We're all at the mercy of Shrunken Heads and in the topsy turvy world we are in everything is inverted. When you are born on the wrong side of the tracks there is not much you can do about it. The song was written about a visit to the beach in Blackpool where nobody smiled. Many British are scruffier than they were formerly and drugs have robbed people of their dignity. With Tony Blair a good number of people are worse off than they were before. With people self-absorbed it has taken a toll on British society. In some ways, this is a Springsteen like observation about the decline of England. The electorate and the elected are not doing their jobs and the Western leaders are just not clever enough. An indicative line is: "The rich get richer and poor get sorer."
There is a live version from 2008.
Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, TheDoctorOfDigital@pm.me
Shrunken Heads
(Ian Hunter)
Concrete steps, never swept
It used to be fear, now they call it respect
Sad old walls fallin' down
On the shattered skulls in the battleground
Absent fathers, weary mums
The old, the sick, the dying
And the isolated ones
Ancient language turns obscene
Between the goal posts of a circular dream
Nothin' matters anymore
The rich get richer, and the poor get sorer
This house is haunted and the streets are dead
We're all the mercy of shrunken heads
Bells are ringing of a cleaner time
There ain't no washing hangin' out on the line anymore
Something died and I don't know when
But it's funkier now that it ever was then
Nothin' matters anymore
The rich get richer, and the poor get sorer
The heart of the city is dilapidated
Who's gonna save us from these shrunken heads
On a windy day where no one smiles
On a pleasureless beach on a go-go-golden mile
In a sad café eating day old bread
And I tip the angry actress
With pockets full of shrunken heads
Windows barred, exhausted dull
The smell of decay is miserable
Dangerous streets where the dealers rule
Lie litter strewn around a frozen school
Nothin' matters anymore
The rich get richer, and the poor get sorer
You took our loyalty and you tore it to shreds
We're all the mercy of shrunken heads
Nothing matters anymore
The rich get richer, and the poor stay sorer
And the heart of the city is red-carpeted
Freaks of nature, shrunken heads
Shrunken heads decide my fate
It used to be 10, now it's 10:08
We ain't got the answers, it's complicated
I wouldn't bet any money on shrunken heads
Where you're born is the luck of the drawShrunken Heads is a great track, with a distinct Springsteen-ish touch to it - close your eyes and it's easy to imagine the E-Street Band accompanying Ian on this one.
| Shrunken Heads | 7:45 | Originally released on Shrunken Heads. |
| Shrunken Heads (live 2nd March 2008) | 6:38 | This live version (recorded at the Mick Jagger Centre, Dartford England) was issued on Acoustic Shadows (box set only). |
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