Sunday, March 25

March 24, 2018 - Wire - French Film Blurred (1978)


What is the French film in Wire's French Film Blurred? I have been unable to pin it down, but I believe it could either be 1962's A Monkey in Winter (Un singe en hiver), or this one I found online. A Monkey in Winter supposedly has fireworks in it, and the other one is slightly blurry. I really have no clue. I suppose that's the disadvantage of not speaking a second language. It's hard to understand a foreign film if you don't know the language (and there aren't any subtitles). Oui c'est vrai, mon ami.

During the outro there is a quietly spoken part: Bad reception results in blurred perception. Does this mean they were watching a French film on a crappy TV in the French Alps or something? I know nothing.

Let's forget about all the lyrical meanings and focus on this incredible music. The opening notes contain a rattling echo reverb that rolls off the guitars, trailing away into the ether, then joined by octave notes that shake the scene up and down. The opening circles back at 1:29, and then at 1:38 those exciting octave notes springboard us higher; the drums kick in, a heavier rhythm guitar surfaces, and we are locked into a groove that goes to the end and that I wish went on for at least a couple minutes. A heavier band could have turned this groove into an entire song. But Wire were les artistes du punk rock, after all, n'est-ce pas? Their darkness required less bombast and more intrigue.

Image result for wire band 1978








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