I Hear Motion

I had been going around trying to think what song had the words: "When it is Christmas For everyone else I feel like I've missed An appointment" A poetic description of someone in a depressed or sad state. The song seems to be about a rocky relationship or breakup with the singer telling the other person it's up to them whether they change and fix his misery - perhaps this is also what he is saying in 'Whisper the words that we all want to hear'. But he is also saying stuff you if you can't change, 'I'm not hangin' around'.

I think the song is about youth and about 'time'..... and also about the writers resistance to time about his desire to stay young.

The title is almost literal - I hear motion is a reference to time moving forward, references to Xmas and birthdays etc are references to mile stones that the writer fears... "Shout to the night, and so it goes I hear motion ..."

Most pointedly the writer refers to youth slipping out of his hands, " You can waste it when you've got it ". I think the 'baby' in the song is the writer himself... Telling himself to grow up, and resisting that calling. " You can stop your baby crying, and babies dream is coming true."

The chorus is a circular lament, almost a nursery rythme..." And so it goes I hear motion. Just count it out shout in your sleep and so it goes I hear motion.."

I was 17 when I first heard the track. AM radio. I was in the back seat of a neighbors ford as we were driven home from school with a whole bunch of kids.

The song made me feel excited to be young. A tough dark techno song with a dance beat. Custom made for young hormones. In a way it help to define me as apart from my parents and my peers. As unique and underground.

Retrospectively, at 47; I feel what the writer was saying. Oh yeah...I do hear motion...

this is a tough one..I wish I was around when these guys were hitting the scene (it would have made it easier to know wtf they were talking about...)

let's break it down...

1. firstly, I say about the 80's, if it's an obscure song...it's probably about drugs
2. James Freud (the lead singer) was huge on drugs and alcohol at the time...off his head, couldn't remember what he'd taken alot of the time...
3. the film/video clip has locomotives and wheels turning...also flashes of images like someone dancing, exercise, an eye pupil whirling around, magazine headlines
4. "I hear motion" on a google search brings up an article by Victor Zuckerandl, Sound and the External world...and on the "Paradox of Tonal Motion"...talks about the fact that a person cannot see sound but sound changing tones creates a motion like feeling in our minds, like seeing things move...real interesting read, I wonder if James read it at school?????
5. google also brings up - A court hearing often refers to legal motions...but this doesn't quite fit anywhere in the song for me yet...just thought I'd mention it...
6. I hear motion...is like mixing the senses together...something that happens in a lucid state perhaps...maybe an adrenaline rush when dancing..or maybe just the drugs and alcohol again...

okay now let's go through the lyrics:

I wanna see you I wanna see you twist it around (maybe a note to snort cocaine??) Yeah, you wanna change You should be movin' it around (you want your life to get better, you have to make changes, get off your ass?) You can take it when you want it You can waste it when you've got it (this says drugs drugs alcohol alcohol to me..) You can stop your baby cryin' (get away from your baby crying, get away from responsibility..) And Baby's dream is comin', Comin' true (you are the baby that has grown and your dream is coming true, you are feeling on top of the world!!)

Now let it out (let your innhibitions out) Shout to the night (be awake while people sleep...clubbing, shouting to the music) And so it goes I hear motion (hearing loud club music, seeing lights and people dancing...like seeing sound moving, an overwhelming feeling of motion and sound) Just count it out (count out music..) Shout in your sleep (shouting in sleep is often associated with terror in sleep and alcohol abuse, maybe talking about the after effects of a big night out on the juice..) you'll say the word I hear motion (maybe waking up suddenly from a nightmare coming down off the drugs and alcohol, and the external world is loud and confusing... "I hear motion" could be another way of saying..."Noises and visions are confusing me" (saying the words, I hear motion...could also be waking up and being confused about being high, coming down and what is reality or fantasy at this moment..)

When it is Christmas For everyone else I feel like I've missed An appointment (can't relate to normal highs anymore...needs to get high on synthetic drugs or alcohol...) Sing Happy Birthday Sing Happy New Year Whisper the words That we all want to hear (he wants to get high but it's illegal, must be whispered??)

or you can walk out (live life on the edge...or walk away from the party scene??) or you can walk out

Now let it out Shout to the night And so it goes I hear motion Just count it out Shout in your sleep you'll say the word I hear motion

And I have to tell you I wanna see you turn it around ( wants to see them get out of the scene?) Yeah you gotta go
And I'm not hangin' around (doesn't want to be in the drug and alcohol scene anymore...) You can take it when you got it You can want it when you waste it You can stop your baby cryin' And Baby's dream is comin' Comin' true

Yes it is!

Now let it out Shout to the night And so it goes... I hear motion Just count it out Shout in your sleep You'll say the word... I hear motion

Now let it out...

Shout to the night...

And so it goes...

I hear motion...

Just count it out...

Shout in your sleep Shout in your sleep

You'll say the word...

I hear motion...

I hear motion (drug and alcohol abuse is a double edged sword...makes you feel high and life is a lucid feeling...hearing motion...but you wake up screaming in the night when you are coming down...screaming ....I HEAR MOTION... like you can't stop it...

just my take on the song guys...I could be miles off...

The lead singer was Sean Kelly. James Freud joined later and sang some of the sounds. That was because of pressure from the record company to become more "commercial". \nCommercial means watered-down, less edgy. \nThat doesn\'t show up much on this record, but the influence of James grows album by album.\n\nThis is still a fantastic song about, I think, getting lost in dancing and letting yourself get right into the moment.\n\nThat is certainly what my friends and I used to do back in the 80s.