“A police car and a screaming siren / A pneumatic drill and ripped up concrete / A baby wailing and stray dog howling / The screech of brakes and lamp light blinking”. (‘That’s Entertainment’, The Jam, 1980)
This song provides the greatest lyrics that were written by Weller when he was with The Jam. The acoustic guitar over it is again so simple, yet so effective at portraying the emotion behind the lyrics. Weller discusses in this song the life of the British working class. He perfectly portrays the image of growing up on a working-class council estate/road, which reflects my own upbringing in the exact same environment. The alliteration of “screaming siren” provides a perfect representation of the sound of a police car, or ambulance, as it hurtles down the main road in the dead of night.
The “Pneumatic drill and ripped up concrete” provides an image that is seen so often on an estate that many who live there turn the sound of the drill into white noise, as it provides a backdrop to their lives. The lyrics are simplistic and very literal, reflecting the environment it is portraying. It is not a pretty place full of lovely imagery: “A baby wailing and stray dog howling” again provides a sonic image. Weller does that a lot in this song. Both sounds are that of loneliness and raw, unedited desperation.
Weller uses some brilliant onomatopoeia when he says, “Screech of brakes and lamp light blinking”. The screech of breaks conjures images of either drink-drivers or antisocial youths racing around the estate. The “blinking lamp light” imagery is an example of council estates slowly deteriorating and falling apart. Weller also makes a subconscious political statement about Thatcherism here, and how the working class were being neglected by the Conservative government of the time across the country.
Great insight into Paul’s psyche. I have all the Jam and Style council LPs and many of his solo works (30 something). I first saw the Jam back in 1975 at Lancaster Uni – my home town. I hope he tours the USA in the near future, I’d love to catch him in concert in the Bay area. All the best, and keep the lyrics flowing. Sincerely, Tony