I love this video analysis. Thank you. I see it more gently, metaphorically. Ron creates environments and perspectives and writes to them. And he deliciously goes in reverse here. Part 1: heaven. You're dead. You're there. And though it has Ron's laser wit, it's in earnest. Part 2: gabriel: the sound heard while dying. Don't discount what this passage does to your ears. Part 3: the heavenly song we're hearing everyday whether we know it or not. In our cars, in our homes, in the streets. Beautifully rendered in that last verse. Ron is a sweetheart: he leaves us with children singing. A lovely song. Completely open to interpretation.
Thanks, and great interpretation. I do think that these songs are open to so many ways of looking at them, but I’m always looking for something meta in there, with my idea being that they often say the same thing on different songs. I can’t believe how clever Ron Mael’s songwriting is!
Thanks for doing this Paul, it certainly all adds up to what you propose, love it. I can detect the meanings of some Sparks tracks myself but others really frustrate me because I just can't De-Code them! Listening to a Sparks song to me is like going to an Art Gallery and staring at a painting. Sometimes you just need someone to point out things that you havent noticed to really appreciate them. I really hope you can do more, theres so many un-appreciated Sparks tracks.
Thanks for commenting, it means a lot! I’m finishing up a video right now about Terminal Jive so I hope you like that one too. I’ve been fascinated with their lyrics for years, writing about weird and wonderful subjects but always weirdly specific and precise. Something new clicked for me when I started thinking about their music as being allegories for their own creative process and musical worldview. It’s tricky to explain, but it really does add up. If there are any lyrics that interest you I’d love to discuss.
That may also explain the nurse on the cover. The nurse figure is commonly played as a sexy/romantic/fetishized trope - but, on the other hand, if you happen to die in a hospital, some of the last people you'll ever see are likely to be nurses. (If you were born in a hospital, they're likely to be some of the first people you see as well - which of course ties into "Tryouts For The Human Race.") On top of all that, the white uniforms/white light/white background also suggest the appearance of an angel. Is she trying to save your life...or is she welcoming you to the afterlife?
I love that, I tried making the same connection but got hung up on what the microscope meant, but I love the birth/death connection to nurses, plus that glam/disco/fetish/fashion connotations that come with that.
Been a Sparks fan since 74. Not purchased every album, but most they have released since Balls. I always loved what I think of as the tongue in cheek elements of the lyrics. However being a drummer I have never studied the lyrics unless they were on the album cover. So your video is very interesting. Just purchased the new re-mastered No 1 in Heaven on vinyl. It is superb and I love the added extras with the original adverts. All very silly, clever at the same time and classic Sparks. Enjoyed them last Monday at the Albert Hall. Very brave to do a high percentage of the new album live. The audience was not just old codgers like me, but loads of people in their 20's and thirties as well. Thanks for your efforts. It made my Sunday morning.
Thanks! I was at RAH too! Amazing gig, and such a brave setlist. N1IH is such an underrated album - love the extended versions on the remastered version.
Nice one Paul, I've read your blog and heard your interview on the Sparks Podcast. Can't get enough meta-analysis of their stuff, keep up the great work! I agree with your verdict on this, and I'd go a step further and say it's about the evolution of electronic dance music, highly prescient about what would happen over the next few decades. What is it about bleeping synths that makes people dance all night (with or without the aid of chemicals...)? This song foreshadows rave culture, starting off as the soundtrack to people's spiritual experiences on the dancefloor, and gradually making its way onto TV adverts and the like.
Completely! They were so far ahead of the rest of pop music with this and laid out where music is still at today. I’m glad you enjoyed the podcast. I squirm a little listening back because I could have sold these ideas a bit better, but it was so much fun talking about this stuff. I’d love to hear about other theories you have on this music.
Fantastic video analysis. Subscribed. i adore this song. You might not want GM in your food, but essential ingredient in an electronic disco song. I think the sound is magnificent. Shame the recording quality was a bit on the dodgy side... I'm not sure of this as I don't have an original pressing.. I love the words and the vocals are angelic too.
Thanks! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. These songs hit the right note so often. I love the sound quality, complete with that raw edge because what they were doing was so far ahead of its time.
