Politicz

Content

Writing the album's sleevenotes, in March 1982, Coyne described each of the songs on the album.

Side 1

"The first song ("Your Holiness") is about the Pope - as an ex-Catholic I still feel the disappointment of not yet being saved. The second song ("Liberation") is about male-chauvinism, about the kind of man I was supposed to be - never wanted to be - nearly became. The song is an observation of the way many women are still treated; with (I hope) an optimistic ending. The third song ("Fun Flesh") is an imaginary picture of a man and his son. The father is very rich, clinging to his pathetic view of reality. Reality for him includes the idea of women as objects - contorted on shiny paper. He's wrong, sad, stubborn and insists on misleading his son. "Flashing Back" is about the happy moments of my life - the perfect combinations of cold truth and sleep walking ... inexplicable. I hope the images speak for themselves."

Side Two

""Tell the Truth" is a song about believing in heroes. Who will save us? The answer is really nobody. The truth always rests with the individual. "Bazai" is about Japan, about obsession with discipline and work. Where does it lead? What happens when the factories close? The answer always seems to be war. I find all mass-organisation menacing. The individual cries out - can anyone hear? "Poisoning You" is about suffocating relationships. It takes a lifetime for individuals to know and care for each other, this song reflects the bitterness when love collapses. "Magnolia Street" is about dance-halls, discos, gathering places. I have a fear of the impersonal, I long for the lights to come on. Magnolia Street is for self-investigatory people thrust into a "good time", I like to feel what I want to feel. "I've Got the Photographs", is a cry for everyone... a song that attempts to bring photographs to life when, after all, they're only bits of paper."

Reception

Awarding the album 3 stars, AllMusic's reviewer Dean McFarlane said:

One of the British singer/songwriter's more outwardly experimental records, this album contains some of his most intimate work, deeply personal songs and techniques which were taking him further and further away from tradition. The eccentric quality in his recordings sees him often compared to Robert Wyatt, who explored similar experimental tangents and additionally the subject of leftist politics on his early-'80s albums. Fans of Kevin Coyne's mid-'70s work, which is more in a Van Morrison vein, may be a little shocked by this, which is strictly a post-punk album with a humorous political agenda.

Track listing

All tracks written by Kevin Coyne and Peter Kirtley.

All tracks written by Kevin Coyne and Steve Bull.

Musicians

Production personnel