Shabby Abbott
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.

Shabby Abbott
Essential Logic Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

I eat in an eating house
I sleep in my sleeping bag
I eat in an eating house
I sleep in my sleeping bag
Oh, why can't they eat in their sleeping bags
And sleep in their eating houses?

Diesel, diesel heat
Diesel, diesel beat
Diesel injection of light
Medieval injection of life
Oh, making the commitment
Oh, soliciting with beat
Making the commitment
Oh, soliciting with beat
Learn the shabby robot rules
In beat religion school, religion school
School, religion school
Beat sound ain't just dancing
It's a ragged ritual too
Oh, a shabby life of nectar
Oh, to see the abbott through
Soul communication
Oh, religion sliced down high
The bestest current lie

Diesel, diesel heat
Diesel, diesel beat
Diesel injection of light
Medieval injection of life
Oh, making the commitment
Oh, soliciting with beat
Making the commitment
Oh, soliciting with beat
Learn the shabby robot rules
In beat religion school, religion school
School, religion school
Beat sound ain't just dancing
It's a ragged ritual too
Oh, a shabby life of nectar
Oh, to see the abbott through
Soul communication
Oh, religion sliced down high
The bestest current lie

I eat in an eating house
I sleep in my sleeping bag
I eat in an eating house
I sleep in my sleeping bag
Oh, why can't they eat in their sleeping bags
And sleep in their eating houses?

I eat in an eating house
I sleep in my sleeping bag
I eat in an eating house
I sleep in my sleeping bag




Oh, why can't they eat in their sleeping bags
And sleep in their eating houses?

Overall Meaning

The first part of the song "Shabby Abbott" by Essential Logic describes the singer's lifestyle where they eat in an "eating house" and sleep in their "sleeping bag". They question why people can't switch it up and eat in their sleeping bags and sleep in their eating houses. The second part of the song starts with the repetition of "Diesel, diesel heat" followed by "Diesel injection of light/Medieval injection of life". The repetition of this phrase creates a sense of urgency and energy, and the medieval reference might suggest that the injection of life is ancient and primal. The singer talks about making a commitment and soliciting with beat, hinting at the importance of music in their lives. The line "Learn the shabby robot rules" might be a reference to the early days of electronic music and the style of dancing associated with it. The last part of the song speaks about the shabby life of nectar and seeing the "abbott" through soul communication. The singer describes religion as sliced down high and the "bestest current lie", suggesting that they might not find comfort in conventional religious systems.


Overall, "Shabby Abbott" seems to be a critique of modern society's prescribed way of living and the importance of finding one's own path. The song embodies a punk spirit, with its raw energy, questioning of authority, and unconventional use of language.


Line by Line Meaning

I eat in an eating house
I dine at a restaurant


I sleep in my sleeping bag
I rest outdoors in a portable bedroll


I eat in an eating house
I dine at a restaurant


I sleep in my sleeping bag
I rest outdoors in a portable bedroll


Oh, why can't they eat in their sleeping bags
Why can't others enjoy outdoor sleeping like me?


And sleep in their eating houses?
Why can't others enjoy indoor dining like me?


Diesel, diesel heat
Heat from diesel fuel


Diesel, diesel beat
Rhythm from diesel engines


Diesel injection of light
Fuel-based ignition of light


Medieval injection of life
Life force derived from medieval customs


Oh, making the commitment
Devotion to a cause


Oh, soliciting with beat
Inviting participation through music


Making the commitment
Devotion to a cause


Oh, soliciting with beat
Inviting participation through music


Learn the shabby robot rules
Learn the informal guidelines of robot-like movements


In beat religion school, religion school
In a school for religious music and dance


School, religion school
An establishment to learn religious music and dance


Beat sound ain't just dancing
Beat music is not just for dancing


It's a ragged ritual too
It's also an informal but traditional ceremony


Oh, a shabby life of nectar
A modest but sweet life


Oh, to see the abbott through
To gain insights from the leader of a religious community


Soul communication
Connection on a spiritual level


Oh, religion sliced down high
Religion simplified and made more accessible


The bestest current lie
The most convincing and steady falsehood


I eat in an eating house
I dine at a restaurant


I sleep in my sleeping bag
I rest outdoors in a portable bedroll


I eat in an eating house
I dine at a restaurant


I sleep in my sleeping bag
I rest outdoors in a portable bedroll


Oh, why can't they eat in their sleeping bags
Why can't others enjoy outdoor sleeping like me?


And sleep in their eating houses?
Why can't others enjoy indoor dining like me?




Writer(s): Susan Whitby

Contributed by Benjamin T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Comments from YouTube:

Shan Ye

Wonderful.

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