Their first release (January 1978) was the single "14th Floor / Oxford Street W1". Their second release, the EP Where's Bill Grundy Now? features one of their best-known songs, "Part Time Punks".
The Television Personalities' first album And Don't the Kids Just Love It was released in 1981. It set the template for their subsequent career: neo-psychedelia, an obsession with youth culture of the 1960s, a fey, slightly camp lyrical attitude, and the occasional classic pop song. Their second album Mummy Your Not Watching Me [sic] demonstrated increased psychedelic influences. Their third album, ironically entitled They Could Have Been Bigger Than The Beatles showed Treacy's sense of irony: the TVPs (as they are affectionately known) were never to have any major commercial success. The first three albums featured Treacy and schoolmate Ed Ball; Ball left the band to found The Times, but rejoined in 2004.
The 1985 album The Painted Word was unexpectedly dark in content, reflecting Treacy's despair at Thatcherite Britain and his personal circumstances.
Various line up changes prevented their next album (Privilege) from appearing until 1990. Their next album Closer to God was a combination of fey sixties style pop and darker material, similar in tone to The Painted Word.
The album Don't Cry Baby, It's Only a Movie was released in 1998. Since then Treacy has battled mental health problems, and his addictions to heroin, amphetamine and alcohol. He has been homeless on various occasions and was briefly arrested and imprisoned in 2003/2004. However, since his release, Treacy has attempted to get his life back together and in February 2006 a new TVPs album My Dark Places was released. Despite their small sales the TVPs were very influential on British music in the 1980s, especially the so-called C86 generation and many of the bands on Creation Records.
In an article in The Guardian on April 24 2006, it was implied that Dan Treacy is in some way behind the Arctic Monkeys, although this is based on little more than a perceived similarity between their lyrical style and that of Treacy, and the fact that the lead singer of Arctic Monkeys is mysteriously not credited with their songwriting.[1]
You Are Loved
Television Personalities Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Aged before your time
Living your life like a merry-go-round
But someday soon you'll have to come down.
Would you like to see scars?
My brand new needle marks?
Wearing my sins like a new tattoo,
I can't imagine why I don't envy you!
And it's a crying shame
You've got a job, a house, a company car
But you've still got shit for brains!
Take me to your world
Show me what you feel
Tell me, is it real?
What are you searching for?
And if you ever turn on to crack
Or God forbid good smack
You won't recognise yourself
There'll be no turning back
You don't know how lucky you are
Open up your mind
It's a open door
The Television Personalities' song "You Don't Know How Lucky You Are" is a melancholic ode to the fleeting nature of youth and the pain that comes with growing up. The song begins by addressing an unnamed "boy" who is looking old and aged before his time, living his life like a merry-go-round, but someday he'll have to come down. The singer then confesses to having brand new needle marks and wearing their sins like a new tattoo, expressing a sense of envy towards the boy. They go on to point out that despite the boy having a job, a house, and a company car, he still has "shit for brains," punishing himself needlessly. The singer then switches gears, asking to be taken to the boy's "world" to understand what he's feeling and searching for. The song ends with a warning against turning to drugs like crack or heroin, saying that once you do, you won't recognize yourself, and there'll be no turning back.
The theme of the song is a timeless one, that of the tension between youthfulness and the inevitability of growing old. The singer seems both weary of the experiences they've had and envious of the boy's youthful energy, acknowledging that despite their own struggles, they don't know how lucky they are. There's a sense of desperation and longing throughout the song, as if the singer is trying to hold on to something that's slipping away from them. By the end of the song, they seem to have made peace with the idea of growing older, warning the boy against making the same mistakes they did.
Line by Line Meaning
Boy, you're looking old
You appear to be aged beyond your years
Aged before your time
You look older than you really are
Living your life like a merry-go-round
You are living your life in a repetitive, predictable manner
But someday soon you'll have to come down.
You will soon have to face the consequences of your actions
Would you like to see scars?
Are you curious about the marks of past trauma?
My brand new needle marks?
The fresh punctures left by needle injections
Wearing my sins like a new tattoo,
Carrying the physical marks of my past wrongdoings
I can't imagine why I don't envy you!
I cannot understand why you would want to be in my position
And now you're punishing yourself
You are inflicting pain upon yourself
And it's a crying shame
It is unfortunate and regrettable
You've got a job, a house, a company car
You possess the material possessions that are considered desirable
But you've still got shit for brains!
You lack intelligence or common sense
Take me to your world
Show me your way of being
Show me what you feel
Demonstrate your current emotional state
Tell me, is it real?
Confirm whether or not your emotions are genuine
What are you searching for?
What is it that you are seeking in life?
And if you ever turn on to crack
If you were to become addicted to crack cocaine
Or God forbid good smack
Or even worse, heroin
You won't recognise yourself
The impact of addiction will change your appearance and behavior drastically
There'll be no turning back
Once you succumb to addiction, it is difficult to escape
You don't know how lucky you are
You are unaware of how fortunate you truly are
Open up your mind
Be receptive to new ideas and ways of thinking
It's a open door
Opportunities are available to you
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jochen Altenhuber
Such a fantastic song, bigger than The Beatles.
Joe Wilson
scream quietly or the neighbors will hear
Rui Carvalho
loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Scott ASC
Casio keyboard