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.
Unsolved Child Murder
The Auteurs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
don't like to talk about it
Presumed dead
Unsolved Child Murder
Since they dragged the lake
you know they seemed au-fait
cordoned off some wood
Presumed Dead
Unsolved Child Murder
If I die before my parents die
If I die before my parents die
more hate mail through the door
didn't know that sundays
could be useful after all
people can be cruel and spineless
hung around your house
waiting for your mother
rachel says she's married to a doctor
presumed dead
unsolved child murder
If I die before my parents die
If I die before my parents die
better move on - with the good stuff
better move on - right away
sod this town and people's pity
let's get on with the nitty gritty
presumed dead - unsolved child murder
I believe in ESP
when you're dealing with a master thief
headlines scream
"he's been missing 2 weeks"
Rachel said when we find him
we can cure him
we can make him better
raise him from the dead
unsolved child murder
raise him from the dead
unsolved child murder
The Auteurs' song Unsolved Child Murder is a poignant and bleak commentary on the tragedy of a child's disappearance or death that remains unresolved. The song delivers a powerful indictment of the public's lack of concern and unwillingness to talk about such horrific events. The residents of the town where the tragedy took place refuse to engage with the case and instead shun it as tabu. The song mentions that the local authorities have done little to find the missing child despite going through the motions, like dragging the lake and giving a photo to the psychic.
The song also explores the idea of grief, bereavement and how people deal with it. The parents of the missing child are said to have received hate mail, and the singer of the song expresses the sentiment of wanting to avoid the negativity in the town and move on to better things. Rachel, a character mentioned in the song, has a spiritual approach to the disappearance and believes that the child can be cured and raised from the dead. This illustrates how people deal with grief and tragedy differently, and how beliefs and coping mechanisms can vary greatly.
Other themes explored in the song include the media sensationalism of missing children and the feeling of hopelessness. The chorus has a melancholic tone, where the line "If I die before my parents die" is repeated, emphasising the despair that can arise from the tragedy of losing a child.
Line by Line Meaning
People 'round here
don't like to talk about it
Presumed dead
Unsolved Child Murder
The locals refuse to talk about the unsolved case of a murdered child, who is presumed to be dead.
Since they dragged the lake
you know they seemed au-fait
cordoned off some wood
and gave the photo to a psychic
Presumed Dead
Unsolved Child Murder
After searching the lake and cordoning off nearby woods, the police consulted a psychic, but the case remains unsolved and the child presumed dead.
If I die before my parents die
If I die before my parents die
The singer is reflecting on their own mortality, and the possibility of dying before their parents.
more hate mail through the door
didn't know that sundays
could be useful after all
people can be cruel and spineless
The artist has received hate mail, realizing that even Sundays can be unpleasant due to people's cruelty and cowardice.
hung around your house
waiting for your mother
rachel says she's married to a doctor
presumed dead
unsolved child murder
The artist and Rachel wait outside a house, hoping to learn more about the unsolved murder case that has left the child presumed dead.
better move on - with the good stuff
better move on - right away
sod this town and people's pity
let's get on with the nitty gritty
presumed dead - unsolved child murder
Instead of dwelling on townspeople's pity, the singer urges themselves and others to move on with their lives and focus on the hard, gritty work that may help solve the case of the unsolved murdered child who is presumed dead.
I believe in ESP
when you're dealing with a master thief
headlines scream
"he's been missing 2 weeks"
The singer believes in ESP, or extrasensory perception, when it comes to dealing with a master thief. Recent news headlines announce that someone has been missing for two weeks.
Rachel said when we find him
we can cure him
we can make him better
raise him from the dead
unsolved child murder
raise him from the dead
unsolved child murder
Rachel suggests that if they find the child, they may be able to cure them and resurrect them, despite the fact that the child is part of a tragic, unsolved murder case.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LUKE MICHAEL HAINES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind