Sunday 21 July 2013

Five Star Songs: Hot Chip- Playboy


"Playboy" may be the funniest and quirkiest songs that UK dance band Hot Chip have ever written. As a matter of fact, the song appears on their debut album Coming On Strong, and when that LP was released a lot of people thought they were a bit of a joke act. The reason was that they were a bunch of white electro nerds who wrote silly songs and were influenced by stylized hip hop and R&B. If you look at the lyrics of "Playboy" you can see why. The song starts with a T.S. Eliot quote from the The Wasteland and then transforms into comical macho rap bravado- but the kind of bravado only a bunch of geeky British musicians could exert. A rap song (errr...electro pop song) that gives a shout out to Yo La Tengo.....perfect.


April, the cruelest month
I reckon this much could be a contender
There's only so much sorrow a man can take
I can't change my face, don't you remember

You know when I was on the road

That me and you was on the rocks, so low
Should never have got talkin' all that jive
Now there's only one way for me to stay alive

Drivin' in my Peugeot, hey

20 inch rims with the chrome now, hey
Blazin' out yo La Tengo, hey
Drivin' 'round poppin' with the top down, hey

Drivin' in my Peugeot, hey

20 inch rims with the chrome now, hey
Blazin' out yo La Tengo, hey
Drivin' 'round poppin' with the top down, hey

So long to contentedness

I reckon next time I'll march in favor
So long I've felt a blessedness
No more is this a taste I want to savor

I know how I dig you on

You can know only see, so far
But never was there more to say
Less, to do, before, turn away

Drivin' in my Peugeot, hey

20 inch rims with the chrome now, hey
Blazin' out yo La Tengo, hey
Drivin' 'round poppin' with the top down, hey






No comments:

Post a Comment