i cant believe peoples comments on the first page find this song depressing. the chorus is one of the most uplifting pieces of music the manics have ever done, especially with the string arrangement and james's voice.
the song is about working class perception and how everyone thinks 'we dont talk about love, we only wanna get drunk' whereas in reality the working class can be intelligent and useful, a lot of writers musicians actors sports people etc come from a working class background. 'libraries gave us power' highlights how no matter your background you can always improve and learn and 'i waish i had a bottle...etc' just means that you can improve as a person without being ashamed of where you come from although the upper classes do not recognise this hence the 'what price now for a shallow piece of dignity'.
unfortunately if you look at most town centres in the country at a weekend the 'we only wanna get drunk' line kind of stops being ironic as it is meant in the song.
I prefer to take the "we only wanna get drunk" as literal as in the underclass and working class only wanted to drink and this attitude spread out and became prevasive in all elements of society however whilst the wealthy can drink and have "culture" the working class are only left with clubbing etc. I personally felt the line about hitting himself with a bottle is a disparaging remark aimed at the so called upper middle classes and upper clases who look down on those with less money, position and power than themselves who judge a man only by...
I prefer to take the "we only wanna get drunk" as literal as in the underclass and working class only wanted to drink and this attitude spread out and became prevasive in all elements of society however whilst the wealthy can drink and have "culture" the working class are only left with clubbing etc. I personally felt the line about hitting himself with a bottle is a disparaging remark aimed at the so called upper middle classes and upper clases who look down on those with less money, position and power than themselves who judge a man only by the worldy goods they posses, their apperance and accent rather than the deeper soul of the person.
They expect poor people to look like tramps and be violent so the person or people this song is about feel they might as well go in with scars to conform to narrow minded prejudices against the working class
Finally I thought the line about work making us free was ironic too as in it actually is an emprisonment born out of a capitalist society where some are allowed to have everything so others must work like rodents on a treadmill just to get by, I never knew about the "albrecht macht frei" thing. I though that was the name of a nazi lol as the libertines have a song by that name.
You have done very well as the whole song could well be about people looking down their noses and not just that bit I decided was unquestioanably about people looking down on people (the bits about we only one to get drunk I take as literal I know the other meaning is entirely reasonable too but I just think it makes more sense i.e literal before metaphors)
@danhardwick77
the drinking culture you mention as being prevalent now was just as prevalent at the time the song was released, its just more widely noted by the press and widespread across the country. it's a trend that goes way back.
@danhardwick77
the drinking culture you mention as being prevalent now was just as prevalent at the time the song was released, its just more widely noted by the press and widespread across the country. it's a trend that goes way back.
i cant believe peoples comments on the first page find this song depressing. the chorus is one of the most uplifting pieces of music the manics have ever done, especially with the string arrangement and james's voice. the song is about working class perception and how everyone thinks 'we dont talk about love, we only wanna get drunk' whereas in reality the working class can be intelligent and useful, a lot of writers musicians actors sports people etc come from a working class background. 'libraries gave us power' highlights how no matter your background you can always improve and learn and 'i waish i had a bottle...etc' just means that you can improve as a person without being ashamed of where you come from although the upper classes do not recognise this hence the 'what price now for a shallow piece of dignity'. unfortunately if you look at most town centres in the country at a weekend the 'we only wanna get drunk' line kind of stops being ironic as it is meant in the song.
I prefer to take the "we only wanna get drunk" as literal as in the underclass and working class only wanted to drink and this attitude spread out and became prevasive in all elements of society however whilst the wealthy can drink and have "culture" the working class are only left with clubbing etc. I personally felt the line about hitting himself with a bottle is a disparaging remark aimed at the so called upper middle classes and upper clases who look down on those with less money, position and power than themselves who judge a man only by...
I prefer to take the "we only wanna get drunk" as literal as in the underclass and working class only wanted to drink and this attitude spread out and became prevasive in all elements of society however whilst the wealthy can drink and have "culture" the working class are only left with clubbing etc. I personally felt the line about hitting himself with a bottle is a disparaging remark aimed at the so called upper middle classes and upper clases who look down on those with less money, position and power than themselves who judge a man only by the worldy goods they posses, their apperance and accent rather than the deeper soul of the person.
They expect poor people to look like tramps and be violent so the person or people this song is about feel they might as well go in with scars to conform to narrow minded prejudices against the working class
Finally I thought the line about work making us free was ironic too as in it actually is an emprisonment born out of a capitalist society where some are allowed to have everything so others must work like rodents on a treadmill just to get by, I never knew about the "albrecht macht frei" thing. I though that was the name of a nazi lol as the libertines have a song by that name.
You have done very well as the whole song could well be about people looking down their noses and not just that bit I decided was unquestioanably about people looking down on people (the bits about we only one to get drunk I take as literal I know the other meaning is entirely reasonable too but I just think it makes more sense i.e literal before metaphors)
@danhardwick77 the drinking culture you mention as being prevalent now was just as prevalent at the time the song was released, its just more widely noted by the press and widespread across the country. it's a trend that goes way back.
@danhardwick77 the drinking culture you mention as being prevalent now was just as prevalent at the time the song was released, its just more widely noted by the press and widespread across the country. it's a trend that goes way back.
Arbeit, it's "ARBEIT macht frei". Not Albrecht!
Arbeit, it's "ARBEIT macht frei". Not Albrecht!