THE TRASH CAN SINATRAS
OBSCURITY KNOCKS
THE TRASH CAN SINATRAS
from the 1990 Go! Discs LP
Cake
OBSCURITY KNOCKS
Always at the foot of the photographs
That's me there
Snug as a bug in a mugshot pose
A foul-mouthed rogue
Owner of this corner and not much more
Still these days
I'm better placed to get my just rewards
I'll pound out a tune and very soon
I'll have too much to say
And a dead stupid name
And though I ought to be learning
I feel like a veteran
Of oh I like your poetry but I hate your poems
Calendars crumble
I'm knee deep in numbers
I've turned twenty-one
I've twist, I'm bust, I'm wrong again
Rubbing shoulders with the sheets till two
Looking at my watch
And I'm half-past caring
In the lap of luxury it comes to mind
Is this headboard hard?
Am I a lap behind?
But to face doom in a sock-stenched room
All by myself
Is the kind of fate I never contemplate
Lots of people would cry
Though none spring to mind
And though I ought to be learning
I feel like a veteran
Of oh I like your poetry but I hate your poems
Calendars crumble
I'm knee deep in numbers
I've turned twenty-one
I've twist, I'm bust, I'm wrong again
Know what it's like
To sigh at the sight
Of the first quarter of life?
Ever stopped to think
And found that nothing was there?
They laugh to see such fun
I'm playing blind man's bluff
All by myself
(All by myself)
And they're chanting a line
From a nursery rhyme
Sing ba-ba bleary eyes
have you any idea?
Years of learning I must be a veteran
Of oh I like your poetry but I hate your poems
And the calendar's cluttered
With days that are numbered
I've turned twenty-one
I've twist, I'm bust, I'm wrong again
Ought to be learning
Twist, I'm bust, I'm wrong again
Feel like a veteran
Twist, I'm bust, I'm wrong again
Calendar's cluttered
With days that are numbered
And I know what it's like
To sigh at the sight
Of the first quarter of life
And I know what it's like
Words and music
JOHN DOUGLAS, STEPHEN DOUGLAS,
PAUL LIVINGSTON, GEORGE McDAID
and
FRANCIS READER
© 1990 Go! Discs UK
What do we expect of a so-called 'classic' popular song? A simple but evocative title? A catchy, easily reproducible melody? Lyrics that reference and/or illuminate some aspect of our own life experience in unique and unexpected ways, using language mercifully devoid of the clichés that make so much of what is deemed to be 'contemporary pop' so instantly forgettable if not mindlessly awful?
Obscurity Knocks, released by Scottish band The Trash Can Sinatras in 1990, ticked all of these boxes, perhaps explaining why it remains the favourite song of many people who came of age in the heady days of Britpop, an audience that can recall a time when genuine originality was prized and popularity was more than a matter of conforming to the right set of algorithims.
The most striking elements of Obscurity Knocks are its title and lyrics, which are at once clever, knowing, innocent and, most crucially of all, surprising. Little of the imagery is borrowed and what is borrowed — eg. 'Snug as a bug' — is juxtaposed with imagery that is deliberately, often gloriously disarming. The rhymes are also unusually structured, stressing sounds — for example, the 'ug' sound repeated three times in the third line of the first verse — that are generally avoided by lyricists because they are short and staccato rather than long and round. (Think of words like 'love,' 'glove,' 'dove' and 'above' and how many times these have appeared in popular songs since popular songs were invented.) This is capped off by a soaring chorus and not one but two — yes, two! — middle-eight sections, boldly repeated one after the other before the extended final chorus.
Nary a cliché in sight. And when you add an irresistibly jangly guitar riff and a vocal that makes no apology for its use of Scottish English rather than standard British or North American English (the most overused form of the language on the planet and particularly so in the field of popular music) you have all the ingredients necessary to create a three and a half minute masterpiece. Of course, this was no guarantee of commercial success in 1990 just as it remains no guarantee of success today. Obscurity Knocks became a cult favourite rather than a chart favourite, with its accompanying three track EP rising to #86 in the UK and remaining there for a month while it rose to #12 on the Billboard alternative chart, no doubt aided by some consistent exposure on what used to be the vitally important sales tool known as US college radio.
Use the link below to visit the website of Scottish band THE TRASH CAN SINATRAS:
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