This song has long intrigued me, as I've been a Simple Minds fan since the 1980s and New Gold Dreams mirrors the years I was in high school, 81-84. There's a magical electric piano solo at the end of the album version that was apparently played by jazz great Herbie Hancock. I like TopTonyChick's comment about how they refer to the song as "giving into temptation." Kyoto is the capital of Japan's geisha world, and I was lucky enough to witnesses the geishas parading out into the early evening. Repeated references to being "cocooned" in "badlands" likely refers to the narrator's desperation. Temptation, desperation, passion. Cruising. Geishas. I think this song is about sex.
This song has long intrigued me, as I've been a Simple Minds fan since the 1980s and New Gold Dreams mirrors the years I was in high school, 81-84. There's a magical electric piano solo at the end of the album version that was apparently played by jazz great Herbie Hancock. I like TopTonyChick's comment about how they refer to the song as "giving into temptation." Kyoto is the capital of Japan's geisha world, and I was lucky enough to witnesses the geishas parading out into the early evening. Repeated references to being "cocooned" in "badlands" likely refers to the narrator's desperation. Temptation, desperation, passion. Cruising. Geishas. I think this song is about sex.