I'm currently listening to The The "45 RPM" -- I've been a fan for 15 years and I really think that Matt Johnson is so underrated as a poet and songwriter...
Any thoughts?

I love 'The THE', got all they're (his) albums.
Great songwriting. I particularly liked 'Infected'
and 'Mind Bomb'.

BorisFishpaw said:

What do you think of "Burning Blue Soul"? From what I've read Matt recorded it in the basement of his parents pub when he was 19!

Heartland


Beneath the old iron bridges, across the victorian parks,
& all the frightened people running home before dark,
Past the Saturday morning cinema--
that lies crumbling to the ground,
& the piss stinking shopping centre in the new side of town.
I've come to smell the seasons change, & watch the city,
as the sun goes down again.

CHORUS
Here comes another winter, of long shadows & high hopes,
Here comes another winter, waitin for utopia,
waitin for hell to freeze over.

This is the land, where nothing changes,
the land of red buses & blue blooded babies,
This is the place, where pensioners are raped,

& the hearts are being cut, from the welfare state,
Let the poor drink the milk, while the rich eat the honey,
Let the bums count their blessings, while they count the money.

So many people, can't express what's on their minds,
Nobody knows them & nobody ever will,
Until their backs are broken & their dreams are stolen,
& they can't get what they want, then they're gonna get angry!
Well it ain't written in the papers, but its written on the walls
The way this country is divided to fall,
So the cranes are moving on the skyline--
Trying to knock down--this town
But the stains on the heartland, can never be removed,
from this country, that's sick, sad, and confused.

CHORUS

The ammunition's being passed, and the lords been praised,
But the wars on the televisions will never be explained,
All the bankers gettin sweaty, beneath their white collars,
As the pound in our pocket, turns into a dollar.

This is the 51st state--of the U. S. A.
(Repeat and fade.)

this song has always reminded me of living in Detroit...in some ways...

Matt Johnson - sooo lazy
Soul Mining is the shit (+ "The Beaten Generation" + the 93 album is excellent)

Hey, did they do this song that went: we are what we are...we only want to be ourselves?

My intro to them was Dogs of Lust---loved it.