I think the Tintin reference is to do with the last Tintin book Herge ever worked on, "Tintin and Alph-Art". Herge died before he could finish it, so the final panel ends on a cliffhanger. At this climactic stage of the story, Tintin is led away by the villain to be encased in plaster and turned into a sculpture that he will suffocate and die inside of. Because Herge could not finish it with the requisite pages of Snowy and Captain Haddock coming to the rescue, the series ends on an incredibly bleak note. The song being a reference to that would make sense with all the lines about being motionless and the "psst psst psst" noises sounding like something being sprayed or applied.
This song was written as Scott and the Walker Brothers were going through a massive critical reappraisal thanks to the likes of David Bowie and Jarvis Cocker being so outspoken in their admiration of him, and sonically and lyrically it comes across like a demented parody of his songs of the 60s and 70s. I wonder if this was Scott's way of reacting against the veneration he was currently experiencing - in his own maverick sort of way, firmly stating that he was not interested in resting on his laurels or being classified and summarised as a man he used to be but did not recognise within himself any more. After all, how can any sort of new creation or meaningful forward motion in your art be possible if all you have become is a lifeless museum piece?
I think the Tintin reference is to do with the last Tintin book Herge ever worked on, "Tintin and Alph-Art". Herge died before he could finish it, so the final panel ends on a cliffhanger. At this climactic stage of the story, Tintin is led away by the villain to be encased in plaster and turned into a sculpture that he will suffocate and die inside of. Because Herge could not finish it with the requisite pages of Snowy and Captain Haddock coming to the rescue, the series ends on an incredibly bleak note. The song being a reference to that would make sense with all the lines about being motionless and the "psst psst psst" noises sounding like something being sprayed or applied.
This song was written as Scott and the Walker Brothers were going through a massive critical reappraisal thanks to the likes of David Bowie and Jarvis Cocker being so outspoken in their admiration of him, and sonically and lyrically it comes across like a demented parody of his songs of the 60s and 70s. I wonder if this was Scott's way of reacting against the veneration he was currently experiencing - in his own maverick sort of way, firmly stating that he was not interested in resting on his laurels or being classified and summarised as a man he used to be but did not recognise within himself any more. After all, how can any sort of new creation or meaningful forward motion in your art be possible if all you have become is a lifeless museum piece?