electronic :: songs :: forbidden city

(marr, sumner and bartos)

there’s not a hope while you’re in this kind of mood
too much to drink but not enough to lose
you tore me apart, now i’ve got to suffer
i wish i’d been around when you started this

give me a chance, i’d show you what i could do
you’re in a trance, and i’m not so fond of you
you may be a friend, but not my relation
but you’re the only person i ever knew

and it’s too late to wash my hands
we’re caught in a trap set for a man

there is a wind that blows in the northern sky
holding me back, no matter how hard i try
if i had the sense i’d leave here tomorrow
i wouldn’t even bother to say goodbye

but it’s too late to wash my hands
we’re caught in a trap set for a man

would you lie to me? you thought i was wrong
you deserted me when it all went wrong
would you lie to me, would you lie to me

would you lie to me? you thought i was wrong
you deserted me when it all went wrong
and it’s too late to wash my hands
we’re caught in a trap set for a man

but it’s too late to wash my hands
(would you lie to me)
we’re caught in a trap set for a man
(would you lie to me)

we’re caught in a trap set for a man
we’re caught in a trap set for a man

album version—4:03

forbidden city
raise the pressure
get the message: the best of

the opening track on raise the pressure shows a marked difference in sound to the ruthless, staccato beats on the first lp, but it’s equally polished, if not more so. johnny wrote the music whilst working on freefall, and bernard added the words and recorded his vocal in one afternoon. it’s a brilliant song about neglect and disappointment, with a groaning, injured guitar solo similar to the one in get the message.

bernard: “it’s about a young man who lives with his father, it’s a one-parent family but the parent is a male. his father’s a drunk, he beats him up and it’s about getting away from him because he can see it’s bad, but underneath there’s a tug of love. there’s a tie he can’t break. it’s about not respecting someone but being tied to them in an illogical way. i wrote the song and decided that was what it was about afterwards. if you decide beforehand it’s a bit like school essays.”

in interviews with noise (’94) and melody maker (’95), sumner referred to the song as the forbidden city, indicating that this was its original title. as well as illustrating how long raise the pressure took to record, these dates also invalidate the reputation electronic had of being an occasional side-project: they were active in every year of the decade except ’93, and during their mid-’90s period they produced over eighty minutes of music—the equivalent of two albums. .