This song is about the way that the British (or indeed many people) would rather do anything but learn of the news, or simply, reality. The references to Batman, Tarzan etc. are an ironic stab at how we would rather watch these fictional and ultimately facile shows rather than get to grips with the reality...e.g. the Blood On The Rooftops, or the Arabs and the Jews. It is a social commentary on our state of self-imposed ignorance. To put this into context, the lyrics refer to a typical middle-aged or elderly couple that have very little else to do with their lives than to watch TV, and complain about the content. The various references to TV programmes show how the escapism of fantasy and fiction impacts so deeply that they can no longer distinguish between that and the grim events of the real world. Rather than retreating into ignorance, the lyrics show more that if lives are made to become insignificant (through staleness, doing the same thing, taking partners and situations for granted), the only meaningful thing left is to make an issue of the world as they see it which, of course, is tainted by their own blinkered perceptions.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 09:28:30 +0000