a load of vaguely deep sounding garbage which even the author himself admitted he had trouble writing. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/10 "2014-05-29T06:43:08Z")
According to its [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_(Spandau_Ballet_song)) > [@wikipedia](#): > > It was composed by group leader Gary Kemp who wrote the song at his parents’ house, where he used to live at the time.[3] It is a six-minute (in its original album version) slow pop-ballad love song that in part pays tribute to the Motown artist Marvin Gaye, who is mentioned in the lyrics, and the sound he helped to establish.[4] The song was recorded before Gaye’s murder a year later, which was itself followed by the release of the song “Nightshift” by The Commodores, which was a tribute to both Gaye and Jackie Wilson. The song was also partly about Kemp’s platonic relationship with Altered Images singer Clare Grogan. Some phrases in the lyrics (including the much-quoted reference to “seaside arms”) were adapted from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita, a copy of which Grogan had given Kemp. So, it’s about platonic love/friendship. Somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/11 "2014-05-29T06:48:15Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > the Human League. . Henh? Human League’s two biggest hits are very straightforward. And I’ll take pseudo-intellectual, synth driven garbage any day over modern Crunk in da club YOLO mid-song guest rap gotta get that MO-NAY drivel. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/12 "2014-05-29T07:32:33Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > According to its [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_(Spandau_Ballet_song)) > > So, it’s about platonic love/friendship. Somewhat. Your quote actually mostly just gives the context of the song’s authorship. You quote contains only one single reference to what it is about namely “Kemp’s platonic relationship with Altered Images singer Clare Grogan” but firstly I defy you to interpret the actual words in a manner that shows this to be correct and secondly it doesn’t answer the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/13 "2014-05-29T08:09:11Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Henh? Human League’s two biggest hits are very straightforward. I think _[Fascination](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/humanleague/keepfeelingfascinationextended.html)_ is a bit weird. I suppose you could apply a meaning to it, though. > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > And I’ll take pseudo-intellectual, synth driven garbage any day over modern Crunk in da club YOLO mid-song guest rap gotta get that MO-NAY drivel. I don’t deny that. I am an 80s kid. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/14 "2014-05-29T08:28:34Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Compare with Duran Duran and the Human League. It’s all incomprehensible pseudo-intellectual gibberish. That’s a little harsh. The Human League wrote plenty of songs about _stuff_. “Don’t you want me?” is clear, “Louise” also (and rather beautiful). “The Lebanon” is self-explanatory and “Being Boiled” is about silk manufacturing. They shouldn’t be written off as mere 80’s fluff. They, and their Heaven 17 offshoot were as cutting-edge experimental as any at the time. “Dare” and “Penthouse and Pavement” are still fresh and challenging three decades on. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/15 "2014-05-29T10:50:28Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > They shouldn’t be written off as mere 80’s fluff. A lot of _Human League_ fans on the Dope, it seems. I wasn’t classing them as fluff, just incomprehensible lyrics. One man’s poetry is another man’s juvenile nonsense. But I will concede that maybe I shouldn’t have plucked _Human League_ out of the air, and should have chosen more carefully. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/16 "2014-05-29T11:30:24Z")
Everybody _must_ get stoned. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/17 "2014-05-29T11:53:01Z")
[And why didn’t the horse have a name?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQzW6wz2JQk) ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/18 "2014-05-29T12:28:22Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > I will never understand what “The Reflex” is about. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > It’s in charge of finding treasure in the dark. The Reflex is alot of things but it mostly… it leaves you answered with a question mark.😃 The lyrics to “True” are mostly about songwriter’s block, searching for inspiration and struggling to find the right “next line” “I know this much is true” refers the the line “I want the truth to be said (be known)” It’s the old “I can’t come up with the words to express my true feelings” approach stretched into a 6 minute Marvin Gaye tribute. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/19 "2014-05-29T13:26:31Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > 80’s music brings up so many questions … > > Does the Safety Dance really keep us safe? > > Why does the chick at the dance hall have an amethyst in her mouth and why did I not even learn that that was the line until this year? > > And why do we have to shock the monkey? What did it ever do to us? Wang Chung FTW! And those three tunes are high on my list of favorite 80s songs. Being in college from 1982-1986 (and working at the 10-watt college powerhouse radio station), I have a lot of fond musical memories from that era. While we’re giving (well-deserved) grief to “The Reflex,” what the hell was “Union of the Snake” about? Or “New Moon On Monday”? Duran Duran did have more than a few puzzling lyrics there. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539/20 "2014-05-29T13:51:15Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > It’s right there in the song. > > “My nose itches, my butt itches, it’s true.” I always sing the lyrics “I know this much is true” as “I notice Munchkin’s shoes” but will file this version away for future use. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-song-true-by-spandau-ballet/689539.md?page=2)