That bass! Wow! Seriously…say anything else you like about Derek Forbes, but he has to be one of THE BEST bass players in the world. WHAT A GROOVE! The song has FUNK! That really is one funky bass groove.
And then, more stellar, shining keyboard work from Michael MacNeil, along with understated guitar from Charlie. Just quietly playing away.
Then in comes Jim with one of the best opening lines to a song, in my humble opinion, “Shooting from the hip about our faith and love”. A man of 23, delivering lines from what would be of someone TWICE his age, at least. So much experience expressed just in that line alone.
“See me as I figure in your late night plan.” Always sounds like a seductress plotting her way to getting him into bed.
Does she succeed?
“With me first times can never lie.” Perhaps. Lucky her!
But of course, there are always “side effects of living in temptation”.
There’a a very lonely point in the song. And for me it’s not, “see me as I’m cocooned up in badlands”, it’s “when only one star’s waiting up on all of us”. Even though the line says “all of us” – I see people, but alone, with their thoughts…a lone star above them. One person. One star. And that *ting* just before Jim sings the line. That little percussive bell gives me chills!
Jim Kerr is SSOOOO great at placing that kind of imagery in my head. I know I am infatuated with the man…but, seriously, if I wasn’t I would still be endlessly singing his praises as a songwriter. Though, to be honest, it’s partly where the infatuation comes from. It’s a brain thing. Looks are one thing…but, you gotta have the brains to match! I am REALLY not into “himbos”. If there isn’t something beyond there being just something pretty to look at, I ain’t interested. The looks MAY initially pique my interest…but it’ll be the brain that snags me to the line and reels me in!
But, I digress WILDLY!
The song itself is a temptation. Softly funky. Sensual. Lyrics that hint at sex and dangerous liaisons. All subtly played out. And just to lure you in that bit more, Sir Herbie of Hancock on a keyboard solo, adding another layer of soft funk, dispersed with Jim’s breathless little backing vocals and that bass of basses!
Towards the end we hear, “when you hear me screaming, I’ll be seeing through the eyes of love”. Has love won out? And why screams? Because love has won out, and desire has gone? Is temptation no more? Is it regret? Maybe it’s a kind of Stockholm Syndrome? All that time “cocooned up in badlands” taking its toll? Has he fallen for his captor?
Oh, yes. I do try to get to the heart of a song. Find its real meaning. Sometimes it can’t be found and stays wonderfully, mystically, perplexingly ambiguous. That is why I am such a big fan of David Bowie. Bowie was a master manipulator of ambiguity. Jim Kerr very much his progeny AND protege. (If you don’t mind my being so bold as to suggest that, Mr. Kerr?)
In summary. A bass groove like no other, lyrics that just ooze sensuality. Subtle tones. Musical delicacies. Like butterfly wings on your ear drums. A maturity it exudes beyond the years of its writers. Beautiful, lush, enveloping. All-consuming! Much like the passion and temptation that the song is about. One of Simple Minds’ very finest songs. One that should be heard by all and sundry, at least once.
And that is why I love Hunter And The Hunted.
Hello, very well explained ! I’m also a fan of this song since I am 13 ! I am now 44… You said that the first sentence “shooting from the hip about our faith and love” is wonderful but I don’t understand this one… What does it mean exactly ? What does “shooting from the hip” mean ? I’m french… Thank you !
“Shooting from the hip” means to speak bluntly and honestly or to act impulsively or recklessly. In the case of the song, I would say the first definition is implied. That there is a direct conversation between the song’s protagonist and their love interest about their relationship. It could have been something semi-autobiographical as during interviews around the time, Jim Kerr had stated he’d been in what he felt was becoming a quite serious relationship that he wasn’t ready for and broke up with the woman involved. The opening lines to Hunter and the Hunted may have alluded to this relationship.
Thanks for visiting the blog and I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Thank you for your quick answer and the additional information. Last question if you can help me. Has “Badland” any precise meaning in english ? Thank you. Have a merry christmas !
Sorry for the delayed reply for this follow up comment. It was a very busy day yesterday. There isn’t any precise meaning for “badland”, no. There is a region of America known as the “badlands” but I don’t really think Jim is linking that to the song lyrics. It seems like that it’s more an expression of an emotion or feeling suggesting being a in bad place – the “bad” land of the mind or soul. It isn’t really an expression or word used in everyday English, unlike anxiety, depression, melancholia, apprehension, which I think is what Jim is trying to do with using “badland”. He’s trying to bring all those other words together in another word to express it. I’m sure he’d see this as overthinking it and it may have been that he just liked the way the word sounded and it conjures up a particular image. It forms a strange image in my mind not dissimilar to the image of David Bowie in the Ashes To Ashes video, where he is caught up in what looks like a spider’s web.
Ok. That’s what I thought ! Thank you for your answer. When I will have more time I wil check your other articles, in particular your posts about their songs. That is very interesting. Have a nice day.
The song is absolutely fabulous