“The Chauffeur” is without question my favorite song by Duran Duran. It is a series of paintings composed of melody and verse instead of canvas and oil. Lyrically it is an interesting mix – a chorus that is beautiful and evocative but straightforward with the image it paints, blended with other stanzas that are equally evocative but conversely more obtuse. It is these other stanza’s that tell an extremely compelling story.
Out on the tar plains, the glides are moving
All looking for a new place to drive
You sit beside me so newly charming
Sweating dewdrops glisten freshing your side
Tar plains are roads, vast expanses of asphalt covered with tar. Glides are cars gliding on the road – a luxury car like a Rolls Royce glides over the road. People do not ride with the chauffer in the front when being driven somewhere. She is next to him in the back, and sweating because they have just made love in the car. She is “newly charming” because she seduced him, and this was unexpected. The “glides” may be looking for a new place to drive because the chauffer and his newly charming mistress are parked in a well-known but secluded spot. This opening stanza captures the moment after they have made love for the first time, the feeling of coming back to reality while still clinging to the warm glow – even her sweat is described affectionately as glistening dewdrops.
Way down the lane away, living for another day
The aphids swarm up in the drifting haze
Swim seagull in the sky towards that hollow western isle
My envied lady holds you fast in her gaze
We are transported to a scene “down the lane” in their relationship. They both “live for another day” - for her when she can be free and happy, for him when they can be together openly. They long for a better future but a swarm of aphids are foreshadowing conflict in the “drifting haze” of the future. The seagull represents her freedom. She is a wealthy woman but feels trapped in an emotionally unfulfilling marriage. The western isle would be Ireland off the western coast of England, likely where she is from. The hollow western isle is her past – her past feels hollow to her and is a place she escaped from to a life of wealth, yet she feels trapped and unfulfilled. He desires her and yearns for her to feel the same for him – he envies the attention she gives the seagull.
And watching lovers part, I feel you smiling
What glass splinters lie so deep in your mind
To tear out from your eyes, with a thought to stiffen brooding lies
And I'll only watch you leave me further behind
She is bitter. Seeing lovers separated makes her smile – if she can’t have love she doesn’t want them to either. The glass splinters are the painful events from her past that she buries deep in her subconscious. These things are what make her feel like she needs to stay in an unfulfilling marriage. The events are emotion charged and could provoke her to cry – for them to “tear out from her eyes”. Eyes are the windows to the soul and he wants to deepen the emotional connection between them – for her to expose herself and trust him with those parts of herself. Her thoughts are focused on remaining in control and having a convincing story, “stiffening the brooding lies” so her affair does not get exposed. He feels she is closed off to him and leaves him behind emotionally.
Sing blue silver
Blue silver is the engine of the Rolls Royce he drives her in. He implores the engine to sing, to keep their relationship going. The relationship is based on stolen moments spent together while he is driving her around.
There's more to this kind of camouflage
More than just color and shape
He is pressing her to drop the camouflage. He wants to know her on a deeper level and she must trust him with the painful aspects of her past. He also wants to drop the camouflage so they don’t have to hide their relationship. The music rises and swells which represents the conflict and tension building between them.
Who's calling now, in the twilight's last gleaming
She comes to him unexpectedly in the evening. The melodies rise in a crescendo that becomes disjointed and chaotic as does the conflict between them. The music dissipates and we are left with the soft tinkling of shards of glass. Not the sound of glass shattering, but of broken bits of glass being dropped to the floor. She lets go of the pain of her past.
@SpeedTrixie Amazing interpretation of an amazing piece of poetry. I think you are an old fashioned romantic! In case you're offended by that, please don't be, it's a lovely compliment. I now have a whole back story for these two in my mind whenever I listen to the track which, has always been my favourite Duran Duran song. I can still recall the first time I saw them on 'Top of the Pops' in 1981, other bands have left their impression on me, but nothing like them, perhaps because they were a constant throughout my teenage years, who knows? You...
@SpeedTrixie Amazing interpretation of an amazing piece of poetry. I think you are an old fashioned romantic! In case you're offended by that, please don't be, it's a lovely compliment. I now have a whole back story for these two in my mind whenever I listen to the track which, has always been my favourite Duran Duran song. I can still recall the first time I saw them on 'Top of the Pops' in 1981, other bands have left their impression on me, but nothing like them, perhaps because they were a constant throughout my teenage years, who knows? You probably have your own theory, lol!
