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What is Olivers Army by Elvis Costello about?

Idris2002 said:
I did a market research job up there. It just felt. . . bad.
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LOL, what were you doing market research on? The most effective window grilles for the discerning would-be pogrom victim? ;)
 
Col_Buendia said:
LOL, what were you doing market research on? The most effective window grilles for the discerning would-be pogrom victim? ;)
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I used to do a lot of soft drinks surveys. I once ended up talking to a columnist on the Andersonstown news, who wrote me up in the next issue of the paper.
 
Actually, he said it was the worst grilling he'd received since being held in Castlereagh interrogation centre in 1979.
 
Idris2002 said:
His comrades fought beside him,

Van Owen and the rest,

but of all the thompson gunners,

Roland was the best.

So the CIA decided,

they wanted Roland dead.

That son of a bitch Van Owen

blew off Roland's head.
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Oh, I know those lyrics. Buggered if I can match the tune to them though :o :D
 
Idris2002 said:
Actually, he said it was the worst grilling he'd received since being held in Castlereagh interrogation centre in 1979.
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Well bugger me, that's the first time I heard of people being electrocuted as part of market research! :D

Was he meaning to be complimentary with this comment? ;)
 
Donna Ferentes said:
A mate drove me round there when I was in Belfast a couple of summers ago. Another friend is from somewhere called Duncairn Gardens (or close thereto) which I understand isn't too far away
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Ah yes, happy memories.

As I may have mentioned, Donna, on my last visit I popped into Rossi's cafe in Atlantic Avenue. Thus indulging four of my fave hobbies all at once: raspberry rippled sliders, the frisson of nearby paramilitarism, childhood nostalgia and Status Quo associations.

Olly's Army was used as a theme tune by the blessed Papal Knight of Napier during the 1979 Eurobore election. Presumably he wasn't taking the piss.

Cricket aside: Alistair Cook to replace Vaughan in the Punjab. A brave choice, though Ed Joyce will be disappointed...
 
Idris2002 said:
The lines:

'There was a checkpoint Charlie,

He didn't crack a smile,

'cause it's no laughing party,

when you've been on the murder mile',

are a direct reference to the Northern Irish conflict. The 'murder mile' was an area of one square mile in North Belfast where one third of all political/sectarian murders in the conflict occurred.
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Checkpoint Charlie was in Berlin, between the US and Russian Zones during the Cold war.

The song is about working class boys serving the interests of the state ("boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne"), which have never coincided with their own interests. Except, arguably, for Cromwell's New Model Army.

Same old guff; get them to emotionally invest in the pagentry/history, the professionalism of the army, and above all the importance of the Regiment. Puff up the patriotism, and their chests, and send them off to kill ragheads, Zulu's and the like in the interests of shareholders.
 
London_Calling said:
Checkpoint Charlie was in Berlin, between the US and Russian Zones during the Cold war.

The song is about working class boys serving the interests of the state ("boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne"), which have never coincided with their own interests. Except, arguably, for Cromwell's New Model Army.

Same old guff; get them to emotionally invest in the pagentry/history, the professionalism of the army, and above all the importance of the Regiment. Puff up the patriotism, and their chests, and send them off to kill ragheads, Zulu's and the like in the interests of shareholders.
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There was also a Checkpoint Charlie in Northern Ireland - I think it was the one on the main road out of Newry, on the stretch of road also known as the Murder Mile due to the number of soldiers killed there.
 
Miss-Shelf said:
He's positioning his legacy to go beyond Oliver's Army: does this mean he is soon for the obituary playlist? Should he be a late addition to the celebrity death thread 2022?
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He's just got a new album out so he's doing a round of interviews moaning about how nobody listens to his new stuff is all.
 
killer b said:
He's just got a new album out so he's doing a round of interviews moaning about how nobody listens to his new stuff is all.
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i remember going to an Elvis Costello gig in the mid 90s and there was a loud and boisterous group near me who talked through everything and shouted for Oliver's Army loudly between every song. So I can see how it could be a bit annoying for the artist.
 
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