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The good old Paul Weller has always had a natural gift for melody. He has demonstrated this in all his incarnations, even in the rather affected 80s guise of the Style Council.
However, it is with the Jam, and especially with this album (somewhat unjustly forgotten), that he earned the merit of being considered one of the fathers of Brit Pop.
Because let's face it: the 90s Britpoppers referred, even explicitly, to a long and honored school of English pop that saw the Beatles as the most prestigious name, but also drew from Bowie's "Hunky Dory" (a masterpiece of ante litteram Brit-pop) and especially from the Jam/Kinks lineage.
Paul Weller indeed explicitly pays homage to the brilliant band of the Davies brothers with a cover of "David Watts": by speeding up the delightful original, he brings it in line with the typical speed and essentiality anxiety of the punk era.
Like every album released in the 77/78 biennium, "All Mod Cons" also offered the obligatory homage to punk sounds, present here in the short and intense assaults of "All Mod Cons" and "A Bomb In Wardour Street".
But it's the melodic soul that gives identity and makes the album still current and thoroughly enjoyable today. Because the writing quality is very high, starting with "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have A Nice Time)", passing through "In The Crowd" and "The Place I Love" to the final little gem "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight", where a story of urban violence is told with anger and delicacy.
If we have to compare the musical sensibility present in the work of the Jam to someone, it is certainly to that of the Clash and the aforementioned Kinks. It is a music that is direct, evocative, and popular at the same time.
And so getting lost in the supermarket of consumerism of the Clash's "Lost In The Supermarket" mirrors getting lost in the crowd of "In The Crowd", and the fierce social criticism of "Mr.Clean" echoes the numerous bourgeois targets of the Kinks ("Mr Pleasant", "A Well Respected Man", "Shangri-la" etc.), and it's an attitude that will be picked up by Blur in "Parklife" and "Charmless Man".
Certainly "All Mod Cons" cannot be counted among the masterpieces of rock history. However, it will always retain a place, not as the progenitor of a genre but as an important milestone within the history of the British pop tradition.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 All Mod Cons (01:20)
Seen you before, I know your sort,
You think the world awaits your every breath
You'll be my friend, or so you say
You'll help me out when the time comes
And all the time we're getting rich,
You hang around to help me out
But when we're skint, Oh God Forbid!
You drop us like hot bricks
Artistic Freedom. Do what you want.
But just make sure that the money ain't gone
I'll tell you what, I got you sussed
You'll waste my time, when my time comes.
02 To Be Someone (Didn't We Have a Nice Time) (02:30)
To be someone must be a wonderful thing
A famous footballer a rock singer
or a big film star, yes I think I would like that
To be rich and have lots of fans
have lots of girls to prove that I'm a man
And be No. 1 - and liked by everyone
Getting drugged up with my trendy friends
They really dig me, man, and I dig them
And the bread I spend - is like my fame - it's quickly diminished
And there's no more swimming in a guitar shaped pool
no more reporters at my beck and call
no more cocaine it's only ground chalk
no more taxis now we'll have to walk
But didn't we have a nice time -
didn't we have a nice time
Oh wasn't it such a fine time
I realize I should have stuck to my guns
instead shit out to be one of the bastard sons
and lose myself - I know it was wrong - but it's cost me a lot
And there's no more drinking when the club shuts down,
I'm out on my arse with the rest of the clowns
It's really frightening without a bodyguard
so I stay confined to my lonely room
03 Mr. Clean (03:29)
Daylight dawns, you wake up and yawn - Mr. Clean
A piece of toast from the one you love most - and you leave
You catch your bus in the 8 o'clock rush,
And catch your train in the morning rain
Mr. Clean - Mr. Clean
If you see me in the street - look away
'Cause I don't ever want to catch you looking at me - Mr. Clean
'Cause I hate you and your wife
And if I get the chance I'll fuck up your life
Mr. Clean - Mr. Clean -
IS THAT SEEN!
