Wednesday, December 30, 2020

πŸ’’PLACEBO "MY SWEET PRINCE"πŸ’’

Last week I shared with you the first part of the interview published in 2000. π‘…π‘’π‘šπ‘’π‘šπ‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ 𝐸𝑣𝑖𝑙 π·π‘–π‘™π‘‘π‘œ π‘π‘œπ‘ π‘‘?
So today we will continue by mentioning one of the most beautiful and sad Placebo songs, and on the next Wednesday we will also remind that Placebo supported such a famous band as U2 on tour at the very beginning of their career.
πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ♦πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ



πŸ“ŒSo first, back to the interview that NZ Herald magazine did.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏, π’‡π’“π’π’Ž 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’”π’‚π’Žπ’† π’‚π’π’ƒπ’–π’Ž, π’Šπ’” "π‘΄π’š π‘Ίπ’˜π’†π’†π’• π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’†". π‘°π’π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’‚π’π’π’š 𝒂 π’”π’˜π’†π’†π’•, π’π’Šπ’π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’”π’π’π’ˆ, π’Šπ’• 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒔 π’Šπ’π’•π’ 𝒂 π’‰π’‚π’“π’“π’π’˜π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 π’‰π’†π’“π’π’Šπ’ 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆. π‘΄π’π’π’Œπ’'𝒔 π’…π’†π’π’Šπ’—π’†π’“π’š π’Šπ’” π’”π’–π’ˆπ’‚π’“-𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 π’˜π’“π’‚π’‘π’‘π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒆 π’‘π’‚π’Šπ’.
BM: "It's probably the most personal and forthright I've ever been in a song," he says. "I'm very proud of that song. I'm not proud of the story behind it, but I am proud of the lyrics and the vocal performance. It's the most naked I've ever been in a song."
πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ♦πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ

"π‘΄π’š π‘Ίπ’˜π’†π’†π’• π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’†" is one of Placebo songs that reliably triggers a tearful valley to me ...
The reference to drugs and love has always been obvious to me, and every time I saw a performance of this song, I understood the depth of Brian's pain. And I've always been very interested in the background of this incredibly sad song.

πŸ“ŒπΌπ‘› π‘Žπ‘› π‘–π‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘£π‘–π‘’π‘€ π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Ž 𝑇𝑒̂𝑑𝑒 𝑛° 33: π΄π‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘™ 1999 π΅π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘Žπ‘› π‘ π‘Žπ‘–π‘‘:

"We wrote "My Sweet Prince" from an actual event, about one of my relationships that ended in a true tragedy.
A guy with whom the three of us were very close nearly died. It was really hard, we were rather confused by this. Because we had these very strong feellings in us, this song kind of came out of nowhere. Out of our guts. I have a strong link with this song. It refers to a relationship with a guy and a relation with a certain substance.
This two relations ended simultaneously in horrendous circonstances. He used to call me "My Sweet Prince". Lovers can sing it to each other. It's ironic, because it is about a the breakdown of a relationship.
It's one of the album's songs written from an ex-lover's standpoint speaking to me. When we were writting "My Sweet prince", a strange thought crossed my mind: this song was becoming really dark and tearing. In fact, it is about painful subjects like drugs and suicide. I assume, many people in different countries didn't really understand what it is about. But it doesn't matter to me if people don't grasp the meaning of it."

Placebo live at Libro Music Hall in Vienna, April 6th 2001. Photo credit: conny.at 


πŸ“Œπ΅π‘’π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘› 𝑀𝑒 β„Žπ‘Žπ‘£π‘’ π‘Žπ‘› 𝑒π‘₯π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘π‘‘ π‘“π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘š π‘Ž π‘–π‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘£π‘–π‘’π‘€ π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Ž π‘†π‘‘π‘’π‘“π‘Žπ‘› 𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑝 𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, π‘€π‘Žπ‘¦ 17, 1999:

"My Sweet Prince" was a female friend of Brian's who just they were just kind of busting up and that was the last thing she wrote on his mirror in his bathroom before they split up."

So was it a man or a woman?
Most likely, this is an error in the translation of a French article, the original of which, unfortunately, can no longer be traced. Because all the following mentions always talk about a girlfriend.

