Both Numan's music and his transgressive public image are known for his sense of alien coldness and embrace of avant-garde influences. Becoming of the founding fathers of electronic-based pop music, Numan's reach extends far beyond his lone American hit, “Cars,” which still stands as one of the defining new wave singles. That seminal track helped usher in the synthpop era on both sides of the Atlantic, especially his native England, where he was a genuine pop star and consistent hit-maker during the early 80s. Even after new wave had mostly petered out, Numan’s influence continued to make itself felt. His dark, paranoid vision, theatrically icy persona, and clinical, robotic sound were echoed strongly in the work of many goth rock and (especially) industrial artists during the past several decades. For his part, Numan just kept on recording, and, by the late 90s, he’d become a hip name to drop. Prominent alternative rock bands have covered his hits, with Numan himself playing live with Nine Inch Nails briefly to much acclaim, and a goth-flavored brand of industrial-type music christened darkwave looks to him as its mentor.
Numan was born Gary Anthony James Webb on March 8, 1958, in Hammersmith, West London, U.K. A shy child, music brought him out of his shell; he began playing guitar in his early teens and played in several short-lived bands. Inspired by the amateurism of the punk movement, he joined a punk rock group called "The Lasers" in 1976. The following year, he and bassist Paul Gardiner split off to form a new group, dubbed "Tubeway Army", with drummer Bob Simmonds. They recorded a couple of singles under futuristic pseudonyms (Valerium [or Valerian], Scarlett, and Rael, respectively) that attempted to match their new interest in synthesizers. Scrapping that idea, Webb rechristened himself Gary Numan and replaced Simmonds with his uncle Jess Lidyard. Thus constituted, "Tubeway Army" cut a set of "punk-meets-Kraftwerk" demos for Beggars Banquet in early 1978. That work ended up being released several years later as 'The Plan'.
That summer, Numan sang a TV commercial jingle for jeans, and toward the end of the year the group’s debut album, 'Tubeway Army', appeared. Chiefly influenced by Kraftwerk and David Bowie’s Berlin-era collaborations with Brian Eno, the album also displayed Numan’s fascination with the electronic, experimental side of glam rock (such as in some works by Roxy Music and Ultravox) and Krautrock (such as in some works by Can). He also drew much influence from transgressive science fiction writers such as Philip K. Dick, people who challenged conventional thinking through exploring the affects of new technology.
The group’s second album, 'Replicas', was released in early 1979. Its accompanying single, “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?", was a left-field smash, topping the UK charts and sending 'Replicas' to number one on the album listings as well. The record also included “Down in the Park", an oft-covered song that stands as one of Numan’s most 'gothic' outings.
Numan had become a star overnight, despite critical distaste for any music so heavily reliant on synthesizers, and he formed a larger backing band that replaced "Tubeway Army", keeping Gardiner on bass. "The Pleasure Principle" was released in the fall of 1979 and spawned Numan’s international hit “Cars”, which reached the American Top Ten and hit number one in the UK; the album also became Numan’s second straight British number one. He put together a hugely elaborate, futuristic stage show and went on a money-losing tour, and also began to indulge his hobby as an amateur pilot with his newfound wealth.
Numan returned in the fall of 1980 with "Telekon", his third straight chart-topping album in Britain, and scored two Top Ten hits with “We Are Glass” and “I Die: You Die”; “This Wreckage” later reached the Top 20.
In 1981, Numan announced his retirement from live performance, playing several farewell concerts just prior to the release of "Dance". While "Dance" and its lead single, “She’s Got Claws”, were both climbing into the British Top Ten, Numan attempted to fly around the world, but in a bizarre twist was arrested in India on suspicion of spying and smuggling. The charges were dropped, although authorities confiscated his plane. His retirement proved short-lived, but when he returned in 1982 with "I, Assassin", some of his popularity had dissipated - perhaps because of the retirement announcement, perhaps because the charts were overflowing with synthpop, much of which was already expanding on Numan’s early innovations (which were starting to sound repetitive). "I, Assassin" was another Top Ten album, and “We Take Mystery (To Bed)” another major hit, but in general Numan’s singles were starting to slip on the charts; the title track of 1983’s "Warriors" became his last British Top Twenty hit (excluding reissues and collaborations).
