Classed as a Britpop band, given that their appearance and initial huge success with songs such as Slight Return coincided synchronously with the Britpop explosion, their debut record Expecting To Fly appeared in 1996.
As time has gone by, the band have actually become a more conventional 'indie' band - whilst notching up hits such as Marblehead Johnson, If... and Keep the Home Fires Burning they have struggled to replicate the success of their debut. After seven singles reaching the UK Top 20 in total, they are now well out of the public eye, but unlike almost all of the fellow 'Britpop' bands, they continue to release new material and tour.
Following two further albums on major, A&M/Universal (1998's Return to the Last Chance Saloon and 2000's Science & Nature), they signed to the big indie, Cooking Vinyl in 2003 for Luxembourg and 2006's The Bluetones.
Vocalist Mark Morriss released a solo EP under the alias Fi-Lo Beddow in 2006, which eventually bloomed into a full solo record under his real name. Memory Muscle was released in June 2008, and received a surprising amount of critical acclaim, given the music press' frosty attitude to Bluetones material. It included new versions of the songs which made up the Fi-Lo Beddow EP, and featured strings arrnaged by film score composer David Arnold.
The band released their final album, A New Athens, in 2010, and completed their farewell tour in September 2011.
It was announced on 13 April 2015 that the band was reforming for a tour and have subsequently toured on further occasions, including a headline slot on the 2017 Star Shaped Festival tour.
Mudslide
The Bluetones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's slippin' down to cover the hillside
And you can bet it's gonna seep into your house
In through your eyes
And out your dirty little mouth
There's a mudslide
A mile-wide brown tide, a bona fide mudslide
From the comfort of your favourite easy couch
And the man said:
How'm I gonna get my white shirts clean
How'm I gonna get my
How'm I gonna get my
How'm I gonna get my white shirts clean
How'm I gonna get my
How'm I gonna get my
There's a mudslide,
Slippin' down to cover the hillside
And you can bet its gonna seep into your house
In through your eyes
And out your dirty little mouth
There's a mudslide
A mile-wide brown tide, a bona fide mudslide
And what's the odds that you're enjoying one right now?
From the comfort of your favourite easy couch
(solo)
The scum's gonna keep on risin'
It swallows up the sun shining new horizon
And everywhere you look
It's the same disguises
The lunatics it seems run the whole asylum
The scum's gunna keep on risin'
It swallows up the sun shining new horizon
And everywhere you look
It's the same disguises
The lunatics it seems run the whole asylum
There's a mudslide,
Slippin' down to cover the hillside
There's a mudslide
A mile-wide brown tide, a bona fide mudslide
(Keeps repeating last verse till end x3)
The Bluetones's song, Mudslide, is a comment on the state of society and the world we live in. The lyrics speak of a mudslide, which is slippin' down to cover the hillside, representing the chaos and destruction that is happening all around us, but we choose to sit comfortably on our easy couch and watch it happen. The mudslide seeps into our houses through our eyes and out of our dirty little mouths, suggesting that we are affected by the negativity and toxicity of the world, even if we don't realize it. The song talks about the rising scum and the same disguises everywhere, which is a commentary on how the world is presenting itself to us in the same, unchanging way.
The chorus repeats the line 'How'm I gonna get my white shirts clean' which seems to be a metaphor for how do we cleanse ourselves from the chaos and toxicity around us. The 'white shirts' could represent purity, while the mudslide and scum represent the impurities and negativity of the world around us. The final verse repeats the phrase 'the lunatics it seems run the whole asylum' suggesting that the chaos and negativity are being directed by those who are not rational, leading to destruction.
Overall, Mudslide is an insightful song that comments on the state of society and the world we live in. The idea of a mudslide being used as a metaphor for the negativity and chaos in the world around us is a powerful image, and the repeating chorus of 'How'm I gonna get my white shirts clean' lingers long after the song has ended.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a mudslide,
The song starts with the description of a mudslide - a natural occurrence where mud flows down the hillside and could cause destruction in its path.
It's slippin' down to cover the hillside
The mudslide is slowly sliding down to cover the whole hillside, indicating its extensive reach and impact.
And you can bet it's gonna seep into your house
The song suggests that the mudslide will cause damage not just to the hillside but also to nearby houses and properties.
In through your eyes
The impact of the mudslide will be such that it will even enter through people's eyes, further amplifying the gravity of the situation.
And out your dirty little mouth
The mudslide will be so severe that it will even make the people's mouths dirty, highlighting its widespread effect.
A mile-wide brown tide, a bona fide mudslide
The song describes how the mudslide is not just ordinary mud but a mile-wide brown tide that is a legit natural disaster, causing massive destruction.
And what's the odds that you're enjoying one right now?
The song talks about the irony of people sitting indoors in their cozy spaces unaware of the destruction happening outside and how random life events can be- one moment everything is fine, the next moment the calamity strikes.
From the comfort of your favorite easy couch
The song indicates how people are sitting on their favorite comfortable furniture, while nature is unleashing havoc outside, highlighting the bitter truth of human ignorance.
How'm I gonna get my white shirts clean
The song symbolizes how the disaster will cause not only psychic but literal trouble for people, including the challenge of cleaning the whites, which might get soiled as a result of the mudslide.
The scum's gonna keep on risin'
The song contains this repeated phrase, which represents how the debris and trash are accumulating together along with the mudslide, forming scum that is continuously increasing.
It swallows up the sun shining new horizon
The song suggests how the mudslide is so massive that it not only impacts the land but also the sky, taking away the clear view of the new horizon by obliterating the bright sun.
And everywhere you look, it's the same disguises
The song indicates how the world can be cruel and unforgiving, as even among the debris and fallen trees, you can identify human settlements and constructions that were there before, showing how people can disguise themselves in various forms, and at times their well-being could be a mere mirage.
The lunatics it seems run the whole asylum
The song suggests how the world is an unruly place, where people seem to fight among themselves and challenge the norm, often with their agendas and ideas, which could seem bizarre to others.
There's a mudslide
The song's final line is repeated multiple times, leaving an impression in the listener's mind and summarizing the entire message of the song.
Slippin' down to cover the hillside
The line reiterates the song's central idea of describing the mudslide that is causing havoc on people and nature.
A mile-wide brown tide, a bona fide mudslide
The line emphasizes how the mudslide has a vast reach and is not just superficial dirt, but could quickly turn into a natural disaster.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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