Described as "classic UK rock delivered with whiskey vocals", the band have been summarised as possessing a sound akin to the genres of alternative rock and "British traditional rock". Stereophonics' debut album, Word Gets Around, was released in August 1997 and charted at number six in the UK, aided by the singles "Local Boy in the Photograph", "More Life in a Tramps Vest" and "A Thousand Trees". The band reached mainstream success with the release of Performance and Cocktails (and its promotional singles "The Bartender and the Thief", "Just Looking" and "Pick a Part That's New") in 1999 and have achieved a total of ten top-ten singles as well as one number one: "Dakota" (2005). Having sold around 10 million copies worldwide by 2016, Stereophonics are one of the most successful Welsh rock acts. Upon their release of Pull the Pin, they achieved five consecutive UK number one albums.
The band have also been praised for their live performances, which have landed them headlining slots at many of the UK and Ireland's most high-profile music festivals, including Reading and Leeds in 2000, Glastonbury in 2002, V Festival in 2002, the Isle of Wight in 2004 and 2009, Oxegen in 2010, Tramlines Festival and TRNSMT in 2018, and Latitude in 2019. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereophonics
Studio albums
Word Gets Around (1997)
Performance and Cocktails (1999)
Just Enough Education to Perform (2001)
You Gotta Go There to Come Back (2003)
Language. Sex. Violence. Other? (2005)
Pull the Pin (2007)
Keep Calm and Carry On (2009)
Graffiti on the Train (2013)
Keep the Village Alive (2015)
Scream Above the Sounds (2017)
Kind (2019)
Oochya! (2022)
Soldiers Make Good Targets
Stereophonics Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Watching wars live, via satellite
You carry a gun but no smoking inside
Escape disease yet I could get shot tonight
You
Shoot
You
The time has come and you're all alone
And you know you're not dreaming
It's heaven's door, you're ringing on the bell
Will they let you in, or you going to hell?
I'll take a war, I'll take mine with fries
Medium rare, wash a coke down with ice
Swallow it down no time to digest
What do you know, I'm feeling hungry again
You
Shoot
You
Loose
The time has come and you're all alone
And you know you're not dreaming
It's heaven's door, you're ringing on the bell
Will they let you in, or you going to hell?
The song Soldiers Make Good Targets by Stereophonics speaks to the way the world has changed in recent years with the advent of 24-hour news coverage and how people are now able to watch wars live via satellite. The lyrics question the value of the lives that are risked and lost in war, with the repeated lines "You shoot, you lose" speaking to the inevitable outcome of some military conflicts.
The main chorus of the song is a haunting question, "The time has come and you're all alone, And you know you're not dreaming, It's heaven's door, you're ringing on the bell, Will they let you in, or you going to hell?" This refers to the possibility that the soldiers who have fought and died are now facing their ultimate judgment and wondering if they will be welcomed into heaven or if they will be cast into hell.
The lyrics also make mention of the strange and sometimes insensitive way that we have come to deal with war in modern times. Lines such as "I'll take a war, I'll take mine with fries" and "Medium rare, wash a coke down with ice" point to the disturbing trend of desensitization and even commercialization of warfare.
Overall, the song is a poignant and powerful reminder of the costs of war and the toll it takes on those who fight and those who are left behind.
Line by Line Meaning
What kind of pace are we living now?
What kind of world are we living in, where we're constantly exposed to live coverage of wars on TV, as they happen?
Watching wars live, via satellite
We're watching footage of wars as they happen, thanks to satellite technology.
You carry a gun but no smoking inside
It's ironic that guns are allowed in certain places, but smoking isn't.
Escape disease yet I could get shot tonight
I may not be at risk of a disease, but I could easily become a target of violence.
You shoot, You lose
The use of violence, though sometimes necessary, comes with potentially dire consequences.
The time has come and you're all alone
It's time for us to face the consequences of our actions, without anyone to help or save us.
And you know you're not dreaming
This is the cruel reality, not a nightmare or a bad dream.
It's heaven's door, you're ringing on the bell
We're at the gates of heaven, and asking to be let in.
Will they let you in, or you going to hell?
We're questioning whether our actions and choices will lead us to heaven or hell.
I'll take a war, I'll take mine with fries
People have become so desensitized to the horrors of war that it's like ordering fast food.
Medium rare, wash a coke down with ice
We order war like we would a burger or a soda, with little thought, and no care for the consequences.
Swallow it down no time to digest
We take in war like it's nothing, with no time to process or understand its impact.
What do you know, I'm feeling hungry again
People are so accustomed to war that they always seem to want more.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KELLY JONES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind