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.

No More Fiction
Essential Logic Lyrics

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If you had had the decency to tell me, Martian man, is really right
You never had the decency to tell me, action man, is only lead

I think your phony advert lied, you promised me the bluest sky
You swore to me eternally that you were truth, the absolute
No more fiction, no more fiction
No more fiction, no more fiction

If you had had the decency to tell me paradise, is usually lost
You never had the decency to tell me sugared mice, are only frosted

I think your phony advert lied, you promised me the bluest skies
You swore to me eternally that you were truth, the absolute
No more fiction, no more fiction
No more fiction, no more fiction

If you had had the decency to tell me muscle man, is really thin
You never had the decency to tell me robots, robots, can never sin

I think your phony advert lied, you promised me the bluest sky
You swore to me eternally that you were truth, the absolute
No more fiction, no more fiction
No more fiction, no more fiction
No more fiction, no more
No more fiction

No more fiction, no more
No more fiction, no

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "No More Fiction" by Essential Logic is a thought-provoking commentary on the deceptive nature of advertising and how people are often misled by what they see and hear. The song starts by addressing the idea that reality is often different from what is marketed to us through phrases like "Martian man is really right" and "Action man is only lead." The singer calls out the advertisers for not being honest about the true nature of the products they are selling.

The second verse continues in the same vein, with the singer lamenting the loss of paradise and how sugared mice are nothing but frosted. The chorus, "No more fiction," is a strong statement that the singer is no longer willing to be a victim of lies and deception. In the final verse, this idea is reinforced by the realization that muscle man is really thin and robots can never sin. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the repetition of "No more fiction" as a mantra for living a truthful and honest life.

Overall, "No More Fiction" is a powerful commentary on the false promises of the advertising industry and the importance of seeing past the hype to the truth beneath. It encourages individuals to question what they are told and seek out the reality behind the illusions presented to them.

Line by Line Meaning

If you had had the decency to tell me, Martian man, is really right
You should have been honest with me and told me that the idea of a superhero like Martian Man being real and saving the day is true.

You never had the decency to tell me, action man, is only lead
You didn't have the honesty to tell me that the character of 'Action Man' only exists as a toy made of lead.

I think your phony advert lied, you promised me the bluest sky
I believe that the advertisement you used to attract me was deceitful in its promise of the most beautiful and clear sky.

You swore to me eternally that you were truth, the absolute
You made a lifelong commitment that you were the embodiment of truth and reality.

No more fiction, no more fiction
No more will I accept fictional and fabricated stories.

If you had had the decency to tell me paradise, is usually lost
If you had been truthful and told me that often the concept of 'paradise' is unattainable and lost.

You never had the decency to tell me sugared mice, are only frosted
You never exposed the truth that something like 'sugared mice' are actually just frosted treats.

If you had had the decency to tell me muscle man, is really thin
If you were honest and revealed that people who are often portrayed as 'muscle men' are actually just thin.

You never had the decency to tell me robots, robots, can never sin
You never truthfully told me that robots, cannot actually sin or commit moral wrongs.

No more fiction, no more fiction
I am done with phony and fabricated tales.

No more fiction, no more fiction
I won't accept the notion of stories or ideas that are untrue.

No more fiction, no more
A hard stop to any notion of fabrications or falsehoods.

No more fiction
I refuse the idea of any more untruthful stories.

No more fiction, no more
I reject the notion of any more fictional stories.

Writer(s): Susan Whitby Lora Logic

Contributed by Adrian K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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