The first time they "visited" heaven was 1974, 'Kimono My House'; 'Here In Heaven'. Actually my favorite from that album! Mainly because of the lyrics that are so bizarre and absurd, yet sad!😂 It can't be much more Sparks than that!💖💖💖 In 'Here in Heaven' he is trapped in heaven, and won't see her "in many many years". Same, but reverse. Before Sparks' had a makeover done on their website, the lyrics for the songs were available, and there, on their own page lyrics went "for years and years and years", but Russell has always sung "for many many years". Was "for years and years and years" the original lyrics, written down on paper, and became something else when Russell sung? Perhaps he got a better flow in his singing? Or only a mistake made when typing the lyrics on the site?
One of the “secrets” is the role that Dan Wyman played on this (as he did on Love to Love You Baby also for G.M.). You can here his work all over this album.
It’s something I’ve wondered about for years - why the album title is different. Hopefully this is a cool explanation that answers that puzzle. Thanks for watching 🙏
Funny you should characterize the lyrics about "the angels are sheep" who "follow the master and his plan" as representing nightclub patrons and a DJ - a few months after this video came out, of course, we got to hear "We Go Dancing," which takes the same idea into the much darker realm of a dictatorship. It takes it from utopia to dystopia.
I hadn’t made that connection but you’re absolutely right! Both are like a sinister presence on a dancefloor. I’m not sure if you’ve watched my Terminal Jive vid, but what I said about ‘the greatest show on earth’ can be applied to ‘it doesn’t have to be that way’ from the new album.
10:20 It could also be viewed as trying to answer the question what comes after death. Is there a "life after death"? And what is it like? 12:40 Or you could also say, the music is like a drug. You can't be without it. And in "Is There More To Life Than Dancing?" the question comes up if that dancing is really everything in life. Similar to a drug user who starts to realize that he can't go on living like he does. But in a more positive way that the character doesn't really want to stop. 17:38 that's exactly what happened to me with Sparks 😄 Deaf to everything else, musically 😁 Thank you for this very interesting video Paul! I'd definitely like to see more of those. For me personally it's easier than reading very long texts.
Thanks for watching! The “music is a drug” side of these songs is definitely something I see too, but taken to the logical conclusion of “and it might therefore kill you”. Drugs and hedonism is a big part of disco, after all, and a world away from the Maels’ own lifestyle.
@@MetaSparks Hm, usually a drug can kill, that's right. So even this must be a metaphor in this case, because music can't actually kill anybody. On the contrary, it heals people like a medicine. And in English the word "drug" sometimes is also used for "medicine", isn't it?
@@girlfromgermany my interpretation is that these songs are designed to subconsciously make the listener think about their own death, which is a great trick to play on an audience of people taking drugs! :)
Nice analysis! Their lyrics are just as important as the music to me. As a rabid Sparks fan, I have to point out that I think the line is 'in cars it becomes a hit' not 'of course, it becomes a hit'. And yes, 'maybe you're closer to here than you care to be' has always been my favourite line in the song. It makes me wonder sometimes... Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Fletcher Honorama. I've never been able to figure out what that song is about. That's another one that has a bit of a sinister vibe.
Thanks! I’m glad you pointed out my mistake here - of course the song is played through car stereos and competing with the noise of rush hour traffic! It does such a great job making a point about how pop music can be simultaneously disposable and completely wonderful. Those guys are genius. I have no insight on Fletcher Honorama but I’d love to hear theories. My dream is that one day Ron will explain it all to us, because it definitely sounds like it has a story behind it.
@@MetaSparks You know what...I just went to the actual song on TH-cam to see if I could find anything there, and here's Ron's official answer (if the commenter's story is true). Guess we're not going to get much more info out of him! Comment: I was lucky enough to meet Ron Mael after the "Kimono my house" full album concert of the 21 nights in Islington in 2008. I asked him one question...."Fletcher Honorama....such a beautiful, mesmerising track. Was it inspired by any personal experience or was he just a character?". After saying his thank you's, (Ron & Russell are always really polite and happy to banter with fans if you ever get the chance), he replied...."He was just a character".
