By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Two of the nine tracks to feature on Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s third album, Architecture and Morality (1981), were about the medieval French saint Joan of Arc. These two tracks, ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)’, open the second side of the original LP release of the album, and come between the industrial mood-piece ‘Sealand’ (which concludes side one) and the instrumental title track.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘No More “I Love You”s’ is one of those songs which few people probably realise is actually a cover version. The most famous rendition of this 1980s song was actually released slap bang in the middle of the 1990s, by the Scottish singer and former Eurythmic, Annie Lennox.
Let’s take a closer listen to ‘No More “I Love You”s’ and discover the song’s true meaning, and its curious origins in the work of a band you’ve probably never heard of.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The lead single from her 2022 album Midnights, ‘Anti-Hero’ contains some of Taylor Swift’s darkest lyrics. They are also among her most thought-provoking. However, they are also some of her most allusive, referring to numerous other pop-culture phenomena which need deciphering in order for them to make full sense.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Few songs can be said to typify the mid-noughties music scene like The Killers’ ‘Mr Brightside’. The Las Vegas band’s breakthrough hit, the song has attracted considerable attention from fans and critics.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘West End Girls’ was the breakthrough single for the Pet Shop Boys, hitting the number one spot in the UK in early 1986. But the song has its origins several years before this. Just what is the meaning of this mid-80s classic, and which classic poem was an important influence on it?