Surround yourself with dreams, of pretty young
girls, and anyone you want, but -
please don't forget me or any of my kind
'cause I'll make you think again
When I stick your face in the grime -
Getting pissed at the annual office do -
Smart blue suit and you went to Cambridge too -
You miss page 3, but the Times is right for you -
And mum and dad are very proud of you -
Mr. Clean - etc.
04 David Watts (02:56)
I am a dull and simple lad
Cannot tell water from champagne
and I have never met the Queen
And I wish I could have all he has got -
I wish I could be like David Watts
And when I lie on my pillow at night
I dream I could fight like David Watts
And lead the school team to victory
Take my exams and pass the lot
He is the head boy at the school
He is the captain of the team
His is so gay and fancy free
And I wish I could have all he has got
I wish I could be like David Watts
And all the girls in the neighbourhood
Try to go out with David Watts
The try their best but can't succeed
For he is of pure and noble breed
05 English Rose (02:51)
No matter where I roam
I will ""RETURN"" to my English rose
For no bonds can ever tempt me from she
I've sailed the seven seas,
Flown the whole blue sky.
But I've returned with haste to where my
Love does lie.
No matter where I go I will ""RETURN"" to my English Rose
For nothing can ever tempt me from she.
I've searched the secret mists -
I've climbed the highest peaks
Caught the wild wind home
To hear her soft voice speak
No matter where I roam
I will come back to my English Rose
For no bonds can ever keep me from she.
I've been to ancient worlds
I've scoured the whole universe
And caught the first train home
To be at her side.
No matter where I go
I will return to my English Rose
For no bonds, nothing and no-one can ever keep me from she
06 In the Crowd (05:40)
When I'm in the crowd, I don't see anything
My mind goes a blank, in the humid sunshine
when I'm in the crowd I don't see anything
I fall into a trance, at the supermarket
the noise flows me along, as I catch falling cans
of baked beans on toast, technology is the most.
and everyone seems just like me,
they struggle hard to set themselves free
and their waiting for the change
When I'm in the crowd, I can't remember my name
and my only link is a pint of Wall's ice cream
when I'm in the crowd - I don't see anything
Sometimes I think that it's a plot,
an equilibrium melting pot
The government sponsors underhand
When I'm in the crowd
When I'm in the crowd
When I'm in the crowd
And everyone seems that they're acting a dream
'cause they're just not thinking about each other
and they're taking orders, which are media spawned
and they should know better, now you have been warned
and don't forget you saw it here first
When I'm in the crowd
When I'm in the crowd
When I'm in the crowd
And life just simply moves along
in simple houses, simple jobs
and no ones wanting for the change
When I'm in the crowd
When I'm in the crowd
When I'm in the crowd
07 Billy Hunt (03:01)
If it's not you moaning, then it's someone else,
Jumping down my throat, every chance you get,
If it's not you crying, then it's probably me
You're a little dog messing up my tree -
Billy Hunt is a magical world,
Full of strippers and long legged girls
Clark Kent's got nothing on me,
I'll spy like James Bond and die like King Kong
Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy
Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy
billy hunt, billy hunt, billy, billy, billy
billy hunt
I remember the first day at my job,
I didn't get on to well with the foreman, Bob
Do this. Do that. Don't even stop for a cough.
He used to be a sergeant in the R.A.F.
No one pushes Billy Hunt around,
Well they do, but not for long
'cause when I get fit and grow bionic arms
the whole world's gonna wish it weren't born
-
billy hunt, billy hunt, billy, billy, billy
billy hunt, billy hunt, billy, billy, billy
billy hunt, billy hunt, billy, billy, billy
billy hunt
I could be a Superman
Satisfy any whim that I wanted to,
I could be a Human machine
I could show Steve Austin a thing or two -
If it's not you moaning, then it's someone else,
Jumping down my throat, every chance you get,
If it's not you crying, then it's probably me
You're a little dog messing up my tree -
No one pushes Billy Hunt around,
Well they do, but not for long
'cause when I get fit and grow bionic arms
the whole world's gonna wish it weren't born -
Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy
Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy
billy hunt, billy hunt, billy, billy, billy
billy hunt
billy hunt, billy hunt, billy, billy, billy
billy hunt, billy hunt, billy, billy, billy
billy hunt, billy hunt, billy, billy, billy
billy hunt
look out
billy, billy hunt, billy, billy hunt, billy, billy hunt
billy, billy hunt, billy, billy hunt, billy, billy hunt
08 It's Too Bad (02:37)
All we seem to do is talk about it
we always end up shouting about it
there was a time when we could overcome it
But it's too late to say we'll just forget it
It's too bad that we had to break up
and too much said for us to ever make up
I could get by if I could just forget you
but things remind me and I feel so sad now
Same old feeling everytime I see you
and every avenue I walk I'm behind you
your back is turned and your eyes are closed girl
you move in circles that are out of my reach now
I could say I'm sorry
but it's not the point is it?
you want to play your games and
you don't mind if I get high!
11 'A' Bomb in Wardour Street (02:38)
Where the streets are paved with blood,
with cataclysmic overtones,
Fear and hate linger in the air,
A strictly no-go deadly zone.
I don't know what I'm doing here
'cause it's not my scene at all
There's an 'A' bomb in Wardour Street
They've called in the Army, they've called in the police to.
I'm stranded on the vortex floor,
My head's been kicked in and blood's started to pour
Through the haze I can see my girl
15 geezers got her pinned to the door
I try to reach her but fall back to the floor
'A' bomb in Wardour Street
It's blown up the West End, now it's spreading throughout the City,
'A' bomb in Wardour Street, it's blown up the City
Now it's spreading through the country.
Law and order take a turn for the worst,
In the shape of a size 10 boot.
Rape and murder throughout the land,
and they tell you that you're still a free man.
If this is freedom I don't understand
'cause it seems like madness to me.
'A' bomb in Wardour Street, Hate Bomb,
Hate Bomb, Hate Bomb, Hate Bomb.
A Phillistine nation, of degredation,
And hate and war. There must be more
It's Doctor Martin's A,P,O,C,A,L,Y,P,S,E,
Apocalypse!
12 Down in the Tube Station at Midnight (04:43)
The distant echo -
of faraway voices boarding faraway trains
To take them home to
the ones that they love and who love them forever
The glazed, dirty steps - repeat my own and reflect my thoughts
Cold and uninviting, partially naked
Except for toffee wrapers and this morning's papers
Mr. Jones got run down
Headlines of death and sorrow - they tell of tomorrow
Madmen on the rampage
And I'm down in the tube station at midnight
I fumble for change - and pull out the Queen
Smiling, beguiling
I put in the money and pull out a plum
Behind me
Whispers in the shadows - gruff blazing voices
Hating, waiting
Hey boy they shout have you got any money?
And I said I've a little money and a take away curry,
I'm on my way home to my wife.
She'll be lining up the cutlery,
You know she's expecting me
Polishing the glasses and pulling out the cork"
And I'm down in the tube station at midnight
I first felt a fist, and then a kick
I could now smell their breath
They smelt of pubs and Wormwood Scrubs
And too many right wing meetings
My life swam around me
It took a look and drowned me in its own existence
The smell of brown leather
It blended in with the weather
It filled my eyes, ears, nose and mouth
It blocked all my senses
Couldn't see, hear, speak any longer
And I'm down in the tube station at midnight
I said I was down in the tube station at midnight
The last thing that I saw
As I lay there on the floor
Was "Jesus Saves" painted by an atheist nutter
And a British Rail poster read "Have an Awayday - a cheap holiday -
Do it today!"
I glanced back on my life
And thought about my wife
'Cause they took the keys - and she'll think it's me
And I'm down in the tube station at midnight
The wine will be flat and the curry's gone cold
I'm down in the tube station at midnight
Don't want to go down in a tube station at midnight
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