Unfair… Read Full Bio ↴The Auteurs was a British alternative rock band of the 1990s.
Unfairly dismissed as the egotrip of acclaimed songwriter Luke Haines, The Auteurs were one of the unsung bands of the mid-nineties Britpop movement. Releasing their first record, New Wave, in 1993, the Auteurs were compared to Suede, and the resurgent glam-rock movement, and began to amass a reasonable cult following. 1994's second album, and commercial highlight, Now I'm A Cowboy, saw the band embracing at times a more contemporary sound, notably on the single Lenny Valentino, which probably remains Haines' best-known song. Now I'm A Cowboy was marked out by sprawling guitar lines as much as by Haines' inimitable lyrics, a kind of visceral social commentary. While touring this album in 1995, Haines jumped off a fifteen-foot wall, breaking both ankles, resulting in his being in a wheelchair for the rest of that year, recording the starker, angrier third album After Murder Park, most notable for the ballad-like lead single Unsolved Child Murder, released for Christmas at Haines own bidding. Following this, Haines took time out to work on other projects such as Black Box Recorder and Baader Meinhof, reforming the Auteurs in 1999 for the release of the mostly overlooked final album, How I Learned To Love The Bootboys.
While Haines remains widely respected for his lyrical eloquence and eye for the minutae of life, his eccentric, confrontational personality, and habit of styling himself as a louche ne'er-do-well, perhaps impeded the formation of a more affectionate bond with his fans. The Auteurs, similarly, tended to be respected rather more than they were loved.
Underground Movies
The Auteurs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In a house with bay windows
And all the fittings and fixtures
And a catalogue of injury
She's got a credo in underground movies
Her father is a lawyer
Who paid for the fittings and fixtures
And I'm calling from a Baltimore hotel
Don't let it ring again
Your movies are your own
You're on a limb again
calling from a Baltimore hotel
Don't let it ring again
Your movies are all your own
Don't let him in again
Four weeks later in April
I took her to the doctors
Said "I've no prescription"
For compromised solution
And I'm calling from a Baltimore hotel
Don't let it ring again
Your movies are your own
You're on a limb again
calling from a Baltimore hotel
Don't let it ring again
Your movies are all your own
Don't let him in again
Ten years
Caught in a trap by my own cunning
Thought I was smart
Thought I was dying
For years
I lived in a flat without water running
Thought it was smart
Thought it was funny
I'm writing her memoirs
The underground press remain faithful
Ghost writing her memoirs
Maybe we'll get on cable
The Auteurs’s ‘Underground Movies’ is a poignant commentary on the confusion, desperation, and disillusionment that permeated the early 90s. The lyrics narrate a tale of a young woman who is searching for more than the surface glamour of modern life – a young woman who has a deep interest in underground movies. The singer first meets her in a house with bay windows on a rainy day. The fittings and fixtures therein are paid for by her lawyer father, but they belie her sense of injury. She has her own way of finding meaning in life through underground movies.
The refrain of the song revolves around a phone call from a Baltimore hotel. The singer pleads with her not to let it ring again. He realizes that she is on a limb again, struggling to navigate the complexity of her feelings and ideas. She is caught between what she believes in and the reality of the world she is living in. The reference to a ‘compromised solution’ in the next verse alludes to a situation that lacks a satisfactory outcome. Time passes, and the singer is now writing her memoirs, possibly for the underground press, with the hope of getting on cable.
The lyrics have a strong emotional quality, as the singer depicts the pain and struggle of a young woman trying to find meaning in society while coming to terms with her own disillusionment. The images of the fittings and fixtures, the bay windows, and the rain add to the overall atmosphere of melancholy and despair. The repetition of the refrain emphasizes the desperation of the singer as they plead with the singer to find her way out of the confusion.
Line by Line Meaning
We first met it was raining
We met each other for the first time during a rainy weather
In a house with bay windows
We met in a house with large windows facing the bay
And all the fittings and fixtures
The house had all the necessary furniture and decorations
And a catalogue of injury
The house had a collection of things that caused harm or damage
She's got a credo in underground movies
She strongly believes in underground/indie movies
Her father is a lawyer
Her dad is a legal professional
Who paid for the fittings and fixtures
Her father funded the house's furniture and decorations
And a house with bay windows
The house has large windows facing the bay
And I'm calling from a Baltimore hotel
I'm making a phone call from a hotel in Baltimore
Don't let it ring again
Please pick up the phone this time
Your movies are your own
You have the full right to your movies
You're on a limb again
You're taking a risk again
Calling from a Baltimore hotel
Making another phone call from a hotel in Baltimore
Your movies are all your own
You have full ownership over your movies
Don't let him in again
Don't allow him to enter again
Four weeks later in April
In April, which was four weeks later
I took her to the doctors
I took her to a medical doctor
Said "I've no prescription"
The doctor said they cannot prescribe anything
For compromised solution
As a compromised solution
Ten years
After ten years
Caught in a trap by my own cunning
I'm stuck in my own trap due to my cleverness
Thought I was smart
I believed I was intelligent
Thought I was dying
I felt like I was close to death
For years
For many years
I lived in a flat without water running
I resided in an apartment without any running water
Thought it was smart
I thought it was clever
Thought it was funny
I thought it was amusing
I'm writing her memoirs
I'm authoring her life story
The underground press remain faithful
The subversive media is still loyal to us
Ghost writing her memoirs
I'm writing her biography without receiving any credit
Maybe we'll get on cable
Perhaps we'll be featured on national television
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LUKE MICHAEL HAINES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind