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.
Natural's Not It
Gang of Four Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What to do for pleasure
Ideal love a new purchase
A market of the senses
Dream of the perfect life
Economic circumstances
The body is good business
Sell out, maintain the interest
Renounce all sin and vice
Dream of the perfect life
This heaven gives me migraine
The problem of leisure
What to do for pleasure
Coercion of the senses
We are not so gullible
Our great expectations
A future for the good
Fornication makes you happy
No escape from society
Natural is not in it
Your relations are of power
We all have good intentions
But all with strings attached
Repackaged sex keeps your interest [Repeat: x6]
The problem of leisure
What to do for pleasure
Ideal love a new purchase
A market of the senses
Dream of the perfect life
Economic circumstances
The body is good business
Sell outs ? maintain the interest
Remember Lot's wife
Renounce all sin and vice
Dream of the perfect life
This heaven gives me migraine
This heaven gives me migraine
This heaven gives me migraine
The song "Natural's Not In It" by Gang of Four is a social commentary on how people are conditioned to consume and indulge in materialism, pleasure, and economic gain. The song addresses the obsession of individuals to indulge in hedonism, overpowering their natural tendencies. The lyrics suggest that pleasure and consumerism are two of the most significant components taking over the lives of people that our society has normalized. The artist seems to be concerned with how the idea of the "perfect life" has been marketed and sold as a commodity. They believe that people's desires and emotions have been hijacked so that they become reliant upon manufactured forms of ecstasy instead of experiencing natural ones. The line, "The problem of leisure, what to do for pleasure," highlights how people often struggle to find meaning and satisfaction in their leisure time, causing them to seek singular solutions such as consumer purchases or other forms of entertainment.
The second part of the song turns towards social control and how entrenched power structures keep people's minds captive. The irony of the song is evident in its lyrics, as the chorus "Natural is not in it" is repeated throughout the song. This line suggests that being "natural" has become a foreign concept in contemporary life. Instead, people have turned towards artificial forms of pleasure, disregarding their intrinsic desires. The line "We are not so gullible, our great expectations" suggests that people have become increasingly aware of the powers influencing them. However, "repackaged sex keeps your interest" indicates that people still fall prey to materialism and sensory pleasure.
Line by Line Meaning
The problem of leisure
The issue of what to do in our free time
What to do for pleasure
How to enjoy ourselves
Ideal love a new purchase
The idea that love is something we can buy
A market of the senses
A society that values sensory experiences as commodities
Dream of the perfect life
The aspiration to live a perfect life
Economic circumstances
The financial conditions that shape our lives
The body is good business
The human body is a profitable commodity
Sell out, maintain the interest
Compromise your values to keep people engaged
Remember Lot's wife
Don't look back on the past
Renounce all sin and vice
Reject immoral behavior
This heaven gives me migraine
The ideal society is causing discomfort and pain
Coercion of the senses
Manipulation of our sensory experiences
We are not so gullible
We are not easily fooled
Our great expectations
Our high hopes
A future for the good
Hope for a positive future
Fornication makes you happy
Sexual activity brings joy
No escape from society
We cannot fully detach from societal influence
Natural is not in it
Authenticity is not valued
Your relations are of power
Relationships are based on power dynamics
We all have good intentions
We mean well
But all with strings attached
Everything comes with conditions
Repackaged sex keeps your interest [Repeat: x6]
Sexploitation keeps people engaged in consumer culture
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DAVE ALLEN, ANDREW GILL, JON KING, HUGO H. BURNHAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind