A pink taxi

A pink taxi

June 3, 2010

Modern Poetry


Ever since my brother sent me an email entitled "Modern Poetry", a week ago, I have become obsessed. Obsessed with the tune of "Compulsion",  the song sung by Martin Gore, which I have been humming day in and day out now. I put it as my ring tone. I've even made it my alarm ring.

Madonna rules over my musical universe. However, Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode (with whom Martin Gore sang with as a part of the band and composed much of the music and lyrics) come in with a tie breaker  in second place.  These are British pop groups I discovered in boarding school and  have followed ever since, no matter how retro they seem today.

 The Pet Shop Boys sing happy, refreshing celebrations of disco days. They provided me with a lift on my snowy walks in Northampton, Massachusetts and when the band toured for their "NewYorkCity Boys" album in the winter of 1999, I, at the time pregnant with my first child, attended the concert in NYC, with my husband and my  two brothers.

Depeche Mode's  music is often gothic, dark and deep. They sing about fragility, dependence and survival. I went to many of their concerts, the first one in 1986.  I am not sure if "Compulsion" had already been written at that time. I Collected all their cds. Today my youngest child sings "Lillian" with a good tune.


"Got to move on sometime" is a leitmotif, a refrain, the main message of the song. The image rendered from the song is of "putting one step in front of the other ... Repeating the process". It took me two decades to pay attention to those words, to understand their encouragement, to move on one step at a time, slowly and repetitively. When Martin Gore sings" There is no plan, it had to happen", he is being fatalistic but he urges his listeners (who are probably aging today) to be proactive, "you are free to change your mind", thus refuting the irrevocability of things and the irreversibility of events.

His first verse is, in my opinion, the most mysterious and therefore my favorite. Does he give "stretch" the significance of flexibility and power to adapt, to carefully fold into a new situation? As for the rest of this first verse, I leave it open to suggestions: "Charms in limited supply and refusing to stretch".

Here is the link from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyfAaIGCVIU


Lyrics below:
Compulsion

Charms in limited supply and refusing to stretch

That indefinable nothing somehow keeps pushing you

Finding the right words can be a problem

How many times must it be said

there is no plan it had to happen

Got to move on sometime and its about time

By putting one foot in front of another

And repeating the process cross over the street

You’re free to change your mind

Strength through diversity

Couldn’t have put it more plainly

Got to move on sometimes

Got to move on sometimes

Got to move on sometimes

Got to move on sometimes

Charms in limited supply under

Threat of extinction

That indefinable nothing somehow motivates you

Finding the right words can be a problem

How many times must it be said

Theres no plan it had to happen

Got to move on sometimes

And its about time

By putting one foot in front of another

And repeating the process

Cross over the street

You’re free to change your mind

Strength through Diversity

Couldn’t have put it more plainly

Got to move on sometimes

Sung by Martin Gore



This entry is in memory of my uncle Dai Rahim, without whom I would never have understood the value of music. He was a big fan of Depeche Mode and taught us to love them. May he rest in peace.

5 comments:

  1. If our lives were to be made into a movie, it would have Depeche Mode as a title. I know all the lyrics of their songs from the 80s and 90s, it is literally in our blood. I strongly believe that it has made us who we are today, we listened to DM when we were happy and sad, working out or resting, on road trips or on short five minute drives to the super, at our weddings and parties... I have to confess to Teymour that I have all your DM CDs, some collectibles. I have no intention of keeping them for myself, I am just safekeeping them until you are ready to take them back... We have Dai Rahim to thank for introducing us to DM, he has added so much to our lives...

    This is my first entry on this really awesome blog, and I am glad it is for a really awesome subject!

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  2. Depeche Mode. Yasmine, you honor me with this entry. Where do I begin? I love Depeche with a passion. Anyone who knows me well enough associates me with DM. I appreciate Martin Gore's lyrics and music just like a child. And that's why I cherish listening to Lilian with my nephew Mirwais who makes me discover new sounds everytime. Each time, I listen to one of Martin's songs, I discover new meanings and sounds. His music is layered. His lyrics are best left open to interpretation. That's how he always wanted it. His songs age like vintage wine. The older the better to savour. When I listen to DM, I become that 12 years old again. I go to a very special place. DM music is like an anchor in my life. It's always with me. From being an angst ridden adolescent to rebellious college student to a married father with a career. Every new DM album has coincided with a new milestone in my life. I have a book of lyrics in poetry form by Martin Gore in English and French One day, I will read his lyrics to Saad at bedtime. Modern Poetry. The legacy continues. Dai Rahim RIP.

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  3. I must add that I also think of DM in unison with Rahim. I cannot hear their music without getting goose-bumps. Rahim Joon you are with us in everything, especially in music.

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  4. I’ve always found it difficult to explain what makes Depeche’s music so special to me. Certain things shouldn’t need explaining. Fact is, explaining would invevitably lead to a streched, painful soul searching process, that I, for one, wouldn’t want to get into.
    Two of my closest friends share in my passion, but restraint has always kept us from sharing on the matter. I do remember a drunken call received at 2 am from one of them ; she was pleading with me to join her at the bar next door, it was Karaoke night and we HAD to sing ‘Personal Jesus’ together. That was 20 years ago.
    Last time I saw DM in concert was less than 6 months ago. My other friend and I left our combined 2 husbands and 5 children at home at headed to the Arena . And during a flawless rendering of ‘Enjoy the Silence’, an unspoken understanding made us grab a phone and make a barely audible call to our third
    musketeer now living in Hong Kong. Wish you were here.

    I guess that sometimes words are very unecessary.

    Thanks for this post Pink Taxiblogger.

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  5. I don't know how I missed this entry since it is so near and special to my heart. Theirs was the first ever concent I went to with Vida and Nader and Dai Rahim, who bought me my first DM T-shirt which I wouldn't take off for a week. I was twelve and so in love with Martin Gore. It was the Black Celebration tour and I memorized every song on that album. Then Music for the Masses came out and I have to admit that my all time favorite DM song is Behind the Wheel. I remember Dai Rahim had so many different versions of it and I would always "borrow" them from him until he gave up and bought me a CD everytime he bought himself one too. The last concert I went to with him was a Cure concert in Sports Stadium in San Diego. Like all the cousins whose lives were touched by Dai Rahim, it's a way to always remember him and the joy he bought to all our lives and all our special adolescent memories. Love you Dai.

    Ninigi

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