There are A LOT of Paul Weller fans out there. These are not just fans of the great music he has produced over the years. These are fans as in FANATICS for every droplet out of his mouth, from his fingers and every other orifice.
That's fine. I'm just not one of them. Sure, I love the Jam and I love this single. But, in my reasoning, it took Weller long enough to get to this point!
You see, the Jam released some great singles in the 1970s including "In The City" and "The Modern World" in 1977. But, they were also uneven. The first two albums had so much filler or weak points that I was surprised they got another chance. It seemed that Weller dipped into his Kinks' fetish for both "David Watts" (obviously) and "Down At The Tube Station At Midnight" (a clear lyrical homage to Ray Davies). But All Mod Cons still had some filler - "Billy Hunt" is so incredibly weak and Weller's first attempt at crooning out a tune "English Rose" is embarrassing.
The Jam's fourth album, Setting Sons, changed that. Weller finally crafted his own identity. His songs were complete products that no longer seemed to be homages or pastiches or variations of the music of somebody else (notwithstanding a tepid cover of "Heatwave"). Sure, he could still write some bad lyrics ("Little Boy Soldiers", anyone?) but his music and lyrics had finally matured. "The Eton Rifles," "Private Hell," and "Wasteland" are the best examples. (Even Bruce Foxton stepped up with only listenable moment of his musical career (the Jam or otherwise) with "Smithers-Jones".) Add the stellar "Strange Town" single and very good "When You're Young" and Weller reaches a stride that, well wouldn't make it to the next album.
Still, "Going Underground" and "Dreams Of Children" blew open the doors. Weller had mastered the pop single, he had mastered the rock and roll riff, he had mastered a concise, tight, directed lyric with enough nuances to keep the intellectuals interested.
Going Underground
The lyrics attack the British government's militaristic policy and the acceptance (as it seemed) by the electorate.
You want more money - of course I don't mind
To buy nuclear textbooks for atomic crimes
And the public gets what the public wants
But I want nothing this society's got -
I'm going underground, (going underground)
Weller isn't "Going Underground" to fight or rebel - he is leaving society.
Some people might get some pleasure out of hate
Me, I've enough already on my plate
People might need some tension to relax
[Me?] I'm too busy dodging between the flak
What you see is what you get
You've made your bed, you better lie in it
You choose your leaders and place your trust
As their lies put you down and their promises rust
You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns
And the public wants what the public gets
But I don't get what this society wants
I'm going underground, (going underground)
And I do love his characterization of the press:
I turn on the news and my body froze
The braying sheep on my TV screen
Make this boy shout, make this boy scream!
The music is punctuated by fast staccato riffs with minimal interference from Foxton's bass or Rick Buckler's drums. This is all of Weller's show. He adds a smart melodic riff to draw you in and of course, the repetitive chorus of "going underground." The break in the middle perfectly redirects tension for the last verse and final drive home. I can't hear the ending of the song without thinking of the atomic mushroom cloud at the end of the video.
Dreams Of Children
I sat alone with the dreams of children
Weeping willows and tall dark building,
I've caught a fashion from the dreams of children
But woke up sweating from this modern nightmare, and
I was alone, no one was there
The break is much more subtle - instead of continuing his dark rant, he steps away and lets the listener ruminate on a sparse bass guitar-led quiet moment as Weller reflects:
Something's gonna crack on your dreams tonight...
Weller would go to this break a second time, adding some organ and backwards guitar riffs to punctuate a floating, drifting conclusion that is almost the opposite of the big-bang finale of "Going Underground."
Excellent music on both sides.
The Single
Don't you just love the mould-injected plastic labels?
The original single was also packaged with a free 7" single of three live songs recorded the year before. I think these tracks later showed up on the Live Jam cd as well as The Singles 1980-1982 boxed set.
Not sure if this was ever released as a single in the US. I can only find promotional issues. That would make the first U.S. issue when Polydor included the single along with the Sound Affects album. I think they should have been included on the album to replace some of the weaker songs on the second side. But they don't ask me these things.
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