The band started when frontman Dury (born in Upminster, Essex, United Kingdom on 12 May 1942 and died 27 March 2000), had a chance encounter in a musical instrument hire shop with guitarist Chaz Jankel. Jankel took Dury's lyrics, fashioned a number of songs, and they began recording with drummer Charley Charles, bassist Norman Watt-Roy and the former Kilburns saxophonist Davey Payne. An album was completed, but major record labels passed on the band. However, next door to Dury's manager's office was the newly formed Stiff Records, a perfect home for Dury's maverick style. The classic single "Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll", marked Dury's Stiff debut and this was swiftly followed by an album. titled 'New Boots and Panties', which was to eventually achieve platinum status.
It wasn't until October 1977 that Dury and his band started to go out as Ian Dury and the Blockheads, when the band signed up for the Stiff "Live Stiffs Tour" alongside Elvis Costello And The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Wreckless Eric and Larry Wallis. The tour was a success and Stiff launched a concerted Ian Dury marketing campaign, resulting in the Top Ten hit What a Waste and the classic UK number one Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. The band toured to great acclaim throughout Europe.
The band's second album Do It Yourself was released in June 1979 in a Barney Bubbles-designed sleeve of which there were over a dozen variations, all based on samples from the Crown wallpaper catalogue. Another top ten single, Reasons to be Cheerful, kept Dury in the public eye.
In 1980 Jankel left The Blockheads to concentrate on a solo career and was replaced by former Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson, who also contributed to the next album Laughter and its two minor hit singles.
Ian Dury And The Blockheads disbanded in 1981 after Dury secured a new recording deal with Polydor Records through A&R man Frank Neilson, choosing to work with a group of young musicians which he named The Music Students and recorded the album Four Thousand Weeks' Holiday. This album marked a departure from his usual style and was not as well received by fans for its American jazz influence.
The Blockheads reformed several times before Ian Dury's death, most notably to play a series of benefit concerts for Charley Charles.
You're The Why
Ian Dury and the Blockheads Lyrics
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And hankered for the desolated dawn
I couldn't cope with yet another saviour
To steer me from the way that I was born
Then like a ton of bricks the dawn descended
Recalcitrance was hurtled to the floor
The citadel lay breached and undefended
I'll want you till the seasons lose their mystery
I'll need you till the birds forget to fly
I'll love you more than anyone in history
Wherever there's a wherefore you're the why
I shuffled through the modes of bad behaviour
And hankered for the desolated dawn
I couldn't cope with yet another saviour
To steer me from the way that I was born
Then like a ton of bricks the dawn descended
Recalcitrance was hurtled to the floor
The citadel lay breached and undefended
You brought a love I'd never known before
I'll want you till the seasons lose their mystery
I'll need you till the birds forget to fly
I'll love you more than anyone in history
Wherever there's a wherefore you're the why
The lyrics of "You're The Why" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads is about finding love in a time of turmoil and self-destruction. The singer describes walking through different modes of bad behavior, feeling lost and disconnected from the world around him. He is tired of hearing from people that he needs to change and be saved, and he longs for a sense of desolation. Yet, when he meets someone new, everything changes. The dawn descends like a ton of bricks, and his sense of recalcitrance is cast aside. The citadel within him that he had built up to protect himself is breached and undefended, and he finds himself experiencing a love that he had never known before.
The chorus of the song expresses the depth of his feelings for this person, stating that he will want, need and love them more than anyone else in history. The song then ends by saying that this love will be the "why" behind everything he does, wherever there is a "wherefore."
Overall, the song speaks to the power of love to transform and change a person's life, and to the importance of finding someone who can bring out the best in you.
Line by Line Meaning
I shuffled through the modes of bad behaviour
I aimlessly wandered through various undesired actions
And hankered for the desolated dawn
I yearned for a deserted, isolated morning
I couldn't cope with yet another saviour
I couldn't handle another person trying to save or change me
To steer me from the way that I was born
To guide me away from my innate nature
Then like a ton of bricks the dawn descended
Suddenly and forcefully, the morning arrived
Recalcitrance was hurtled to the floor
Resistance to change was forcefully thrown aside
The citadel lay breached and undefended
My stronghold was broken and vulnerable
You brought a love I'd never known before
You introduced me to a type of love I had never experienced
I'll want you till the seasons lose their mystery
My desire for you will never cease, even if the seasons lose their magic
I'll need you till the birds forget to fly
My dependency on you will never end, even if the impossible happens
I'll love you more than anyone in history
My affection for you will surpass that of any other person in all of time
Wherever there's a wherefore you're the why
You are the reason for everything, always
Contributed by Ian N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.