It’s My Life - Talk Talk
Track List:
Dum Dum Girl
Such A Shame
Renee
It’s My Life
Tomorrow Started
The Last Time
Call in the Night Boy
Does Caroline Know?
It’s You
Talking about Talk Talk
To my knowledge I’ve not listened to anything from this album, this could change as I listen if I recognize anything. Honestly, I am not even sure what genre Talk Talk is. Without further ado I will press play.
Dum Dum Girl
Due to the name I anticipate a song about suckers. Admittedly I don’t understand the reference about dum-dum. The verses seem to tell about a woman selling herself. Overall the song is very quite unsettling with the repetition of dum setting an eerie tone.
Such A Shame
Almost an industrial feel to the intro. Synth pop. I may just start making stuff up because I also am drawing a blank for a meaning to these lyrics. Mentions of dice make me think of a Dungeons and Dragons game or character. While I think this is a possible thing I am also doubtful as I think if there was a synth pop song about D&D I would have been informed of it before now. Perhaps the narrator is using dice to make decisions for him in life, and seeing options that could have been that didn’t roll and saying “such a shame”.
Renee
A woman’s name as the title of this one. Expecting a love song or a song about a relationship. Well it’s a ballad. The expressiveness of the singer’s voice is what strikes me the most for this song. From the lyrics I think the narrator is a friend of Renee and watching her try to live her life but not being treated fairly. She chooses to ignore this and he would like her to realize it.
It’s My Life
I doubt this will be the original version of Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life but who knows. It’s not a song covered by Bon Jovi but it’s a song I’ve heard before. The lyrics seem to tell about a man who is in a relationship with a woman who is also in a relationship with another man. The narrator seems to be choosing to ignore that fact his partner is seeing someone else yet is hurt by it all the same.
Tomorrow Started
I am not reading a story in the lyrics. More like a diary entry of the narrator trying to convince themself to keep going despite feeling hopeless. This one makes me think of a The Cure song without Robert Smith, in fact now that I think about it a lot of these songs have reminded me of The Cure, somewhere between Genesis and The Cure.
The Last Time
I enjoy the bass line on this one. For a meaning on this one the narrator seems to be commenting on being an entertainer. Having to perform on stage like a clown and fantasizing about not having to do it any more.
Call in the Night Boy
Another synth pop fueled song. The narrator is speaking about someone who he wants to be romantically involved with. He states he will wait for them and if they need they call in the night. I am reaching on this one.
Does Caroline Know?
So far I think this is my favorite track on the album just because it’s different. Our narrator seems to be Caroline’s partner and he isn’t the most faithful partner it would appear. I don’t think I would have liked this track had it not been in the context of the album. I will discuss more in the after thoughts onto the last song.
It’s You
I think this is a song that is speaking out against gossip and looking at how gossip and lies can negatively affect the subject of said gossip.
Afterwards
In my opinion that was not an enjoyable experience. The music is clearly from the 80’s. It’s depressed synth pop. I honestly try to find things I like in every album or song I listen to and this is one I am struggling with. I really like synths and what can be done with them. They had synths in this, there were some patches that I legitimately found interesting, but there were so many that sounded like a preset on whatever synth was being used that was just uninspired. I do think Mark Hollis’ voice was a very good fit for the style but I felt his delivery was long and drone like for a lot of the album and it’s just not something I enjoy. It could be due to my listening to the album 30 years after release and not having a firm grasp on what came before and what came after. I feel like this tried to capture some of the magic of Phil Collins’ era Genesis but fell short of the complexities and catchyness and also tried to occupy the same dark dreary space that The Cure did but the raw emotion was lacking. This was probably the most difficult album for me to listen to to date and if I don’t hear it again I won’t be upset. I was going to listen to a Black Sabbath album today but the cover of this one intrigued me too much so I went with this, perhaps I should have listened to Black Sabbath.
