A brilliant mashup of condemnation of the selective education system in England, (Costello failed his 11-plus in the late 1969s and went to a secondary modern in Hounslow), with youthful romantic suffering. Low self-worth is experienced in both arenas. ‘Second place in the human race’ is a pithy summary of the failure imposed on the majority who didn’t make it to grammar schools. But when you’re a teenager love/lust matters more than social injustice. As is customary with Costello in this period, the poignancy is undercut with smut - the condom reference.
A brilliant mashup of condemnation of the selective education system in England, (Costello failed his 11-plus in the late 1969s and went to a secondary modern in Hounslow), with youthful romantic suffering. Low self-worth is experienced in both arenas. ‘Second place in the human race’ is a pithy summary of the failure imposed on the majority who didn’t make it to grammar schools. But when you’re a teenager love/lust matters more than social injustice. As is customary with Costello in this period, the poignancy is undercut with smut - the condom reference.