For the Price of a Cup of Tea

On the B&S site, Stuart Murdoch wrote:

"the producer asked us to write a hit, and this is what we came up with. it's a very old song called "the olympian boy" crossed with a new chorus, set to a groove that bob came up with..

i bought some tea in a posh tea shop, and bob said, 'jeez, you could get a line of coke for that!'

actually, check this out..

http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858566021/

i sometimes go to this site to find out what i meant when i wrote something..

verity kindle and dancing till dawn have the best answers i think

; )

Stuart - 09/12/09"

Coming where it does on the album, I always like to think that the girl in the song is the same girl from "Acts of the Apostle Pts. 1 and 2." Which is possibly silly, but it adds an extra level of meaning to three songs that way! It's the "Soul black vinyl to stop your tears / You can use my stereo" that leads me to that theory...the theme of music as personal salvation that's so prominent in the AotA songs.

Love, love, love this song, by the way. It was my introduction to B&S, it inspired me to seek out their entire body of work, and I cannot listen to it without singing and dancing. And there's just something so resonant about "She will finally be the person she wanted to be." Best thing on The Life Pursuit, for sure.

The lines "For the price of a cup of tea You'd get a line of coke" arn't random Coke was very cheap in the Glasgow area for a long time and this line probably represents that she could either have the cup of tea or choose the more risky option

I think it's about a girl who is maybe starting a new part of her life after being kind of trapped for a while, and she's figuring out that she finally has options to do what she wants, and she is realizing she can be the same as she has been and make fake friends ("people that she knew, or she thought she did") or really try to be herself, and it's asking you to understand her instead of judging her (the village joke lines). It's my favorite song by B&S.

This song reminds me of a foreign exchange student in my high school last year. She always seemed so lonely, so we'd talk on a occasion before and after school. I would on occasion have a cup of tea in hand and she would have whatever she brought and a book. We'd always talk about what one of us was reading or her home or life in America. I wish I had made a serious attempt to stay in touch.

best song on the album right here

Reinventing yourself in a new town, and avoiding - or sometimes seeking - the landmines that involves.

for the price of a cup of tea you'd get a line of cooooooke!

genius. you know when you discover a whole new crowd of people and you make up this new identity, maybe unconsciously, to impress them with?

that's this song.

makes me want to dance everytime i hear it (:

I think of those people who are really down to earth but seem up in the clouds, and just want everyone to like them, but aren't accepted by society. But the singer is telling her to not listen to them and be herself.