Aerosol Burns
Susan Whitby was 15 years old and had been playing saxophone for a little m… Read Full Bio ↴Susan Whitby was 15 years old and had been playing saxophone for a little more than six months when she joined her friend Marion Elliot (aka Poly Styrene) and formed the great English punk band X-Ray Spex in 1976. At this juncture, Whitby renamed herself Lora Logic and brought her honking and squawking to X-Ray Spex's guitar-propelled punk rock, staying in the band long enough to record the seminal feminist-punk single "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" Prior to the recording of their debut album, Logic abruptly left the band to follow her own quirky songwriting muse and formed the wonderfully named Essential Logic. Eschewing fast and loud guitars for off-kilter rhythms, "bluesy" sax playing, and forays into dissonance and atonality, Essential Logic created some of the most liberating, exciting music of the early post-punk era. Along with her primitive, exhilarating sax playing, Logic displayed a wildly imaginative vocal style that conflated the subtle eroticism of Patti Smith with the epiglottal spasms of Yoko Ono. Singing, braying, and screeching her implicitly (at times explicitly) feminist lyrics while her backing band crashed and bashed in the background, this was almost a punk version of that most despised of genres, art rock. And while the subjects of most of her songs were serious (alienation, sexism, poverty, urban isolation), there was a bratty tongue-wagging raffishness to Logic (and band) that placed them a cut above the rest. After one album as Essential Logic, Lora Logic disbanded the group to go solo. After one great solo record, Logic left music to join a London-based Hare Krishna sect with old pal Poly Styrene. Recently, Styrene issued some music in England, and it was rumored that Logic played sax on the recording. But regardless of her current activities, Lora Logic's short recording career will always be marked by its intelligence, creativity, and fun.

Aerosol Burns
Essential Logic Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

I′m feelin' so mixed up
I don′t know what to think
I better hurry up
And tidy up the kitchen sink

Cut by a razor-blade
Deep through my antibodies
Shut up my worldly germs
Something is
Aerosol burns
Aerosol burns

Your soul so aeroplastic
Your mind too egoplastic
Touchin' your stretch elastic
Only thing is
Aerosol burns
Aerosol burns
Aerosol burns

I don't know what to think
I don′t know all of you
I tidy up the kitchen sink

I tidy up the kitchen sink
Cut by a razor-blade
Deep through my antibodies
Shut up my worldly germs
Something is
Aerosol burns
Aerosol turns

Your soul so aeroplastic
You′re mine too egoplastic
Touchin' your stretch elastic
Only thing is
Aerosol burns
Aerosol burns
Aerosol burns

I don′t know what to think
I don't know all of you




I tidy up the kitchen sink
Is anybody gonna clear up the back?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Aerosol Burns by Essential Logic contain a mix of themes of confusion, internal conflicts, and cleanliness. The opening lines indicate that the singer is feeling mixed up and does not know what to think. They then suggest that they need to "hurry up and tidy up" the kitchen sink. This line can be interpreted literally as an indication of the singer's desire for cleanliness or metaphorically as a representation of their desire to put their thoughts and emotions in order.


The second set of lyrics introduces the idea of being "cut by a razor-blade" and having "aerosol burns". These lines could be interpreted in a number of ways, but one possible reading is that the singer is feeling wounded or under attack, perhaps from their own thoughts or from external pressures. The reference to "antibodies" suggests a physical response to this attack, but the line "shut up my worldly germs" implies a more metaphorical cleansing.


The final set of lyrics reiterates the themes of confusion and the desire for order. The singer again indicates that they do not know what to think and that they need to tidy up the kitchen sink. The closing line, "Is anybody gonna clear up the back?", could be read as a plea for help or a more general commentary on the messiness of life and the challenges of putting things in order.


Line by Line Meaning

I'm feelin' so mixed up
I am experiencing a confused state of mind


I don't know what to think
I am uncertain about what to believe or conclude


I better hurry up
I should act quickly


And tidy up the kitchen sink
I need to clean the kitchen sink


Cut by a razor-blade
Physically injured by a sharp object


Deep through my antibodies
Penetrating through my immune system


Shut up my worldly germs
Suppressing my biological contaminants or negative influences from the outside world


Something is
There is an indeterminate issue or cause for concern


Aerosol burns
Harmful respiratory effects caused by aerosol particles


Your soul so aeroplastic
Your being has become artificial or synthetic


Your mind too egoplastic
Your thoughts and feelings are self-centered or conceited


Touchin' your stretch elastic
Stretching yourself too thin or trying to do too much


Only thing is
However, the problem remains


I don't know all of you
I do not fully understand or comprehend you


Is anybody gonna clear up the back?
Will someone clean up the space in the rear?




Writer(s): Susan Whitby Lora Logic

Contributed by Zoe S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@katmartinez9128

I’m feelin' so mixed up
I don’t know what to think
I better hurry up
And tidy up the kitchen sink

Cut my razor-blade
Deep through my antibodies
Shut up my ?
Something is
Aerosol burns
Aerosol burns

Your soul so aeroplastic
Your mind too egoplastic
Touch your stretch elastic
Only thing is
Aerosol burns
Aerosol burns
Aerosol burns

I don’t know what to think
I don’t know all of you
I tidy up the kitchen sink

I tidy up the kitchen sink
Cut my razor-blade
Deep through my antibodies
Shut up my ?
Something is
Aerosol burns
Aerosol turns



All comments from YouTube:

@thefitnessinstructor8937

This is the single most slept on track in the history of music

@Fetterbone

I haven't heard this song in years. Takes me back to being a teenager. Thanks for uploading it!!!

@connerbradford6330

This song just puts me in a happy mood, I love you for posting it

@theb-sidetalk4766

I love this...LORA LOGIC is just fanfuckingtastic!!!

@colddaze6680

First song I ever heard from them was on a punk and new wave compilation I still have ,and thought was cool as fuck.
Love saxophone in punk rock.

@bolotuko

Imagine saw William Bennett playing some post-punk guitar riffs and just 1 year later he forms one of the heaviest and aggresive bands ever xddl

@elconejito99

What band?

@malvinmainwaring3443

Great record, still brilliant today

@telegramsiam2

one of the best punk songs ever. better example of beefheart-y punk than pere ubu i think!! AEROSOL BUR URNS

@Turtle152

If the saxophone sounds familiar, it's Lora Logic, who played on "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" by X-Ray Spex.

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