“The Chauffeur” is without question my favorite song by Duran Duran. It is a series of paintings composed of melody and verse instead of canvas and oil. Lyrically it is an interesting mix – a chorus that is beautiful and evocative but straightforward with the image it paints, blended with other stanzas that are equally evocative but conversely more obtuse. It is these other stanza’s that tell an extremely compelling story.
Out on the tar plains, the glides are moving All looking for a new place to drive You sit beside me so newly charming Sweating dewdrops glisten freshing your side
Tar plains are roads, vast expanses of asphalt covered with tar. Glides are cars gliding on the road – a luxury car like a Rolls Royce glides over the road. People do not ride with the chauffer in the front when being driven somewhere. She is next to him in the back, and sweating because they have just made love in the car. She is “newly charming” because she seduced him, and this was unexpected. The “glides” may be looking for a new place to drive because the chauffer and his newly charming mistress are parked in a well-known but secluded spot. This opening stanza captures the moment after they have made love for the first time, the feeling of coming back to reality while still clinging to the warm glow – even her sweat is described affectionately as glistening dewdrops.
Way down the lane away, living for another day The aphids swarm up in the drifting haze Swim seagull in the sky towards that hollow western isle My envied lady holds you fast in her gaze
We are transported to a scene “down the lane” in their relationship. They both “live for another day” - for her when she can be free and happy, for him when they can be together openly. They long for a better future but a swarm of aphids are foreshadowing conflict in the “drifting haze” of the future. The seagull represents her freedom. She is a wealthy woman but feels trapped in an emotionally unfulfilling marriage. The western isle would be Ireland off the western coast of England, likely where she is from. The hollow western isle is her past – her past feels hollow to her and is a place she escaped from to a life of wealth, yet she feels trapped and unfulfilled. He desires her and yearns for her to feel the same for him – he envies the attention she gives the seagull.
And watching lovers part, I feel you smiling What glass splinters lie so deep in your mind To tear out from your eyes, with a thought to stiffen brooding lies And I'll only watch you leave me further behind
She is bitter. Seeing lovers separated makes her smile – if she can’t have love she doesn’t want them to either. The glass splinters are the painful events from her past that she buries deep in her subconscious. These things are what make her feel like she needs to stay in an unfulfilling marriage. The events are emotion charged and could provoke her to cry – for them to “tear out from her eyes”. Eyes are the windows to the soul and he wants to deepen the emotional connection between them – for her to expose herself and trust him with those parts of herself. Her thoughts are focused on remaining in control and having a convincing story, “stiffening the brooding lies” so her affair does not get exposed. He feels she is closed off to him and leaves him behind emotionally.
Sing blue silver
Blue silver is the engine of the Rolls Royce he drives her in. He implores the engine to sing, to keep their relationship going. The relationship is based on stolen moments spent together while he is driving her around.
There's more to this kind of camouflage More than just color and shape
He is pressing her to drop the camouflage. He wants to know her on a deeper level and she must trust him with the painful aspects of her past. He also wants to drop the camouflage so they don’t have to hide their relationship. The music rises and swells which represents the conflict and tension building between them.
Who's calling now, in the twilight's last gleaming
She comes to him unexpectedly in the evening. The melodies rise in a crescendo that becomes disjointed and chaotic as does the conflict between them. The music dissipates and we are left with the soft tinkling of shards of glass. Not the sound of glass shattering, but of broken bits of glass being dropped to the floor. She lets go of the pain of her past.
And they lived happily ever after – The End
@SpeedTrixie Amazing interpretation of an amazing piece of poetry. I think you are an old fashioned romantic! In case you're offended by that, please don't be, it's a lovely compliment. I now have a whole back story for these two in my mind whenever I listen to the track which, has always been my favourite Duran Duran song. I can still recall the first time I saw them on 'Top of the Pops' in 1981, other bands have left their impression on me, but nothing like them, perhaps because they were a constant throughout my teenage years, who knows? You...
@SpeedTrixie Amazing interpretation of an amazing piece of poetry. I think you are an old fashioned romantic! In case you're offended by that, please don't be, it's a lovely compliment. I now have a whole back story for these two in my mind whenever I listen to the track which, has always been my favourite Duran Duran song. I can still recall the first time I saw them on 'Top of the Pops' in 1981, other bands have left their impression on me, but nothing like them, perhaps because they were a constant throughout my teenage years, who knows? You probably have your own theory, lol!