Monitor Lyrics
For the people inside
A prevention of crime
A passing of time
It's a passing of time
They come and they go
Whilst we sit in our homes
The real McCoy
Our new air of authority
Our sentinel of misery
And we shook with excitement
Then the victim stared up
Looked strangely at the screen
As if her pain was our fault
But that's entertainment
What we crave for inside
No more second rate movies
From those people outside
Possibly about a snuff-film?
As usual, excellent work from McGeoch. He could have been one of the greats had he laid off the sauce.
Actually I believe this to be about early CCTV security cameras ( trying to remember this from 30 years back) - security cameras installed in a block of flats and residents could view what was happening 'outside' with the result that people regarded this as entertainment and would watch for hours.......
Actually I believe this to be about early CCTV security cameras ( trying to remember this from 30 years back) - security cameras installed in a block of flats and residents could view what was happening 'outside' with the result that people regarded this as entertainment and would watch for hours.......
with the advent of 'reality crime' shows over the past decade or so - maybe it was a stark warning of things to come...the last verse is still quite chilling after all these years. One of the best tracks from a superb album - the banshees peak imho.
with the advent of 'reality crime' shows over the past decade or so - maybe it was a stark warning of things to come...the last verse is still quite chilling after all these years. One of the best tracks from a superb album - the banshees peak imho.
McGeoch WAS one of the greats! He was highly under-rated before, during and after his time with Banshees. He would have been better known had he worked in a genre where "guitar heroes" existed. However his influence has been immense, albeit in subtle ways.
McGeoch WAS one of the greats! He was highly under-rated before, during and after his time with Banshees. He would have been better known had he worked in a genre where "guitar heroes" existed. However his influence has been immense, albeit in subtle ways.
Inspired by the advent of Close Circuit TV and the idea of real violence as entertainment. A story was related to Siouxsie of how, when CCTV was installed in a tower block, in an attempt to curtail vandalism and crime, it instead resulted in the tenants deriving more pleasure from watching the ‘real life’ crime on CCTV, than watching fictionalised accounts on their own televisions.
Agreed it's about people watching CCTV for entertainment - which with the subsequent rise of reality TV , surveillance culture , youtube etc and crazes such as "happy slapping" makes this probably the Banshees most prescient song.