Tradjic Roundabout

Bitches, warlocks and their children too
Martin Luther had nothing on you
He had a dream, you'll have a baby, baby
Will you cope, I don't know, maybe

Your CIA and Novocare
They'll screw you up 'cos you're not all there
I see submission in a million eyes
Dreamweaving habits of still telling lies

And you're not so gifted at all, at all

Matches, basements all over the land
You're striking pulses with half dose in hand
You think you're righteous 'cause you're smoking some shit
And I'm the one that pays for it

You're not so gifted at all, at all
And we're not so gifted at all, at all

Woo !

And you're not so gifted at all, at all
And we're not so gifted at all, at all

Woo !

Lyrics by:
Brown

Music by:
Squire / Brown / Couzens

Written:
1984

Personnel:
John Squire (lead guitar)
Ian Brown (vocals)
Andy Couzens (rhythm guitar)
Pete Garner (bass)
Alan Wren (drums)

Produced by:
Martin Hannett

Available on:
Garage Flower (3.10)

First live performance:
Hampstead Moonlight, 23rd October 1984.

Pseudonyms:
'Martin Luther', 'You're Not So Good'

Details:
Tradjic Roundabout is the most difficult track on Garage Flower to decipher lyrically, as Brown mutters many of the words. Assuming the line "You think you're righteous 'cause you're smoking some shit" (or "You think you're right jus' 'cause you're smoking some shit") is correct, an argument could be made that the song is about Ian trying to break away from someone associating with him, or the band, merely for drugs. He expresses annoyance at funding this person's habit ("And I'm the one that pays for it"). Over a decade later, he and Aziz would collaborate on a song criticizing women who socialize with bands simply for drugs, on Corpses In Their Mouths. The title 'Tradjic Roundabout' may be a play on words of the term 'viscious circle', which Ian wants to break out of ("you're not so gifted at all"). He feels as if he is getting nowhere ('Tradjic Roundabout') by continuing to associate with this person. The damning anti-drug stance of the song has precedent in the Sex Pistols' 'New York'. In the second line of the first verse, Ian tells the person he is addressing that "Martin Luther had nothing on you". Nominally, one would take this to mean the Christian theologian, Martin Luther (1483 - 1546). In the line following this, however, we learn that "he had a dream", leading one to conclude that the reference is to civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr (1929 - 1968) and his famous "I have a dream..." speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., on 28th August 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr was the figurehead in achieving the most far-reaching civil rights bill in history, facing persecution in his effort to gain equal rights for black citizens. In interviews, Ian Brown often expresses great admiration for King, flatly stating in a 1995 Los Angeles KROQ radio interview, "Martin Luther King was the Second Coming, you missed it."

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood...

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

"I have a dream today."

(Martin Luther King, Jr speaking at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., on 28th August 1963).

 

Left: Portrait of Martin Luther (1533) by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 - 1553)
Right: At the conclusion of his speech, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. waves to a crowd of more than 200,000 people at the National Mall in Washington D.C., 28th August 1963.

Back To The Songs