Under the Gun

Dark · 21 Jun 2006, 11:26

I can't find a higher bitrate version on any p2p program. Oh well.

Francis · 02 Jul 2006, 01:18

heat-seeking, out of the sun
you can set the controls for the heart or the knees

Yet more Pink Floyd references.

LaGwardia · 26 Feb 2007, 23:19

I got this after being stuck on a bus for ages playin 'Under' on repeat. I had just watched the vid the day before...
is it me or had Von been watchin the Terminator films alot?!?! stick with me on this.....
Besides the hilarious robotic hand in the video theres a few references that sorta fit into Terminator, which was, of course huge in 1991.
the most 'obvious' I reckon could be:

'It never happened' -aborting of Judgement Day
'Explosive bolts, 10,000 volts' -- the time travel effects
'Abrasive wheels & molten metals' - T-1000 & the steel mill
'Cloudburst and all around' - The nuclear war.....

anyone else care to work a few out?
The original lyrics & song sorta would fit in well with the Terminator 1 end credits...
just a thought!
Greg

bushman*pm · 27 Feb 2007, 15:10

Hom_Corleone wrote:It's by far the blandist musak by the Sisters and no matter how many times I've listened to it I cannot like it. I agree with the 'contractual obligation' sentiment. He wasn't even trying.

i couldnt disagree more, especially with someone with such a disturbing avatar!!!!

Episkopos · 27 Feb 2007, 16:30

The usual one-shot theory:

Von has to record a "straight up, down the line, housewife-type AOR" single to stick on the compilation. He's a bit sick of the whole spiel by now, and so decides to provide a healthy dose of irony by adding his own ranting coda all about failed expectations, the abysmal state of the system, the great rock and roll plagiarism (all the Floyd references and the Hughes lyrics at the start) and, perhaps, a sly nod to the flaws of his own writing style.

It's his sneery way of fulfilling the contract and still keeping the ironist/sarcasm junkie in himself happy with all that stuff at the end. That's my guess.

bushman*pm · 27 Feb 2007, 18:30

or like the majority of his work, IMHO, its just rather ambiguous with cool sounding words and phrases. its all very deep and can therefore be interpreted in any number of ways whils he still thinks he's the worlds greatest lyricist!

demolitionsisters · 09 Mar 2011, 11:54

under the gun = slight rip-off of bryan ferry's song ''Is your love strong enough'', guess Von coaxed the basis for dr avalanche from this song, well the patterns are kinda a bit similar at certain spots.

n'Emolicia · 21 Mar 2011, 09:52

demolitionsisters wrote:under the gun = slight rip-off of bryan ferry's song ''Is your love strong enough''
...
l the patterns are kinda a bit similar at certain spots.

The combination of the two might make a fun mash-up.
...that, or it'd be wretchedly horrid.

BeeBeeOh · 10 Jul 2011, 20:10

LaGwardia wrote:I got this after being stuck on a bus for ages playin 'Under' on repeat. I had just watched the vid the day before...
is it me or had Von been watchin the Terminator films alot?!?! stick with me on this.....
Besides the hilarious robotic hand in the video theres a few references that sorta fit into Terminator, which was, of course huge in 1991.
the most 'obvious' I reckon could be:

'It never happened' -aborting of Judgement Day
'Explosive bolts, 10,000 volts' -- the time travel effects
'Abrasive wheels & molten metals' - T-1000 & the steel mill
'Cloudburst and all around' - The nuclear war.....

anyone else care to work a few out?
The original lyrics & song sorta would fit in well with the Terminator 1 end credits...
just a thought!
Greg

I always thought he looked like T-1000 in that vid.

Prescott · 21 Aug 2011, 12:22

If you guys and gals really think that all those lyrics at the end of the song are just a bunch of incoherent ramblings, I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken.

I believe history will prove that Under The Gun is truly AE's Magnum Opus.

bangles · 29 May 2012, 15:22

"abrasive wheels and molten metals"

They are probably just words chosen for visual imagery but I was curious to know, could there be a nod to the band Leeds band Abrasive Wheels? I presume from the dates on Wikipedia, it's more than possible that

and/or the fledgling Sisters would have been aware of them... i

Any of the older Leeds stalwarts have any idea?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrasive_Wheels
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VonOben · 15 Jul 2012, 22:05

The original version is on Youtube now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ84OWiRqVQ

stufarq · 21 Feb 2016, 03:18

I'm sure Von has said he was never interested in and didn't even like the videos, only doing them because the record company expected him to. So I wouldn't read too much into the visuals.

And bear in mind he only wrote the lyrics for the end section ("Forget the many steps" on.) The verses and chorus were written by Roxanne Seeman (who, indeed, is a woman), and it wasn't a collaboration: Von added lyrics to someone else's song. So any interpretation of the lyrics should take account of that and not ascribe the entire meaning to either of them.

paint it black · 03 Oct 2016, 16:03

^ step one etc...

03 Oct 2016, 16:34

paint it black wrote:^ step one etc...

You can lead a horse to water

kafka · 21 Feb 2019, 22:25

OK, forgive the thread necro but I figured it was better than starting a new one...

So, I was listening to the radio the other day and Def Leppard's "Armageddon It" came on. And, you know, I'm pretty damn certain that Under The Gun references it:

Take it, take it, take it from me
I got an itchy finger following me
Pull it, pull it, c'mon trigger the gun
'Cause the best is a yet to come

I don't have much more to add right now, except that I kinda love that Eldritch can reference Eliot, Dylan... and Sheffield's finest.