Agree with almondgirrl on the general meaning and that it's a beautiful, gritty, and memorable song.
"What's your line of questioning, sir" was a quote from Col. Oliver North during a US congressional hearing regarding illegal covert military operations, if I remember right, during the Reagan presidency. The "hard lady" I think is Margaret Thatcher, who was commonly called the "Iron Lady". The song in my view deals a lot with censorship issues with regard to wars, how mainstream news reporters don't really say the truth (or are prevented from finding it). Nowadays we have thousands of alternative news outlets on internet, but this was not true in the 1980s and 90s, so the effect on people then was a greater sense of powerlessness. I might differ with almondgirrl on one point though: the word "homosexuality" I think has a double-meaning here, and I think at least partially refers to the "mutual admiration society" that is at the heart of the problem of censorship or media control. That stanza I think draws a parallel between how both the media and the recording industry is controlled by a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" profit or career motive. The lyrics are partly ironic because they acknowledge that the band itself also operates in this system.
It's a brave song by a very thoughtful and mature lyricist. These are not lyrics to be embarrassed about 25 years later.
Agree with almondgirrl on the general meaning and that it's a beautiful, gritty, and memorable song. "What's your line of questioning, sir" was a quote from Col. Oliver North during a US congressional hearing regarding illegal covert military operations, if I remember right, during the Reagan presidency. The "hard lady" I think is Margaret Thatcher, who was commonly called the "Iron Lady". The song in my view deals a lot with censorship issues with regard to wars, how mainstream news reporters don't really say the truth (or are prevented from finding it). Nowadays we have thousands of alternative news outlets on internet, but this was not true in the 1980s and 90s, so the effect on people then was a greater sense of powerlessness. I might differ with almondgirrl on one point though: the word "homosexuality" I think has a double-meaning here, and I think at least partially refers to the "mutual admiration society" that is at the heart of the problem of censorship or media control. That stanza I think draws a parallel between how both the media and the recording industry is controlled by a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" profit or career motive. The lyrics are partly ironic because they acknowledge that the band itself also operates in this system. It's a brave song by a very thoughtful and mature lyricist. These are not lyrics to be embarrassed about 25 years later.