On YouTube, there is a video of Bloc Party performing this song live, they say briefly that the song is about "hating your job".
This song is extremely clever. Firstly the slowish paced tempo of the song gives this sort of dragging feel, the sort of feeling you get when you're trying to summon the effort to crawl out of bed on a morning before a long days hard work. Even when the drums kick in, there is a sort of clipping effect that sounds as if the drum machine has just been rudely awakened and is being forced to play against its own will.
The song is full of reverb, it sounds very airy which gives an impression of emptiness and loneliness, a feeling that no one is going to come and help you. This implies you are going to have to fend for yourself (i.e. by getting stuck in a horrible routine of working constantly just to survive). To add to the melancholic tone of the song, Kele sings in a very monotone manner, this is to suggest that routines and pressures from work will put you in a drone like state. Following routines and being a workaholic will turn you into a robot, a slave to money.
The theme, routine, is also expressed by the structure of the lyrics (or lack of them as it were). This song only has 10 (if that) very short lines of lyrics; this is so that the same passage could be repeated over and over again to imitate a routine driven life.
These small touches merge to create this whole negative vibe that bloc party so desperately attempts to portray in this masterpiece.
Most people would pass this song off as a boring waste of time, some would maybe go as far as saying it was just a simple album filler, I'd call such people ignorant. Yes, the song is boring, but that's what makes it so damn interesting!!! The song wants to be boring, it wants to sound mournful and repetitive as there is no better way to make the point that Bloc Party are trying to make. This is why I love Bloc Party, their music is filled which such intellect. This is more than a song; it is a warning to us all. Live life to its fullest, never settle for second best and follow the paths you yourself wish to follow.
On YouTube, there is a video of Bloc Party performing this song live, they say briefly that the song is about "hating your job".
This song is extremely clever. Firstly the slowish paced tempo of the song gives this sort of dragging feel, the sort of feeling you get when you're trying to summon the effort to crawl out of bed on a morning before a long days hard work. Even when the drums kick in, there is a sort of clipping effect that sounds as if the drum machine has just been rudely awakened and is being forced to play against its own will.
The song is full of reverb, it sounds very airy which gives an impression of emptiness and loneliness, a feeling that no one is going to come and help you. This implies you are going to have to fend for yourself (i.e. by getting stuck in a horrible routine of working constantly just to survive). To add to the melancholic tone of the song, Kele sings in a very monotone manner, this is to suggest that routines and pressures from work will put you in a drone like state. Following routines and being a workaholic will turn you into a robot, a slave to money.
The theme, routine, is also expressed by the structure of the lyrics (or lack of them as it were). This song only has 10 (if that) very short lines of lyrics; this is so that the same passage could be repeated over and over again to imitate a routine driven life.
These small touches merge to create this whole negative vibe that bloc party so desperately attempts to portray in this masterpiece.
Most people would pass this song off as a boring waste of time, some would maybe go as far as saying it was just a simple album filler, I'd call such people ignorant. Yes, the song is boring, but that's what makes it so damn interesting!!! The song wants to be boring, it wants to sound mournful and repetitive as there is no better way to make the point that Bloc Party are trying to make. This is why I love Bloc Party, their music is filled which such intellect. This is more than a song; it is a warning to us all. Live life to its fullest, never settle for second best and follow the paths you yourself wish to follow.
Cheers Hyp3rSnip3rUK/Tim Knight
@Hyp3rSnip3rUK You sir, are right on the money. I actually like this song, I love those repetitive notes (from the synthesizer?) in the background.
@Hyp3rSnip3rUK You sir, are right on the money. I actually like this song, I love those repetitive notes (from the synthesizer?) in the background.