Numan and Beggars Banquet subsequently parted ways, and Numan formed his own Numa label, kicking things off with "Berserker" in late 1984. Sadly, longtime collaborator "Paul Gardiner" died earlier that year from a drug overdose. 1985’s "The Fury" became the final Numan album to reach the British Top 30. Over the next few years, Numan collaborated occasionally with "Shakatak’s" Bill Sharpe, releasing four singles and one album from 1985-1989.
Following 1986’s "Strange Charm", Numan signed with IRS, but the relationship was fraught with discord from the start. IRS forced Numan to change the title of 1988’s "Metal Rhythm" to "New Anger" for his first North American release since 1981 (and also remixed several tracks), refused to release his soundtrack for the film "The Unborn", and would not fund any supporting tours for "New Anger" or 1991’s "Outland". When his contract expired, Numan returned to Numa for 1992’s "Machine + Soul".
1994 brought the release of the industrial-tinged "Sacrifice", the first glimmering of Numan’s return to critical favor and underground hipness. Over the next few years, bands like "Hole", "The Foo Fighters", and "Smashing Pumpkins" covered Numan songs in concert, and Marilyn Manson recorded “Down in the Park” for the B-side of the “Lunchbox” single; moreover, "Nine Inch Nails" cited Numan as an important influence. With his fan base refreshed and expectations raised, Numan delved deeper into gothic, metal-tinged industrial dance on 1997’s "Exile". However, he didn’t truly hit his stride in this newly adopted style until 2000’s "Pure", which was acclaimed as his best work in years and expanded his cult following into new territory.
In 2003, Numan enjoyed fleeting chart success once again with the "Gary Numan vs Rico" single “Crazier”, reaching No.13 in the U.K. chart. Rico, who is an up and coming artist from Glasgow, also worked on the remix album "Hybrid" which featured reworkings of older songs in a more contemporary industrial style. In 2004 Numan took control of his own business affairs again, launching the label Mortal Records and releasing a series of live DVDs as a precursor to his highly anticipated new studio album, "Jagged" which was released on 13 March 2006. An album launch gig took place at "The Forum, London" on 18 March 2006. Numan announced a UK tour commencing in April 2006 and plans to tour other countries, including the USA, during the year in support of the release. Numan also to launched a "Jagged" website to showcase the new album.
Numan contributed vocals to four tracks on the April 2007 release of Ade Fenton’s debut solo album "Artificial Perfect" on his new industrial/electronic label Submission, including songs “The Leather Sea”, “Slide Away”, “Recall” and the first single to be taken from the album, “Healing”. The second single to be released in the UK was “The Leather Sea” on July 30, 2007.
In 2008, he released a double CD remix album "Jagged Edge", based around 2006’s critically acclaimed "Jagged", co-produced with Ade Fenton. The pair are currently in the studio working on Numan’s 18th studio album "Splinter", due for release in 2009.
While Numan is known for his electronic music innovations, he prefers real instruments. He explained in an interview with Songfacts: "I didn't go the technology route wholeheartedly, the way Kraftwerk had done. I considered it to be a layer. I added to what we already had, and I wanted to merge that. There's plenty of things about guitar players, and bass players, and songs I really love that I didn't particularly want to get rid of. The only time I did get rid of guitars was on Pleasure Principle, and that was in fact a reaction to the press. I got a huge amount of hostility from the British press, particularly, when I first became successful. And Pleasure Principle was the first album I made after that success happened. I became successful in the early part of '79 and Pleasure Principle came out in the end of '79, in the UK, anyway. And there was a lot of talk about electronic music being cold and weak and all that sort of stuff. So I made Pleasure Principle to try to prove a point, that you could make a contemporary album that didn't have guitar in it, but still had enough power and would stand up well. That's the only reason that album didn't have guitar in it. But apart from that one album they've all had guitars - that was the blueprint."