That album with the said song "Fletcher Honorama" makes me think that they are still in 1960s mode, with regard to the songs style as quite a bit of Psychedelia and great mid to late 60s bands influence in their music, but it shows they did find their way with their next album K H, which slotted nicely into the Rock/Glam Rock era.
I only listened to the first 3:30 here FYI. Whatever was happening in this song is the same that happened with “When do I get to sing my way?” The higher ups telling the music makers what to do and they don’t like it one bit!
This scene from the movie Barbie reminded me your comment on the line "Loud as a crowd or soft as a doubt" th-cam.com/users/shorts5ZjTTSUiF9I?feature=share
That sounds like a brilliant meta joke. I checked but it opened just after this was released, so maybe Sparks influenced the nightclub rather than the other way around? Either way, heaven being a nightclub is a beautiful bit of songwriting.
Very true, and also the first person you see when born, which fits Tryouts! This had gone completely over my head when I made this video! Thanks for watching.
This song actually is heavenly
I love this video analysis. Thank you.
I see it more gently, metaphorically. Ron creates environments and perspectives and writes to them. And he deliciously goes in reverse here.
Part 1: heaven. You're dead. You're there. And though it has Ron's laser wit, it's in earnest.
Part 2: gabriel: the sound heard while dying. Don't discount what this passage does to your ears.
Part 3: the heavenly song we're hearing everyday whether we know it or not. In our cars, in our homes, in the streets. Beautifully rendered in that last verse.
Ron is a sweetheart: he leaves us with children singing.
A lovely song. Completely open to interpretation.
Thanks, and great interpretation. I do think that these songs are open to so many ways of looking at them, but I’m always looking for something meta in there, with my idea being that they often say the same thing on different songs. I can’t believe how clever Ron Mael’s songwriting is!
Brilliant analysis and very clever too. I wouldn't be surprised if Ron did write this song as described in which case he is a genius
Thanks! If I am right, then only a genius like Ron could pull this off :)
Thanks for doing this Paul, it certainly all adds up to what you propose, love it.
I can detect the meanings of some Sparks tracks myself but others really frustrate me because I just can't De-Code them!
Listening to a Sparks song to me is like going to an Art Gallery and staring at a painting. Sometimes you just need someone to point out things that you havent noticed to really appreciate them.
I really hope you can do more, theres so many un-appreciated Sparks tracks.
Thanks for commenting, it means a lot! I’m finishing up a video right now about Terminal Jive so I hope you like that one too.
I’ve been fascinated with their lyrics for years, writing about weird and wonderful subjects but always weirdly specific and precise. Something new clicked for me when I started thinking about their music as being allegories for their own creative process and musical worldview. It’s tricky to explain, but it really does add up.
If there are any lyrics that interest you I’d love to discuss.
Genial. I❤ Sparks. More please.👍
Thanks! Lots more still to come from me so stay tuned.
Interesting take, Paul. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thanks for watching (and everything else you do for us Sparks fans). I’m loving your albums project.
That may also explain the nurse on the cover. The nurse figure is commonly played as a sexy/romantic/fetishized trope - but, on the other hand, if you happen to die in a hospital, some of the last people you'll ever see are likely to be nurses. (If you were born in a hospital, they're likely to be some of the first people you see as well - which of course ties into "Tryouts For The Human Race.") On top of all that, the white uniforms/white light/white background also suggest the appearance of an angel. Is she trying to save your life...or is she welcoming you to the afterlife?
I love that, I tried making the same connection but got hung up on what the microscope meant, but I love the birth/death connection to nurses, plus that glam/disco/fetish/fashion connotations that come with that.
Very profound analysis...
Thank you so much! I’ve just posted a new version of this that expands on these ideas, with more to come. Thanks for watching :)
Finally watched this! Very clever video, and at times a bit spooky!
Thank you! I see some of it as spooky too, especially My Other Voice.
@@MetaSparks I'm going to watch your latest video later today after work!
Been a Sparks fan since 74. Not purchased every album, but most they have released since Balls. I always loved what I think of as the tongue in cheek elements of the lyrics. However being a drummer I have never studied the lyrics unless they were on the album cover. So your video is very interesting.
Just purchased the new re-mastered No 1 in Heaven on vinyl. It is superb and I love the added extras with the original adverts. All very silly, clever at the same time and classic Sparks.
Enjoyed them last Monday at the Albert Hall. Very brave to do a high percentage of the new album live.
The audience was not just old codgers like me, but loads of people in their 20's and thirties as well.
Thanks for your efforts. It made my Sunday morning.
Thanks! I was at RAH too! Amazing gig, and such a brave setlist. N1IH is such an underrated album - love the extended versions on the remastered version.
Nice one Paul, I've read your blog and heard your interview on the Sparks Podcast. Can't get enough meta-analysis of their stuff, keep up the great work! I agree with your verdict on this, and I'd go a step further and say it's about the evolution of electronic dance music, highly prescient about what would happen over the next few decades. What is it about bleeping synths that makes people dance all night (with or without the aid of chemicals...)? This song foreshadows rave culture, starting off as the soundtrack to people's spiritual experiences on the dancefloor, and gradually making its way onto TV adverts and the like.
Completely! They were so far ahead of the rest of pop music with this and laid out where music is still at today. I’m glad you enjoyed the podcast. I squirm a little listening back because I could have sold these ideas a bit better, but it was so much fun talking about this stuff. I’d love to hear about other theories you have on this music.
Love this video. Make more please!
Thanks Andy, more soon, I hope!
Fantastic video analysis. Subscribed.
i adore this song. You might not want GM in your food, but essential ingredient in an electronic disco song. I think the sound is magnificent. Shame the recording quality was a bit on the dodgy side... I'm not sure of this as I don't have an original pressing.. I love the words and the vocals are angelic too.
Thanks! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. These songs hit the right note so often. I love the sound quality, complete with that raw edge because what they were doing was so far ahead of its time.
The first time they "visited" heaven was 1974, 'Kimono My House'; 'Here In Heaven'.
Actually my favorite from that album! Mainly because of the lyrics that are so bizarre and absurd, yet sad!😂 It can't be much more Sparks than that!💖💖💖
In 'Here in Heaven' he is trapped in heaven, and won't see her "in many many years". Same, but reverse.
Before Sparks' had a makeover done on their website, the lyrics for the songs were available, and there, on their own page lyrics went "for years and years and years", but Russell has always sung "for many many years". Was "for years and years and years" the original lyrics, written down on paper, and became something else when Russell sung? Perhaps he got a better flow in his singing? Or only a mistake made when typing the lyrics on the site?
Interesting! That’s one of my favourite lines in one of my favourite songs btw. It love it! I wonder if that was v1 of the song.
One of the “secrets” is the role that Dan Wyman played on this (as he did on Love to Love You Baby also for G.M.). You can here his work all over this album.
I don’t know Dan Wyman. What’s worth listening to, because I’d love to hear his own work for comparison?
Thank you .
Thanks for watching
Noone in heaven. Never thought of it like that. Wow 😮
It’s something I’ve wondered about for years - why the album title is different. Hopefully this is a cool explanation that answers that puzzle. Thanks for watching 🙏
@MetaSparks well Ron is very clever with his lyrics so I wouldn't be surprised
Funny you should characterize the lyrics about "the angels are sheep" who "follow the master and his plan" as representing nightclub patrons and a DJ - a few months after this video came out, of course, we got to hear "We Go Dancing," which takes the same idea into the much darker realm of a dictatorship. It takes it from utopia to dystopia.
I hadn’t made that connection but you’re absolutely right! Both are like a sinister presence on a dancefloor. I’m not sure if you’ve watched my Terminal Jive vid, but what I said about ‘the greatest show on earth’ can be applied to ‘it doesn’t have to be that way’ from the new album.
Great analysis. I'm ordering it tonight. Then I'll own 15 of 26.
Enjoy your journey to 26 of 26! N1IH is one of their best.
10:20 It could also be viewed as trying to answer the question what comes after death. Is there a "life after death"? And what is it like?
12:40 Or you could also say, the music is like a drug. You can't be without it. And in "Is There More To Life Than Dancing?" the question comes up if that dancing is really everything in life. Similar to a drug user who starts to realize that he can't go on living like he does. But in a more positive way that the character doesn't really want to stop.
17:38 that's exactly what happened to me with Sparks 😄 Deaf to everything else, musically 😁
Thank you for this very interesting video Paul! I'd definitely like to see more of those. For me personally it's easier than reading very long texts.
Thanks for watching! The “music is a drug” side of these songs is definitely something I see too, but taken to the logical conclusion of “and it might therefore kill you”. Drugs and hedonism is a big part of disco, after all, and a world away from the Maels’ own lifestyle.
@@MetaSparks
Hm, usually a drug can kill, that's right. So even this must be a metaphor in this case, because music can't actually kill anybody. On the contrary, it heals people like a medicine. And in English the word "drug" sometimes is also used for "medicine", isn't it?
@@girlfromgermany my interpretation is that these songs are designed to subconsciously make the listener think about their own death, which is a great trick to play on an audience of people taking drugs! :)
Nice analysis! Their lyrics are just as important as the music to me. As a rabid Sparks fan, I have to point out that I think the line is 'in cars it becomes a hit' not 'of course, it becomes a hit'. And yes, 'maybe you're closer to here than you care to be' has always been my favourite line in the song. It makes me wonder sometimes...
Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Fletcher Honorama. I've never been able to figure out what that song is about. That's another one that has a bit of a sinister vibe.
Thanks! I’m glad you pointed out my mistake here - of course the song is played through car stereos and competing with the noise of rush hour traffic! It does such a great job making a point about how pop music can be simultaneously disposable and completely wonderful. Those guys are genius.
I have no insight on Fletcher Honorama but I’d love to hear theories. My dream is that one day Ron will explain it all to us, because it definitely sounds like it has a story behind it.
@@MetaSparks You know what...I just went to the actual song on TH-cam to see if I could find anything there, and here's Ron's official answer (if the commenter's story is true). Guess we're not going to get much more info out of him!
Comment: I was lucky enough to meet Ron Mael after the "Kimono my house" full album concert of the 21 nights in Islington in 2008. I asked him one question...."Fletcher Honorama....such a beautiful, mesmerising track. Was it inspired by any personal experience or was he just a character?". After saying his thank you's, (Ron & Russell are always really polite and happy to banter with fans if you ever get the chance), he replied...."He was just a character".
That album with the said song "Fletcher Honorama" makes me think that they are still in 1960s mode, with regard to the songs style as quite a bit of Psychedelia and great mid to late 60s bands influence in their music, but it shows they did find their way with their next album K H, which slotted nicely into the Rock/Glam Rock era.
I only listened to the first 3:30 here FYI. Whatever was happening in this song is the same that happened with “When do I get to sing my way?” The higher ups telling the music makers what to do and they don’t like it one bit!
I don’t understand sorry, can you elaborate?
This scene from the movie Barbie reminded me your comment on the line "Loud as a crowd or soft as a doubt" th-cam.com/users/shorts5ZjTTSUiF9I?feature=share
That is perfect! That’s what was in R&R’s heads all those decades back. I’m so glad you shared this :)
The number one gay disco in the UK during the late 70's was "Heaven "in Charring Cross, London.
That sounds like a brilliant meta joke. I checked but it opened just after this was released, so maybe Sparks influenced the nightclub rather than the other way around? Either way, heaven being a nightclub is a beautiful bit of songwriting.
Nothing is as good as they say it is. Maybe that's why Veronica Lake is crying in her latte.
I've got something in mind that ties these three, so hopefully I'll post something when the album comes out. I can't wait for it!
ProTip: Raise the camera to eye-level.
Thanks for the advice. I’m filming this on my laptop so I suppose it looks a bit like a zoom meeting. I’ll give this a try.
@@MetaSparks - Stack the laptop on a pile of books. :)
I’ve already put this into practice for my next vid. I’d welcome any other suggestions on how to improve too.
It’s silly fun. Period. Playing with peoples minds.
A beautiful nurse is a beautiful last thing to see if your on your way out
Very true, and also the first person you see when born, which fits Tryouts! This had gone completely over my head when I made this video! Thanks for watching.