This song has baffled many a
Manics fan for years. It seems to be a list of leaders and their
taboo sexual habits. But taking a closer examination reveals an interesting alternative.
First of all, if we look at the list of
dictators/world leaders/political figures objectively, there is no particular tie to each one and the
epithet that follows him. Is
Richey making this up? Did these things actually go on in their private lives? Who knows.
The intriguing thing is that the lists are organized, simply, in
chronological order:
Lenin,
Stalin,
Kruschev,
Brezhnev,
Gorbachev,
Yeltsin. All
Russian leaders, one after the other, according to who succeeded whom. The second list is organized in the same fashion:
Napoleon,
Chamberlain,
Trotsky,
Che Guevara,
Pol Pot,
Farrakhan. While not all of one country, the names are listed, nevertheless, in nothing more complicated than a
chronology.
Assuming, therefore, that these names are tossed in as an afterthought, or perhaps placed in the song to make a point, does their order in relation to each epithet really matter? No. The list of leaders, then, can be removed in regards to dissecting the song's meaning.
Let's throw out the
German words in the chorus for a moment. The one thing everyone seems to agree on, and the thing that makes the most concrete sense, is that 'Revol' is actually '
Lover' spelled backwards. Perhaps this is Richey's way of showing that all love is backwards,
old-fashioned, and ultimately false.
However, just suppose, for a moment, that Richey actually
is speaking to a lover. Suppose that the song is a
diatribe against said lover, which is why the 'name' of the person ('Revol') is repeated throughout the song.
Now, onto those German words, which mean - respectively - 'living space', 'culture struggle', and, roughly, 'get the hell out.' All of these phrases can be related to having a fight with a lover/flatmate/whatever and, subsequently, becoming bitter and telling the person to 'get the hell out.'
With the leader's names removed, the German words translated, and the word 'Revol' reverted to its original meaning, we are left with the following set of lyrics:
Awaken the boy
Bisexual epoch
Self love in his mirrors
Married into
group sex
Celibate self-importance
Failure is his own
impotence
Lover lover
Lover lover
Living space
Culture struggle
Get the hell out
Childhood sweethearts
You see
God in you
Honeymoon, serenade the naked
You're all target now
Withdrawn traces bye bye
Alimony, alimony
Lover lover
Lover lover
Living space
Culture struggle
Get the hell out
Lover
Does this story ring a bell with anyone? (Hint:
Nicky fans, take note.)
Thanks to Melinda.