| Portishead – Sour Times Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I'm influenced by the fact I have come to know this song through hearing it as the theme music for the UK TV Drama "The Vice", but also from the lyrics themselves this could be a song being sung by a hooker...... The chorus line, 'Nobody loves me, not like you do' could be the illusion she creates for each of her clients, to make them feel special...Also reflected in the invitation to 'take a ride, take a shot now'. The references to infidelity - "the fallacies of morning rose" and "forbidden fruit" could relate to the fact she is fulfilling the hidden desires of her married clients... She sees the dark seedy side of life and the services she provides become "the courtesies that I despise in me" She laments her lost innocence and the identity she once had: "After time the bitter taste Of innocence decent or race Scattered seeds, buried lives" And is resigned to her fate: "Mysteries of our disguise revolve Circumstance will decide" She laments the loss of her former life: "Who am I, what and why 'Cause all I have left is my memories of yesterday Oh these sour times" It seems to suggest she has ended up 'on the game' due to some misfortune in her life - perhaps a broken heart, or running away from home, or perhaps just financial hardship, which has created the 'sour times' This makes it a very sad and dark but also very powerful song - reflected in the music and the way it is sung. Strangely, having only ever heard it as the theme to The Vice, and never having seen Portishead's video that goes with the song, I have always had an image of a gil with black make up around her eyes, smudged by tears - which is in fact in Portishead's video. It's an image that symbolises for me the darkness and sadness of this character's life. I think it certainly fits very well with the TV drama - which in itself portrays very well the often tragic lives of women who become caught up in this dark underworld, and the psychological struggles that the members of the vice squad go through in dealing with it - especially the character of Inspector Pat Campbell played by Ken Stott. |
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