| Gary Numan – War Songs Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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It is very easy to dismiss this song as one of his lyrically generic "I like... I don't like..." songs that he would popularize in the late 80s-early 90s period of his career, as this is the first one of those. However, this one greatly differentiates itself from those "middle years" songs because of its context within the I, Assassin album, which makes this song have some of the best lyrics he has ever written. Right from the first line we are given "I like new fashion" which gives a voice to the narrator of the song, a character meant as a parody of American (?) celebrities and their superficiality. Numan would go on to sing much about fashion in his later songs, but this one keeps with its blazingly ironic and humorous tone of the song as he describes himself in various ways. As with the previous comment's mention, the lines "I like romantics / But I don’t like Steven" references Visage lead singer Steve Strange and shows a different attitude towards the New Romantics than on the previous album's Moral. He references another singer in the chorus, Vera Lynn in portraying the new sense of mind Numan finds himself in through an analogy, as he has passed over the introspective period of his career and is now getting used to the job of a singer (as the reissue booklet states), even being able to make jabs towards himself at this point. Numan would proceed to grow more comfortable with himself as his career would progress through the 80s, a far cry from the robotic android of earlier eras. "I like my sunbed / But it burns me alive" could be seen as referencing artificial tans these celebrities pursue in a funny way, and "I like old heroes / I like old film stars" follows a different kind of roboticness than his previous songs. "This could be it / This could be nothing / Will you remember / When the sparkle dies down" could potentially reference the passing of fame, and how temporary it is. "I like Ferraris / I like this fame / Appreciation in the strangest ways" always stood out to me, because it almost comments on how American culture often "appreciates" celebrities through following and adoring their every action, without even knowing them. "I like the dancer / Like you’re supposed to / I’ll keep my mouth shut / But I don’t like this" is the perfect end for the finishing verse, as it tells how celebrities must follow suit with what they like and don't like, but he is not allowed to speak out his mind if he actually does not like this culture, as the final line vicariously hints. Sorry if this is a stretch lol, this is genuinely one of my fav songs by him. |
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