Gary Numan - I Still Remember - 1986 - Numa
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Click above for big pictures, click below to play me…
“Death is a vast mystery, but there are two things we can say about it: It is absolutely certain that we will die, and it is uncertain when or how we will die. The only surety we have, then, is this uncertainty about the hour of our death, which we seize on as the excuse to postpone facing death directly. We are like children who cover their eyes in a game of hide-and-seek and think that no one can see them.”
The Tibetan Book Of Living and Dying
Sogyal Rinpoche
Everywhere is death.
From the most fragrant of flowers to the most sensual of sunrises to the loved one you hold when you awake of a morning, everything is decapitated by death.
Given birth recently ?
Congratulations, you have just given birth to death.
The curse of decay arrogantly inflicted upon you with no discussion or consultation with yourself, has now successfully been thrusted upon another whose life may give the illusion of difference – but is really just one more in the multitude of slow marches to the agony of non-existence.
What made you think giving birth to certain death would make you feel any better about yourself?
Just look around you – puncture the façade of beauty that forever surrounds and focus on the sadness within… concentrate on the inner truth of everybody and everything’s imminent death.
Don’t try to avert your gaze, and definitely don’t close your eyes – for the dancing lights and blackness you’ll see is the inside of your eyelids slowly but surely decaying right in front of you and moving you solidly, firmly towards your own destruction.
‘Look at me…’ croaks Gary Numan taking on the surprising guise and persona of a nice fluffy Alsatian puppy, ‘ I’m crying…‘
And so you should be Alsatian Gary – because essentially, you’re totally fucked.
And so, rather sadly, am I.
Is this a subtle way of suggesting this song may be more than just a tad depressing ?
Depressing ?
Whatever gave you that idea ?
Oh no, as long as you remember to take the sensible precaution of gauging both your eardrums out with a plastic fork before the drums whirr into life sounding eerily reminiscent of the distant clanking of a meat processing factory for Pedigree Chum, I am sure you’ll find it a very positive and uplifting experience.
‘How can they do this to me…’
Still, your ensuing depression is all for a good cause – as my 8 theoretical pence has just been given by Alsatian Gary to the RSPCA, which is a nice thing to do isn’t it ? What’s more, this 8 pence is probably just about enough to fill one seventh of a can of that aforementioned dog food.
And it is really probably worth trying to remember this heart warming act of charity when, as a direct result of you listening to this song all the way through to the end where Alsatian Gary eventually dies, you find yourself crouched and sobbing in the kitchen sawing through your own wrists with a bread knife.
‘How can they do this to me… again ?’
There is one other really fucking depressing song on I Am Not The Beatles which was also coincidentally recorded in the name of the RSPCA and, although no dogs graphically died during Barbara Dickson’s theme tune to the BBC programme Animal Squad, this still wasn’t enough to stop me wishing that a rottweiller was violently chewing my face off by the end of it.
http://www.iamnotthebeatles.com/?p=337
This does seem initially a bit weird though as these two songs, and Gary’s in particular, are certainly pretty bizarre attempts at charity records – I mean what’s wrong with the bloody RSPCA, can’t we expect a little bit of… hope ?
Why can’t we have a nice uplifting ditty, like Gary covering the completely brilliant Love Kitten by Noreen Corcoran for example…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6qeLL1WWgk&feature=related
…with a nice accompanying video of cute kittens bouncing up and down on his ever leather clad knees ? Wouldn’t that be more likely to, well you know, sell more copies and therefore make more money – which is surely the entire point of the exercise ?
On further investigation however all becomes astonishingly clear, as Barbara and Gary’s records are actually inextricably intertwined… yes, if you watch the video for this song over at youtube, it is explained that I Still Remember was written as a direct result of watching the programme Barbara sang the theme tune too.
In other words, Gary Numan wrote a really depressing song… because he got utterly depressed after listening to Barbara’s - and I own bloody both of them.
‘Look at me, I’m dying…’ we thus get instead of lovely huggable kittens, ‘… all this must end some day…’ just as the song, rather ironically, suffers a major seizure and stops.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlHBN3RHl4I
Is Gary Numan Really Singing From The Perspective Of A Cute Alsatian Puppy ?
Yes he really is – his website states the following :
‘This version features a different lyric to the version which appears on The Fury album, being written from the point of view of an abused dog.’
And it is this incredible poochfact, mixed with the image of Gary Numan chewing on a bone in the recording studio as he attempts to get into character, that has informed my decision to categorise this record as absolutely totally fucking brilliant.
If you can’t really understand my rationale here then let me helpfully restate the reason for you in capital letters :
THIS IS GARY NUMAN. PRETENDING TO BE A DOG.
Where Is Gary Now ?
He is at the following link which shows that, although Gary may no longer actually be a dog these days, he has certainly got a dog of a website :
http://www.numan.co.uk/index.html
“If this is your first visit to NuWorld we suggest you go to the Guide section first to see what the site has to offer” it initially helpfully states. So, off you pop to the guide, only for the resulting page to tell you that the page you have just come from is in fact ‘… the initial point of entry for new viewers and is best used as a starting point for all visits to this site…’ and you thus then get caught in your special own online remix of Nietzsche’s Eternal Return - which is always an ill advised thing to do at the best of times.
Anyway, if you get past that, you may be interested to note that Gary has just released a new live DVD called ‘Jagged Edge’.
‘The sheer strength of the album, the fantastic attitude of the fans and a truly remarkable performance by the band made it a night to remember.’
Says Gary.
About his own performance.
http://nushop.usp.net/info_page.cfm?FORMProductID=481
Oooh before the money update, and whilst we are on the subject of Gary Numan, tell me - do you have any ‘friends’ which happen to be electric ?
No I don’t.
But I do keep a few in my bedside drawer which are battery operated if it helps.
Money Update
Cost : 8 pence
Current Value : 3 pounds and 50 pennies – this is exactly the same amount as When In Rome’s ever malleable Sight Of Your Tears … whose review also mentioned industrial meat processing. Which is odd. http://www.iamnotthebeatles.com/?p=91
Current Profit : 209 pounds and 25 pence. Incidentally, that dog of the cover is called Lisa and belonged to Gary Numan’s mum and dad - although she is of course now dead… just like we will all be pretty darn soon. So, with this sobering fact in mind, you may find yourself wanting to read some more extracts from Sogyal Rinpoche’s really quite interesting Tibetan Book Of Living and Dying. It may not cheer you up much though :
http://www.rigpaus.org/WIR/TBLD/Understanding_death.html
Supporting Cast Update : Corcoran, Noreen; Nietzsche, Friedrich
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