Praying To The Aliens

To better understand this song, which was originally released in 1979, realize that most of the UK had only decriminalized sex between members of the same gender in 1967, 12 years earlier. Scotland would do it later in 1980, and Northern Ireland wouldn't until 1982.

My interpretation, and it's of course only an interpretation, is that he's describing a future dystopia where homosexual behavior has become an even greater criminal offense. In this future, the situation for gay people hasn't continued improve, it's become far worse.

The person described in the first verse is recalling a lover, who was taken away by mysterious agents in grey overcoats. "There is no one to replace [him]." In the next verse we get more details of what happened when he was taken away. A grey overcoated agent stopped him for a random pol[ice] check and questioned him. "Do you ever think of women?" As a means of finding out whether he's one of the "boys who love only boys" who they don't want to spoil "the perfect picture of a boy/girl age."

As they question him, they break him down emotionally, to the point where he's a "torn old queen, living somewhere between dead and dying."

After his lover is taken away, the narrator is convinced that "there are no more." That is, no more homosexuals. He thinks he's the last one left and that he could be revealed by the fact that he looks out of the corner of his eye, rightly suspicious and frightened. He ponders how times have changed from when people like him were better tolerated, but he still can't even imagine living any other way.

As a result of all of this horror, the narrator gives up on humans and begins praying to alien beings. He's like Bertolt Brecht's Pirate Jenny, fantasizing about an avenging outside force that will appear and wipe out the society that has treated him so badly.

Is this a gay song?

It's about the Sphinx. The reference to the aliens is about the face on Mars. If you overlap the left side of the face on Mars, you get a perfectly symmetrical hominid. If you overlap the right side of the face on Mars, you get the perfectly symmetrical face of a lion. "Living somewhere between dead and dying" is a reference to the nose of the Sphinx missing. In ancient Egyptian culture, a statue loses its spirit if you cut the nose off. Also consider "the corner of my eye could give me away". The center is where you divide the face on Mars to get either a lion or a hominid. You cut down the center, and place the copy of the left side of the picture on the right side of the original. That's how you get a hominid. Do the same with the right side, and you get a lion. The Mars face is a "Replica" of the Sphinx. "Replicas" is the name of the album the song is on. That's why he thought is was important to have the lyrics on the screen when he performed it on Saturday Night Live. He gave another really cute hint all over the cover of The Pleasure Principle alum - front and back.

Now, did someone plant a pipe bomb in his dad's car because he was messing up rock music with synthesizers? Or was it because he was telling secrets?

This is what scientologists actually believe

Gary believes he is the only human left. He must appear and act like a robot or else he gets caught. Of course, there could be other humans masquerading like robots and he just doesn't know it or can't tell 'em apart.

Sounds like it's about (maybe well-intentioned) alien overlords trying to turn everyone gay in order to control the population. But the most obvious interpretation isn't always the only one.