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Paralysed (3:25)

Cover of Solid Gold

From Solid Gold and 15 other releases

A short and bitter poem about failure and disillusionment is set to a deliberate and disjointed rhythm. There is no melody for the poem, it is spoken in a resigned and near hopeless manner against the musical tracks. Electric guitar part takes the voice of a gathering emotional or social paralysis as it fights to control the inevitable and uncontrollable.
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Blinkered, paralysed
Flat on my back

MetroLyrics Full lyrics at MetroLyrics

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  • DavosRancheros

    Love these guys!

    17 Sep 2012 Reply

  • somniloquacious

    Depressed funk is pretty accurate, like a demented, detached, lo-fi funk. It's so bleak, wihout any of wryness you got with Anthrax, but that riff is so fucking bad ass.

    16 Nov 2011 Reply

  • shrinkwrapped

    @mottly you'd think so, but their new album isn't a patch on this. Nothing has been since. Also, this isn't the original Solid Gold recording.

    7 Apr 2011 Reply

  • mottly

    Need a lot more of this Band!!!

    8 Mar 2011 Reply

  • dwlx

    This is playing on the radio right now! God, the opening bars of that mean guitar. I was good at what I did, can't work out what I did wrong....

    7 Jan 2011 Reply

  • BrainPies

    First concert of my life: 1981, Gang of Four at the Magic Mountain amphitheater. I can remember every song to this day. They totally grooved on this one. Most recent concert of my life: Gang of Four, Portland, OR Chrystal Ballroom

    4 Dec 2010 Reply

  • M_G_A_64

    ... paralyzed ...

    9 Nov 2010 Reply

  • SirDoctorKok

    paradise...if you can earn it!

    5 Sep 2010 Reply

  • jimmystagger

    Almost makes more sense with King singing it now in his later years than it did with him as a young man trying to sound old, as has been mentioned.

    23 Aug 2010 Reply

  • ctd55

    A clear change in (revolutionary) tactics: Rock is dead, long live depressed funk! The stark, tired mood from "Anthrax" reemerges here and casts a pall over the entire album. For all its alienation effects, Entertainment! still rocks. With the guitar up front and providing clear hooks, the music is abrasive and aggressive, but still quite catchy--its controlled assault giving voice to an eagerness for revolt. But the verve of that sound is inconsistent with what Go4 have taught us, namely that we're beetles on our backs, trapped in a world where individual agency comes to nothing in a struggle against history. So our energy is sapped and our aggression reined in: the tempo is more deliberate, King's singing is flatter and less melodic, and Gill's playing is more desultory and experimental. That last change is the crucial one: the guitar doesn't begin (quietly) riffing until the halfway point, because its revolutionary energy now lacks direction. Hope is dying out.

    11 Jun 2010 Reply

  • hoogax

    love this song

    1 Apr 2010 Reply

  • ohh1972

    Heh. Not very flattering.

    20 Dec 2009 Reply

  • DesireeGomez

    love my Gang of Four.

    1 Nov 2009 Reply

  • dfreelon

    Man, Andy Gill sounds old. Old and awesome.

    22 Oct 2009 Reply

  • iamrta

    "i was good at what i did." yep.

    26 Aug 2009 Reply

  • RohrboughCop

    Every man is for himself. Wealth is for the one that wants it.

    17 Aug 2009 Reply

  • Piter_DeVries

    <3

    21 Jul 2009 Reply

  • SOLOMUSIKA

    wow...*♫♪ ♫♪ ♥♥♥

    17 Jul 2009 Reply

  • Bobby357

    luv GOF!

    11 Jul 2009 Reply

  • dantheman49

    cool

    22 Jun 2009 Reply
    • All 32 shouts

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