[ March 1, 1994 ]
Pulse: Miaow
Pulse Magazine (Hull)
Paul on Miaow
March/April 1994
Courtesy of Julia Grant
Abridged
Q: What about your new songs then?
A: This is the single "Good As Gold" (Paul shows me the lyrics). It's about the fact that you're made to believe there's a chance of some sort of heavenly after life, but as Solomon Burke said, "Don't give me flowers after I'm dead and buried, give me them now". It's about having your life now, not accepting second best, just because they tell you religiously and spiritually that you might get first best if you accept second best now. Like if you accept the shit now, you're going to get something better afterwards! You will not get a better chance. The life you live is the life you live now. I'm saying "this is it!", I'm not saying people should go mad, it's not a hedonist song. It's saying I want the Ingrid Bergman kiss now, not afterwards. You only live once.
Q: The album's first single then, have you shot the video to promote it yet?
A: I wrote the script, and Tim Pope directed it but as it happens I wasn't able to get to the editing. So the finished product wasn't exactly how we wanted it. It's alright though, it's bright and colourful. It reflects the lyrics. What it was really, because the songs about "carry on regardless", it's sort of like you've got to keep going, just in case. It was based on a cycle journey. So we're cycling up and down hills, and during the chorus, which is saying "I want it all now", is when we are going downhill, and have the normal "getting on with life" is all uphill and we just have to keep going. It didn't transcribe quite as well as it sounds, but it was ok.
Q: Is the new stuff much of a departure from the recognisable Beautiful South songs then?
A: Not really, even though it's not a ballad which we are probably recognised for, but it's a jollyish sort of sound with darker lyrics, I suppose. It's not really typical of the album though, the lyrics are a lot straighter in general. The song we're considering for the second single is "Hold on to what", which is about a prostitute, a private soldier and a pensioner. Which again is about people being hoodwinked really. A similar angle. People tell you to hold on, but, y'know, hold on to what? Yeah, it's a similar sentiment to our current single, but, it's not some sort of obsession. When you write songs you tend to write them in themes, y'know, songs that have a similar feel to them. But yeah, there's probably about 3 or 4 songs here about being hoodwinked, politically or socially, and there's a couple about people hoodwinking someone sexually. The one I feel is the strongest on the album lyrically is this one... "Mini-correct", [Paul again hands over his lyric book.]
It's a song about men by a man, y'know what I mean, certain men anyway.
Q: It's a really sad song this, Paul. To me it actually sums up millions of peoples situations. It's really astute.
A: I hope so, but this is one of the songs Briana objected to most strongly.
Q: I can't understand that, it's lyrically excellent and makes a statement on behalf of women. It's an attack on common male attitudes, can't she see that?
A: Well there's quite a strange line between making a point on a woman's behalf, which I don't want to do. What I wanted to do was give a mans view of men. A criticism. It's debatable anyway. A strange issue, a very grey area. Portraying a woman as a victim yet again. Y'see in the song, he gets all the punch lines, a clever answer to everything she says, that's how it set off in my mind originally, it's supposed to have a "Peter and the Wolf" feel to it. When I'm singing the male lines it's very low, with a haunting sound, like a baddie, whereas the woman is the opposite. So it gives the impression of the male as the bastard. Which I was surprised was misunderstood. I'll show you a more optimistic song anyway. This one's about love. It's about an argument I had with someone in a bar, a couple of the songs are about arguments in bars actually. Someone said... "God you've got wrinkled eyes, for a 31 year old", but I told him I'd had a good time for every line, for each crows foot, and this song was based around a particular person who I love, I think, and just going through the good memories, as opposed to the bad ones. They're the crucial lines, those two... "You can't have too many good times, you can't have too many lines." It's basically a love song and it's much more optimistic. First love song I've written. A personal love song.
This next song I wrote about racism and skinheads. Unfortunately Morrisey and Marr's producers refused us permission to do the end section which would have been quite good... "Skinheads in a coma"... but anyway, it's about, you know when being a Marxist or whatever, you often get told to "fuck off to Russia".
...
This one, "Especially for you" is a song that's probably going to get me a lot of nutters, I mean with lines like "If you bought this song you're listening and I think that you know who, it matters not the mouth that's singing, this ones especially for you". It'll get me lots of 'em writing in if it's popular. Y'know the type who think "this one's about me!"
...
Here's a good one, it's called "Hooligans don't fall in love" it's about football hooligans really and about why people don't really give a fuck. About how people can lose it. You know, in life you can always end up being second best, well this is about them searching for some feeling of independance. You see the lines about there always being people with a fatter cigar or bigger car, well, without slagging him down, that was inspired by David Hemingway and his flashy car. I thought to myself why don't I go in for something like that. Well the reason I don't, is that you're going to be driving down the motorway and they'll be people looking at you in your flash car and all of a sudden you're gonna see somebody else who's in a better one, and all it is, is some sort of fuccking pecking order, and I don't want to get involved in that shit. I'd rather drop out and tune in. So the song is about people being together with a common identity. About people dropping out of the established order, y'know like the common identity of women, who feel like they don't want to be part of that "man's world" type thing and regain their own identity.
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