The band showed a diversity of musical styles. Singles "Speak Like a Child" (with its loud soul-influenced style), the extended funk of "Money-Go-Round", and the haunting synth-ballad "Long Hot Summer" all featured Talbot on keyboards and organ. Near the end of 1983, these songs were compiled on Introducing The Style Council, a mini-album initially released in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States only. The Dutch version was heavily imported to the United Kingdom.
In 1984, the single "My Ever-Changing Moods", backed with the Hammond organ instrumental "Mick's Company", reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The song remains Weller's greatest success on the American charts (including his efforts in The Jam and as a solo artist), while the group reached the peak of its success in the United Kingdom with the 1985 album Our Favourite Shop.
To Weller's fans, the decision to split up The Jam at the height of their commercial success was met with considerable controversy[citation needed]. Weller deliberately distanced himself from The Jam's sound and style, with his use of new musical arrangements and instruments in a much slicker, more heavily produced style. In the place of the Bruce Foxton-Rick Buckler rhythm section were drum and bass parts done entirely on synthesisers.
Structurally, many of the band's early singles were not far removed from The Jam's latter-day soul-pop efforts such as "Town Called Malice" and "Beat Surrender", but they were often criticised as overproduced, despite Weller's impressive songwriting[citation needed]. Also, many observers saw even the early albums as indulgent and overly experimental; Trouser Press called Café Bleu "too schizophrenic to be a good album".
The Style Council took a more overtly political approach than The Jam in their lyrics, with tracks such as "Walls Come Tumbling Down", "The Lodgers", and "Come To Milton Keynes" being deliberate attacks on 'middle England' and Thatcherite principles prevalent in the Eighties. Weller was also instrumental in the formation of Red Wedge with Billy Bragg. However, he later said that this began to detract from the music: "We were involved with a lot of political things going on at that time. I think after a while that overshadowed the music a bit"
In 1986, the band released a live album, Home and Abroad, and, in 1987, the album The Cost of Loving was launched, followed later in the year by the upbeat non-album single "Wanted", which reached #20 in the United Kingdom. However, Confessions of a Pop Group, released a year later, sold poorly. This led to their record label Polydor rejecting their final album (Modernism: A New Decade), which was heavily influenced by the contemporary house scene. A greatest hits album, appropriately called The Singular Adventures of The Style Council, was released internationally in 1989; it included the non-album single "Promised Land", which had reached #27 in the United Kingdom earlier that year.
In 1989 members of The Style Council went under the name of King Truman to release a single on Acid Jazz titled "Like A Gun". This was unbeknown to Polydor and the single was pulled from the shops only 3 days prior to release. Acid Jazz founder Eddie Piller said "The pair offered to make a single for my new label, which I'd just started with Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson as a side project. Mick and Paul took pseudonyms Truman King and Elliott Arnold." [1]
The Style Council broke up in 1989. The cover of "Promised Land" (originally by Joe Smooth) was the only release which surfaced from the Modernism sessions at the time; however, the entire album was released in 1998, both independently and in a 5-CD box set, The Complete Adventures Of The Style Council. After the split, Weller embarked on a successful solo career (still featuring Steve White on drums, who had left The Style Council by the time Confessions of a Pop Group was released, having only played on a few of its tracks). Talbot and White released two albums as Talbot/White — United States of Mind (1995) and Off The Beaten Track (1996). More recently, Mick Talbot and Steve White have formed The Players with Damon Minchella and Aziz Ibrahim.
All of The Style Council's UK releases (including singles, 12" maxis, albums, compact discs and re-issues thereof) featured the work of graphic designer Simon Halfon, who often collaborated with Weller to hone his ideas into a graphic form. Weller and Halfon began working together at the end of The Jam's career, and continue to work together to this day on Weller's solo material.
Since 2007, the song "Walls Come Tumbling Down" has been used as the theme song for the German TV series Dr. Psycho – Die Bösen, die Bullen, meine Frau und ich.
