One thing I've always enjoyed about New Order's lyrics is their sexual ambiguity and this song is a prime example. On the surface, it seems to be about Bernard encountering a self-destructive friend. His friend is someone who's at the end of his rope and it's quite obvious. Yet this friend is intent on drowning his sorrows, trying to ignore his pain by going out and having some fun. The reference to the gun could mean a lot of things. Is it his friend's charged sexuality? Bernard makes a comment in the second verse about wishing he would have stayed at home, playing with his pleasure zone (most likely masturbating). This would make sense - he wishes he would have kept his sexual life to himself instead of becoming entangled in whatever "fun" his friend has in store. That's just one possibility, though, for "The Perfect Kiss". It's simply one of the best pop songs of the eighties. A true masterpiece.
One thing I've always enjoyed about New Order's lyrics is their sexual ambiguity and this song is a prime example. On the surface, it seems to be about Bernard encountering a self-destructive friend. His friend is someone who's at the end of his rope and it's quite obvious. Yet this friend is intent on drowning his sorrows, trying to ignore his pain by going out and having some fun. The reference to the gun could mean a lot of things. Is it his friend's charged sexuality? Bernard makes a comment in the second verse about wishing he would have stayed at home, playing with his pleasure zone (most likely masturbating). This would make sense - he wishes he would have kept his sexual life to himself instead of becoming entangled in whatever "fun" his friend has in store. That's just one possibility, though, for "The Perfect Kiss". It's simply one of the best pop songs of the eighties. A true masterpiece.