Heartland

And another one, probably going to deep into things that never were and never will be

All of a sudden, when looking at HL's main page with the quote 'Give me something fast' coming up, it occured to me 'something fast' could well be speed, so this would make it yet another song about drugs, and not the love song it always seemed to be to me

The rest of the lyrics seem to point somewhat in that direction too, giving them a closer look, or don't they?

I always took this song to be a dig at the US. He talks about televangelism, hookers in politics, and I took "something fast" to refer to the American obsession with fast food. On the other hand it could be a reference to Rebel Without a Cause:

Jim: You use every other phony excuse. Mom, I, just once, I want to do something right, and I don't want you to run away from me again. Dad?

Jim's father: This is all going too fast for me.

Jim: You better give me something. You better give me something fast.

Perhaps this is 's take on "What are you rebelling against, Jimmy?" "What have you got?"

It would be really easy to ascribe it as a drugs reference, but I can't shake the feeling that tosses in these 'easter eggs' every so often to hammer home his "I'm smarter than you, so you'd better listen up" point. Maybe this is one of those "Let the spiv journalists take the easy meat, but only I and some of my acolytes really know what's going on" moments. Of course, it could be that this is about drugs and he likes to see us scurry like mice to find hidden meanings that are not really there. Go figure.

This was my first post on HL ever (God knows why I kept it. ) It got washed away by The Big Heartland Crash I still think its brilliant:

As Andrew Eldritch lived in Hamburg back then, he frequently observed the whores around where he lived on Reeperbahn. ("red light") They are waiving (hailing") for customers, who are mostly married men ("maries"). In this song, he apparently watches a drug whore, who desperatly tried to get the next customer for her next shot. Well, seeing her pitiful condition, the married men passed quick, but Andrew not. He asked for a handjob ("something fast"), that can be done before she collapses. ("God knows everybody needs a hand"). Logic, isn't it?

canon docre wrote:This was my first post on HL ever (God knows why I kept it. ) It got washed away by The Big Heartland Crash I still think its brilliant:

As Andrew Eldritch lived in Hamburg back then, he frequently observed the whores around where he lived on Reeperbahn. ("red light") They are waiving (hailing") for customers, who are mostly married men ("maries"). In this song, he apparently watches a drug whore, who desperatly tried to get the next customer for her next shot. Well, seeing her pitiful condition, the married men passed quick, but Andrew not. He asked for a handjob ("something fast"), that can be done before she collapses. ("God knows everybody needs a hand"). Logic, isn't it?

Yep....I like it....

Though I thought it was the American way of life....(fast...food....life...etc).

"This is another song about drugs. I thought you might like it"

Von on stage circa 1991.

Of interest may be to note that in a gig in either -84 or -85 he says to the audience 'you want something fast, don't you?'

And i think the punchline, 'gimme something fast' is at least triple-edged...as in 'gimme speed' (cause i don't care), people wanting 'something fast' for a quick fix instead of something meaningful, and ultimately that sometimes also the singer wants 'something fast', like a handjob, a quick fix instead of anything meaningful.

canon docre wrote:This was my first post on HL ever (God knows why I kept it. ) It got washed away by The Big Heartland Crash I still think its brilliant:

As Andrew Eldritch lived in Hamburg back then, he frequently observed the whores around where he lived on Reeperbahn. ("red light") They are waiving (hailing") for customers, who are mostly married men ("maries"). In this song, he apparently watches a drug whore, who desperatly tried to get the next customer for her next shot. Well, seeing her pitiful condition, the married men passed quick, but Andrew not. He asked for a handjob ("something fast"), that can be done before she collapses. ("God knows everybody needs a hand"). Logic, isn't it?

What was brilliant? Your post or the song ?

I like it though, just as I quite like itnAklipse's triple-edged theory, the more explanations a line can carry, the better, IMO

Obviousman wrote:the more explanations a line can carry, the better, IMO

I just love the way every thread in this section seems to be doomed to end up back on square one.
And no, I have nothing interesting to add here apart from the fact that there is this image of a warm rainy night in Hamburg in my head whenever I listen to this song, don't know why.

itnAklipse wrote:Of interest may be to note that in a gig in either -84 or -85 he says to the audience 'you want something fast, don't you?'

This sentence is probably the most used ever onstage commentary in the whole metal/rock - world.

@obviousman: both.

@Emma: unfortunately the rain in Hamburg is seldom warm.

i rather like canon docre's explanation -however i refer yourselves to my earlier post at the bottom of this page here

Just coming here to warn people that if you're at a karaoke event and you verbally request "something fast by the sisters of mercy", the DJ is likely to queue up Temple Of Love. Which is a rather different song to try and sing.

alanm wrote: ↑07 Feb 2024, 07:04 Just coming here to warn people that if you're at a karaoke event and you verbally request "something fast by the sisters of mercy", the DJ is likely to queue up Temple Of Love. Which is a rather different song to try and sing.

I'm shocked even that they had this one