What is Roland going on about in Mothers Talk?
A couple things, actually. The song is probably the closest TFF have come to a political anthem and is loosely based on the evils of nuclear power. The line “when the wind blows” is a clear reference to Raymond Briggs’ similarly titled comic novel on the subject of nuclear war. As if to further clarify this point, the ‘Mothers Talk’ USA video is centered on a hyperactive father preparing a bomb shelter for his family. The other lyric of note, “my features form with a change in the weather”, is a reference to the old wives tale that if you’re “pulling faces” and the wind changes, your face will stick like that. Hence the title “Mothers Talk”. The song also apparently nicks a line from playwright Joe Orton. The last line of Orton’s 1969 farce What The Butler Saw reads: “Let us put our clothes on and face the world.” The play is basically about Dr. Prentice, a psychotherapist who runs an asylum and attempts to seduce Geraldine, a young woman applying for the position of his secretary. As
A couple things, actually. The song is probably the closest TFF have come to a political anthem and is loosely based on the evils of nuclear power. The line “when the wind blows” is a clear reference to Raymond Briggs’ similarly titled comic novel on the subject of nuclear war. As if to further clarify this point, the ‘Mothers Talk’ USA video is centered on a hyperactive father preparing a bomb shelter for his family. The other lyric of note, “my features form with a change in the weather”, is a reference to the old wives tale that if you’re “pulling faces” and the wind changes, your face will stick like that. Hence the title “Mothers Talk”. The song also apparently nicks a line from playwright Joe Orton. The last line of Orton’s 1969 farce What The Butler Saw reads: “Let us put our clothes on and face the world.” The play is basically about Dr. Prentice, a psychotherapist who runs an asylum and attempts to seduce Geraldine, a young woman applying for the position of his secretary. As