πŸ“ŒπΌπ‘› π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘£π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘ π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘› π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Ž π‘†π‘Žπ‘™π‘™π‘¦ π‘†π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘‘π‘‘π‘œπ‘›, 𝐴𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑑 1998 π΅π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘Žπ‘› π‘ π‘Žπ‘–π‘‘:

𝑺𝑺: 'π‘΄π’š π‘Ίπ’˜π’†π’†π’• π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’†' π’Šπ’” 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒔 π’“π’Šπ’”π’’π’–π’† 𝒂𝒔 π’”π’π’Žπ’† 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 π’šπ’π’–'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 π’ˆπ’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 π’ˆπ’†π’• π’Žπ’–π’„π’‰ π’“π’‚π’…π’Šπ’ π’‘π’π’‚π’š 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 π’Žπ’‚π’π’š π’…π’“π’–π’ˆπ’” 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 π’Šπ’ π’Šπ’• - 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’šπ’†π’• π’Šπ’• 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 π’Žπ’† π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 π’”π’π’π’ˆ.
Brian: It is a love song really, you know, and it's... we don't write songs with radio play in mind, you know, that was a song that... there was quite a big tragedy in our lives that occurred while we were demoing this record before Christmas and it sort of had to come out. We just kind of vomited the song forward you know. And it's kind of a song about sort of two romances, a romance with a substance and a romance with a person and they both ended very, very tragically. Hence you know the very, very downbeat mood of the song. It's so, you know... the song, even the guitars sound druggy in that song, it's weird, and that wasn't really that purposeful, it just kind of came out that way.

𝑺𝑺: 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’”π’π’π’ˆ 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒔 π’Žπ’–π’„π’‰ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’„π’“π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’„π’Šπ’”π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’…π’“π’–π’ˆπ’” 𝒂𝒔 π’Šπ’• 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 π’‚π’‡π’‡π’‚π’Šπ’“ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’…π’“π’–π’ˆπ’”?
Brian: It's more about the love affair with the individual really and you know, I don't really care. That's a very important song to me and it sort of... it puts in a box sort of like a very, very difficult moment of my life and you know essentially we write music for ourselves first and I find that one quite difficult to talk about.

𝑺𝑺: 𝑰𝒔 π’Šπ’• π’—π’†π’“π’š π’”π’‚π’•π’Šπ’”π’‡π’šπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’šπ’π’– π’Šπ’ 𝒂 π’„π’‚π’•π’‰π’‚π’“π’•π’Šπ’„ π’˜π’‚π’š π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π’šπ’π’– π’”π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’Šπ’• 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏?
Brian: Well yes, and I think most of the songs on the album are sort of like me purging myself of certain demons really. I think it makes it easier to live with if you've done something positive and artistic with them you know and that you1ve kind of distanced yourself a little bit from these things. You can look upon them objectively because you've put them in a song.

𝑺𝑺: 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’•π’“π’‚π’ˆπ’†π’…π’š 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅, π’…π’Šπ’… 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 π’”π’–π’“π’—π’Šπ’—π’† 𝒕𝒐 π’Œπ’π’π’˜ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’”π’π’π’ˆ'𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’•π’‰π’†π’Ž?
Brian: Yes, she knows.

𝑺𝑺: 𝑫𝒐 π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ π’Šπ’•'𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓?
Brian: I don't know."
πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ♦πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ

Placebo live at Libro Music Hall in Vienna, April 6th 2001. Photo credit: conny.at 

Because I did a little bit of studying drug addiction during my high school studies, it was interesting for me to reveal references to heroin in Brian's verses.
You know, his verses testify not only to his experience with this addiction, but especially to his incredible talent for putting this pain into the lyrics. This song is another masterpiece in a row...

πŸ”ΈπŸ’₯𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 ππ‘πˆππ‚π„ π₯𝐲𝐫𝐒𝐜𝐬πŸ’₯πŸ”Έ
Never thought you'd make me perspire
Never thought I'd do you the same
Never thought I'd fill with desire
Never thought I'd feel so ashamed
𝑴𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’…π’“π’‚π’ˆπ’π’ 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‘π’‚π’Šπ’ π’‚π’˜π’‚π’š

"π‚π‘πšπ¬π’π§π  𝐭𝐑𝐞 πƒπ«πšπ π¨π§" is a term used when heroin is inhaled through smoking the vapours usually by heating it up on foil and using a tube to breathe them in, also smokable through a "bulb" which is a glass cylinder with a bulbed end to put the drugs in and be heated over a flame.

So before I end my day, remember
My sweet prince, you are the one
My sweet prince
You are the one
Never thought I'd have to retire
Never thought I'd have to abstain
Never thought all this could back fire
Close up the hole in my vain
𝑴𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’Žπ’š 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 π’‡π’“π’Šπ’†π’π’…

The price of one dose of heroin for the use described above can be found on the Internet, and it is not a small amount of money, it's measured in hundreds of dollars.

