The lyrics are incredible. Steeped in realism. How does a 20 year old man write with such depth? And write with more depth than the 63 year old version of the same man seems capable of? Genuinely. I mean…Jim has depth in his writing on Facebook. It still comes across there but it doesn’t seem to transfer into his lyrics. Perhaps on the odd occasion, in certain songs, it still does. Walk Between Worlds for example. Generally, I did feel a lack of depth in the wording of the lyrics on the Direction Of The Heart album. It’s there in First You Jump… but other than that … I’m not sure I am fully convinced. FYJ is emotionally impactful, for sure, but something still lacks slightly. I do find it the most emotionally charged song on the album but that is more down to how the lyrics speak to me from personal experience as a sufferer of anxiety and depression. Would that be carried forward to others? There were enough fans who didn’t feel much for the song. However, when songs got anywhere near other dark subject matter, such as the case with Human Traffic, it seems to have been decided to try and make it comedic or dilute its depth by altering the song’s title. This in turn somewhat sullied and cheapened the song’s potency, one could argue.
There is nothing that feels restrained or diluted in Citizen. The imagery is stark and pulls no punches. It has all the dystopian features of a Dostoyevsky saga. In comparison, Planet Zero is the track on Direction Of The Heart that most closely draws upon that starkness of imagery. What used to be clear and bold in Jim Kerr’s lyrics, seen with 20/20 vision now feels somewhat blurred and glaucomatous. (Is it ironic that the first track on DotH is titled Vision Thing?)
Perhaps it is purely the age aspect that renders me awestruck at the lyrics Kerr is writing as a 20 year old? I just can’t help but feel that the 20 year old Kerr felt so much more passionate about what he was writing and resultantly that shows.
These days, Jim states that he writes daily, and if I am honest, I find his Facebook posts more rewarding to read than his lyrics.
I love this song. It is of its time but in some aspects, because it is a sociopolitical piece of the period, it is timeless and has aged beautifully. There are some really fantastic songs on Real To Real Cacophony. It’s an amazing album and I wish I had added its catalogue number to my list of albums tattooed on my wrist.
And on that note, I chose a live version that moves almost seamlessly from a stellar version of Citizen and into the supreme Factory. Just stick with it for the full enjoyment of it.
Lyrics to Citizen (Dance Of Youth)
Citizen.
A cure to kill the east.
A disease of the west.
Romance is no escape.
But I’ll escape you.
The manufactured sound,
Complaining to ourselves.
You’re cutting up our friends,
Making love to our sisters.
Another endless day,
Another daze,
But I’m losing track,
The train goes off the rails.
Dance of the youth,
Youth want to dance.
Citizen.
The tribal war begins,
But radio’s a God.
Industrial money.
God is industry.
Dance of youth.
Citizen you know what we’re after.
Know what we’re after.
Know what we’re after.
Citizen.
The state that we’ve come to love.
Love’s a crime against the state.
I hate the sound of bells.
Communications lost.
Something we’re after.
I hate democracy.
One more contact lost.
Love,
A crime against the state,
The state we’ve come to love.
Oh electric candle light,
What time is it over there?
We got to wear a badge,
We’re losing track of days.
Dance of the youth,
Youth want to dance.
Citizen.
I’ll share a room with you.
You’re getting so very thin.
Did we ask for this?
Are you rationing our water?
Dance of the youth.
Our food is getting cold,
And you’re getting colder.
I see you,
I’m not so unaware,
Citizen.
Citizen,
An American,
Got got a camera,
Takes a picture.
Citizen.
Drum.
Citizen.
Drum.
Citizen.
Drum.
To drum, to drum.
