The group had a single in the British Top 60 with "At Home He's A Tourist" in 1979, which was blacklisted by Top Of The Pops for its use of the relatively innocuous term "rubbers". Storming, Doc Marten-booted and fueled by a heady cocktail of Gramsci, Marx and lager, out of the Leeds art-school scene that produced The Mekons and Delta 5, they played a stripped-to-the-wire, funk-fueled permutation of punk rock. This is best exemplified by the dry production and forceful polemic of debut effort Entertainment! - Gang of Four's later albums (Songs Of The Free and Hard) found them softening some of their more jarring qualities, and drifting towards disco.
Critic Stewart Mason has called "Love Like Anthrax" (their first single, later re-recorded as "Anthrax") not only the group's "most notorious song" but also "one of the most unique and interesting songs of its time"; it's also a good example of Gang of Four's social perspective. After a minute-long, droning, feedback-laced guitar intro, the rhythm section sets up a funky, churning beat, and the guitar drops out entirely. In one stereo channel, King sings a "post-punk anti-love song", comparing himself to a beetle trapped on its back ("and there's no way for me to get up") and equating love with "a case of anthrax, and that's some thing I don't want to catch." Meanwhile in the other stereo channel (and slightly less prominent in the mix), Gill reads a deadpan monologue about public perception of love, and the prevalence of love songs in popular music: "Love crops up quite a lot as something to sing about, 'cause most groups make most of their songs about falling in love, or how happy they are to be in love, and you occasionally wonder why these groups do sing about it all the time." The simultaneous vocals are more than a little disorienting, especially when Gill pauses in his examination of love songs to echo a few of King's sung lines.
Allen left after Solid Gold and was replaced briefly by Buster Jones (who never recorded with the group), then by Sara Lee; Allen later co-founded Shriekback, Low Pop Suicide and The Elastic Purejoy.
Their angular, slashing attack and liberal use of dissonance had a significant influence on their post-punk contemporaries in the States, including Mission Of Burma. Gang Of Four went on to influence a number of successful funk-tinged alternative rock acts throughout the 80s and 90s - even, arguably, many rap-rock and nu metal groups who were "not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it" (Andy Kellman, on allmusic.com) - although few of their followers were as arty or political. Michael "Flea" Balzary of Red Hot Chili Peppers has stated Gang of Four were very influential on his band's early music.
Gang of Four can also be credited as one of the early influences on techno or electronic music; they released dance remixes of several later singles.
Recently the band has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, initially due to emergence of new post-punk influenced bands such as The Rapture and Radio 4 and then the rise of Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party, which led to the renewed patronage of the NME. The original Burnham/Allen/Gill/King lineup reformed in November 2004. In October of 2005, Gang of Four released a new LP featuring new recordings of past songs, entitled Return The Gift.
Dave Allen also co-hosts a twice-weekly "New Music Hour" radio show with Portland, Oregon's 94.7 alternative radio station.
Andy Gill died on 1st February, 2020 from, according to reports, a respiratory illness caught on the group's tour in Asia the preceding year. He was the only original member still playing in the Gang Of Four.
I
Gang of Four Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All innocence has gone and flown away
A winner now when that time there was none
To reinterpret, all that's redundant
To be true to all my illusions
As for contentment, all that's behind me
A loser now when I thought that I had won
No pearls now, none to speak of
To think of the past seems so uncool
I reconsidered, fell into my swimming pool
I fled
The lyrics to Gang of Four's song I Fled is a tale of the singer's personal transformation over time. At the beginning, the singer seems to have shed all inhibitions and is not afraid to show his or her true self to the world. They have lost their innocence as they have become victorious, unafraid to challenge redundancy and illusions.
However, their victory is short-lived as they come to realize that their contentment is now behind them, and they have become a loser, a stark contrast to their previous status. There are no more pearls to speak of, and the thought of the past seems uncool. The singer reconsidered and fell into their swimming pool, fleeing and rejecting their previous way of life.
The song is a reflection of the disillusionment and confusion that often accompanies personal growth and transformation. It is an acknowledgment that one must shed their past self to move forward, but it is not without its challenges and setbacks.
Line by Line Meaning
All inhibitions gone and on display
I have lost all reservations and am now openly showing my true self
A winner now when that time there was none
I have succeeded despite the odds being against me
To reinterpret, all that's redundant
I am finding new meaning in things that were once considered obsolete
To be true to all my illusions
I am staying true to my dreams and aspirations
As for contentment, all that's behind me
I have moved on from seeking satisfaction in life's little pleasures
I fled
I ran away from my old life and am starting anew
A loser now when I thought that I had won
I realize that my previous successes were actually failures in disguise
No pearls now, none to speak of
I have lost all of my valuable possessions
To think of the past seems so uncool
Reflecting on my past mistakes is no longer a fashionable thing to do
I reconsidered, fell into my swimming pool
I changed my mind and ended up making a fool of myself
I fled
I left again because I wanted to escape the consequences of my actions
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CARLIN AMERICA INC
Written by: ANDY GILL, JON KING
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
William Stone
"To have ambition was my ambition" is one of my all time favorite verses
Robert Terrell
Me, too!
Malcolm Beckett
Powerful attitude, my ambition
ftbuddy
"the girls, they love to see you shoot"-- a little double-entendre
Kyach Distent
@ftbuddy and feel it to, yeah?
BigB
The good life was so elusive so I got into Camouflage! (Now that’s a statement!)
JR Levy
This song is driven by the sick baseline. Still sounds good after all these years!
Andrew JS
Just when you think you've heard every good song from the 1980s you discover this and realise you'd hadn't before.
Aaron Kelly
Yeah and many of the great 80s songs are still not being played and you need to do some searching. Even in the 80s songs like this was only played at the clubs or independent college radio stations.
Kinann
@Aaron Kelly only heard it on xrt very sporadically. Great song.