π‘ͺ𝒂𝒏 π’‡π’Šπ’™ 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‘π’‚π’Šπ’ π’‚π’˜π’‚π’š

"π…πˆπ—" is another nickname for heroin

So before I end my day
Remember
My sweet prince
You are the one
My sweet prince
You are the one (5x)
Never thought I'd get any higher
Never thought you'd fuck with my brain
Never thought all this could expire
Never thought you'd go break the chain
Me and you baby
Still flush all the pain away
So before I end my day
Remember
My sweet prince
You are the one
My sweet prince
You are the one (9x)
My sweet prince
My sweet prince

Placebo live at Libro Music Hall in Vienna, April 6th 2001. Photo credit: conny.at 


In fairy tales, the prince always lands on the "White Horse", which is another nickname for heroin.
Although it is not directly mentioned in the song, many heroin addicts who felt addressed by this song formed this imaginary connection with the song.
Because heroin is at that moment for all these lost people
the "π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’† 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π‘Ύπ’‰π’Šπ’•π’† 𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆" who comes to save them from the hardships of everyday life.

𝐼𝑓 π‘¦π‘œπ‘’ π‘€π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘‘π‘œ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘¦ π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Ž π΅π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘Žπ‘› π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘›π‘” 𝑀𝑦 𝑆𝑀𝑒𝑒𝑑 π‘ƒπ‘Ÿπ‘–π‘›π‘π‘’, π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘› π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘šπ‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’ π‘“π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘š 2001 π‘Žπ‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π»π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘Ÿπ‘–π‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘’ πΉπ‘’π‘ π‘‘π‘–π‘£π‘Žπ‘™ 𝑖𝑠 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘šπ‘œπ‘ π‘‘ π‘’π‘šπ‘œπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘›π‘Žπ‘™, π‘Žπ‘  π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿ π‘šπ‘’, π‘œπ‘“ π‘Žπ‘™π‘™ π‘‘β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ π‘π‘œπ‘’π‘™π‘‘ 𝑏𝑒 π‘“π‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘‘ π‘œπ‘› π‘Œπ‘‡.
πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ♦πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ

Finally, I would like to close this post with another Brian's quote, which was published in Rock One No. 4: November 2004:

Brian: "We wrote a song "π‘΄π’š π‘Ίπ’˜π’†π’†π’• π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’†", it's about heroin and suicide. I met people who told me "I make love with my girlfriend listening to "My Sweet Prince".
And I tell them: "No! you didn't get the meaning!"
It's the worst song to make love. That's crazy. I'm often told that one makes love listening to Placebo.
I want to answer: "But you don't know what was happening in my life when I wrote these songs". That's really strange. But beauty lies in innocence too. People live their lives with your music, they live their own stories through it. And fortunatelly, there is more ambiguity and depth in our songs than in Oasis' ones for example (laughters)!"
πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ♦πŸ”ΈπŸ”ΈπŸ”Έ

π·π‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿ π‘ π‘œπ‘’π‘™π‘šπ‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘ , π‘€π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘‘π‘’ π‘šπ‘’ π‘€β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ π‘‘π‘œ π‘¦π‘œπ‘’ 𝑒π‘₯π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘’π‘›π‘π‘’ π‘€β„Žπ‘’π‘› 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 π‘‘π‘œ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘” "π‘΄π’š π‘Ίπ’˜π’†π’†π’• π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’†"? π»π‘œπ‘€ π‘‘π‘œ π‘¦π‘œπ‘’ 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 π‘Žπ‘π‘œπ‘’π‘‘ 𝑖𝑑?
𝐴𝑛𝑑 π‘€β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ π‘Žπ‘π‘œπ‘’π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘–π‘‘π‘’π‘Ž π‘œπ‘“ π‘šπ‘Žπ‘˜π‘–π‘›π‘” π‘™π‘œπ‘£π‘’ π‘€β„Žπ‘–π‘™π‘’ 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 π‘‘π‘œ π‘ƒπ‘™π‘Žπ‘π‘’π‘π‘œ π‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘”π‘ ?πŸ’—
π·π‘œ π‘¦π‘œπ‘’ π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘˜ π‘¦π‘œπ‘’ π‘π‘œπ‘’π‘™π‘‘ 𝑏𝑒 π‘Žπ‘“π‘“π‘’π‘π‘‘π‘’π‘‘ 𝑏𝑦 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘π‘’π‘šπ‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’π‘  𝑖𝑛 π‘€β„Žπ‘–π‘β„Ž π‘’π‘Žπ‘β„Ž π‘œπ‘“ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘ π‘’ π‘Žπ‘šπ‘Žπ‘§π‘–π‘›π‘” π‘”π‘’π‘šπ‘  π‘€π‘Žπ‘  π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘‘?
𝑆𝑒𝑒 π‘¦π‘œπ‘’ π‘œπ‘› π‘‡β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘¦, π·π‘’π‘π‘’π‘šπ‘π‘’π‘Ÿ 31𝑠𝑑 π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘, π‘œπ‘“ π‘π‘œπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘ π‘’, π‘™π‘œπ‘œπ‘˜π‘–π‘›π‘” π‘π‘Žπ‘π‘˜ π‘œπ‘£π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘ƒπ‘™π‘Žπ‘π‘’π‘π‘œ π‘¦π‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿ.

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