The Gardener Of Eden
The Style Council Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the world ws young and all the earth was mine
Mine to tend to, to plough and to sow.
Before mankind came and rendered all things low.
And beauty was it's first name by this I would call.
And ready the harvest for one and for all.
The orchards and the wheatfields which could of fed the world,
The rivers fresh, the hillsides that had no need of name,
Now ran red with the life blood and drunk with guilty shame.
The gentle bough was broken and twisted out of shape,
And who knows the consequences when the bough doth break,
The mother soil which reared it's young, now reared her angry head,
And rain fell down like teardrops upon the flower beds.
The blame for this I'm in no doubt, is mine and mine alone,
But so proud was I of my work, I had to share it's growth -
'Tis true I was a gardener in the time before the flood,
Now these greenfingers of mine - are stained by angels blood.
The Style Council's song 'The Gardener Of Eden' is a thought-provoking take on the consequences of mankind's actions upon nature. In the first verse, the lyrics begin with a nostalgic reflection on the time before mankind's existence, when everything on the earth was beautiful, and the singer was a gardener taking care of the world. However, as the verse progresses, the lyrics explain how mankind's greed took over, and the earth's beauty was destroyed.
The second verse of the song is far less nostalgic and more accusatory, where the blame is placed on mankind for the destruction of the earth's beauty. The lyrics explain how the orchards, wheat fields, rivers and hillsides were divided up and exploited through slavery, leading to disastrous consequences. The imagery used to describe the earth is also powerful, which makes it easier for the listeners to understand the message in the song.
In the final verse, the lyrics take a personal turn, and the singer takes responsibility for the earth's destruction, concluding with the shocking confession that his green fingers are stained with angel's blood. The song is a critique of mankind's actions and a warning about the consequences of not taking care of the earth.
Line by Line Meaning
True I was a gardener, once upon a time.
I used to be a gardener before the world was tainted by mankind's actions.
When the world was young and all the earth was mine
During a time when the world was untouched by humans and I had the freedom to cultivate the land.
Mine to tend to, to plough and to sow.
I had the responsibility to care for and cultivate the land, and plant seeds for future harvest.
Before mankind came and rendered all things low.
The state of the world changed once humans entered the picture, leading to the decline of all things.
And beauty was its first name by this I would call.
The natural world was beautiful and full of wonder, and that was its defining characteristic.
And ready the harvest for one and for all.
The earth was bountiful and could provide for everyone's needs.
The orchards and the wheatfields which could of fed the world,
The land was once capable of sustaining the entire world with its fertile orchards and fields of wheat.
Were divided up like money and sold through human slaves
The land was treated as a commodity to be bought and sold, with humans forced into slavery to work the land.
The rivers fresh, the hillside that had no need of name,
The rivers and hills were pristine and did not require any recognition, as their natural state was enough.
Now ran red with the life blood and drunk with guilty shame.
The natural world has been polluted and destroyed, with blood and shame marking the landscape.
The gentle bough was broken and twisted out of shape,
The natural world has been altered and damaged, with gentle trees now broken and deformed.
And who knows the consequences when the bough doth break,
The outcome of these changes is uncertain and potentially catastrophic.
The mother soil which reared its young, now raised her angry head,
The earth, which once nurtured new life, is now expressing its outrage at the destruction caused by humans.
And rain fell down like teardrops upon the flower beds.
Even the natural elements, like rain, are mourning the loss of beauty and life in the world.
The blame for this I'm in no doubt, is mine and mine alone,
I take responsibility for my part in the destruction of nature.
But so proud was I of my work, I had to share it's growth -
I was proud of my gardening and wanted to share the beauty and bounty of nature with others.
'Tis true I was a gardener in the time before the flood,
I was a cultivator of nature during a time before its destruction.
Now these greenfingers of mine - are stained by angels blood.
My hands, once used for cultivating life, are now tainted and stained by the bloodshed caused by humanity's actions.
Contributed by Alexander R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.