Saturday 18 September 2010

‘Heartland’ – The The (1986)


‘Well it ain't written in the papers,
But it’s written on the walls,
The way this country is divided to fall.
So the cranes are moving on the skyline,
Trying to knock down this town.
But the stains on the heartland, can never be removed,
From this country, that's sick, sad, and confused.’

Music lyrics are the modern day poetry. Discuss. Actually … let’s not. My school friend Chris though did once put this to the test in Ms Taylor’s English class. Our homework was to write a poem on urban decay. I’ve never had much heart for poetry, so have no idea what I cobbled together. But I remember that Chris decided to simply copy out the lyrics to ‘Heartland’ and hand them in as his own.

So what mark did Ms Taylor give the biting social commentary of Matt Johnson? B minus. I think he could be happy with that. Chris wasn’t. Especially as I got a B.

(This song and the album 'Infected' were accompanied by a great set of videos that I'm still hoping will one day be released on DVD to replace my now wonky video copy. Are you listening Sony/BMG?)

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