The official website can be found here: www.garynuman.co.uk
Soul Protection
Gary Numan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Spreading the cure
Self employed
He's a one man crusade
We want to give you your soul protection
Something inside
Spread the word
To the new generation
We want to give you your soul protection
One more night
One more dream
One more time
One more scream
One more heart
One more name
One more chance
For your soul protection.
Johnny's got pride
'I'll pay it all back'
Now he calls it
'The poetry of motion'
We want to give you your soul protection
Listen to this
This is life
Listen to your heart
And you're living under clock law
We want to give you your soul protection
Hide your fear
Hide your shame
Hide your tears
And hide your pain
Hide your face
Hide your name
Hide your need
For your soul protection
Everybody's scared
Big glass house
Don't throw stones
At your soul protection
We want to give you your soul protection
Johnny's got faith
Prays to God
Mention love
And he calls it 'nostalgia'
We want to give you your soul protection.
The lyrics of Gary Numan's song Soul Protection describe the character of Johnny, who is on a mission to spread the cure and provide soul protection to people. The song suggests that there is something inside, perhaps fear or uncertainty, that needs protection. Johnny is portrayed as a self-employed person who takes pride in paying for everything himself, calling it the 'poetry of motion'. The chorus of the song, 'We want to give you your soul protection', is repeated throughout, emphasizing the importance of this protection.
The lyrics also suggest that the younger generation needs to be aware of the importance of soul protection. The line 'Listen to your heart and you're living under clock law' may be a call to live life on one's own terms and not be bound by external factors. The song urges people to hide their fears, shame, tears, and pain, indicating that soul protection can provide a safe haven from these negative emotions. It seems that Soul Protection is a hopeful song that champions the message of resilience and protection of one's inner self.
Line by Line Meaning
Johnny's got a job
Johnny is currently employed
Spreading the cure
He is spreading something good and positive around
Self employed
Johnny works for himself
He's a one man crusade
Johnny is a lone warrior fighting for a cause
We want to give you your soul protection
The artist wants to offer protection to the listener's soul
Something inside
There is an inner feeling or emotion
Big mistake
Something went wrong or was done incorrectly
Spread the word
Share the message
To the new generation
To the younger people
One more night
One additional evening
One more dream
One more hope or aspiration
One more time
One additional occasion
One more scream
One additional loud cry or shout
One more heart
One additional person who cares
One more name
One additional title or identity
One more chance
One additional opportunity
For your soul protection.
All these things are being done to safeguard the listener's soul
Johnny's got pride
Johnny has self-confidence and self-respect
'I'll pay it all back'
Johnny will return a debt or favour
Now he calls it
Now Johnny has given it a name
'The poetry of motion'
Johnny sees his work as an artistic expression
Listen to this
Pay attention to what follows
This is life
This is how things really are
Listen to your heart
Pay attention to your intuition or feelings
And you're living under clock law
You are living under the rules and constraints of society
Hide your fear
Don't show your fear to others
Hide your shame
Don't reveal something you are embarrassed about
Hide your tears
Don't show others that you are crying
And hide your pain
Don't reveal that you are hurting
Hide your face
Don't show your face to others
Hide your name
Don't reveal your identity
Hide your need
Don't show others that you need help
For your soul protection
Do all these things to protect your soul
Everybody's scared
Everyone is afraid
Big glass house
A metaphor for being in a vulnerable or exposed position
Don't throw stones
Don't attack or judge others
At your soul protection
Don't criticize the listener's efforts to protect their soul
Johnny's got faith
Johnny believes in something
Prays to God
Johnny communicates with a higher power
Mention love
Johnny talks about love
And he calls it 'nostalgia'
Johnny thinks of love as a longing for the past
We want to give you your soul protection.
Repeated emphasis on the singer's desire to protect the listener's soul
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Gary Anthony Webb, Gary Anthony James Webb
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind