📜 ℙ𝕃𝔸ℂ𝔼𝔹𝕆'𝕊 𝕃𝕐ℝ𝕀ℂ𝕊 📜

🔸 Beyond the melodies, Placebo's songs are full of provocative, romantic, ambiguous, melancholic, subversive, tender, hopeful or anguished lyrics. The images and metaphors are often inspired by biblical symbols and figures, or by Brian's personal experiences, literature or current events. All this is conveyed in a poetry with tormented, captivating, ambivalent contours. As far as the writing is concerned, there is no denying that Brian has a certain talent and a certain skill ! All this undoubtedly contributes to the success the band has had throughout its career.

Brian has often said that writing requires discipline but is mostly cathartic for him.

🔸 Today, I want to share with you the Placebo lyrics that, for me, are the most significant, both in their turn of phrase and in their meaning.

Photo credit: Mads Perch / Edit by Laetitia

🎸 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙉𝙇𝙔 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝙔 𝙊𝙉 𝙄𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘾𝘼𝙉'𝙏 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝙔 𝙊𝙉 𝘼𝙉𝙔𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 🔶 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗘

🔸 These are by far my favourite lyrics because they represent the naked truth. Relying only on yourself to achieve what you want and be what you want. I always have it in the back of my mind. It is also a way to protect myself from the various abuses (serious or not) that I might encounter in my life.

💬 It's one of Placebo's classic themes of what we explore. It's a song about individuality [...] and the metaphor of Plasticine as Play dough is, do not allow yourself to be moulded by society, find your own voice. Don't forget to be the way you are, because it's natural. Don't feel that simply because you do not conform to an archetype that there is essentially something wrong with you. Vive la différence !!
✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘 - 𝚂𝚒𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 - 𝙸𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎 #𝟷𝟻 (𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 - 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟸00𝟹)

🎵 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 (𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧) 🎵
🎥 https://bit.ly/3SGY275


🎸 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 𝙄𝙎 𝙍𝙐𝙉 𝘽𝙔 𝘾𝙇𝙊𝙒𝙉𝙎 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙂𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙔 𝙃𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙎 🔶 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦

🔸 Although this song was inspired by the war in Iraq and the title inspired by a friend of Brian's, I think that the more time passes, the more I realise that this sentence is not current, but a reality that has lasted for centuries. Times change but the methods remain the same.

💬 Naturally the subject turned to the war in Iraq, which I had taken to the streets of London to protest against, and we all began to get angry. In his disarmingly heavy italian accent, Juri turned to me and said: "the world is run by clowns with trigger happy hands." A light went off in my head. The next morning as i sat on the Eurostar, nursing a hangover as heavy as a loaded gun, a wave of inspiration came over me, as it does, and I began to write, the lyrics to what was to become a song vomited themselves forward fully formed and remain unchanged to this day.

✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘 - 𝙱𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚡 𝙴𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 - 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟶.

🎵𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 (𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎) 🎵

🎥 https://bit.ly/3dmwJig

🔸 In response to these lyrics, I would add behind those of 𝐈.𝐊.𝐘.𝐖.𝐒: 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 / 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆

🔸 Being trigger-happy has terrible, irreversible consequences, but those in their "𝑖𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠" don't care...

🎵𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐈 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 🎵

🎥 https://bit.ly/3SDU4fP

Photo credit: Jamie Beeden

🎸 𝙒𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝘽𝙐𝙄𝙇𝘿 𝘼 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙏𝙊𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙍𝙊𝙒 𝙏𝙊𝘿𝘼𝙔 🔶 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦

🔸 Brian's favourite song from the Battle For The Sun album, these lyrics are a breath of fresh air in Placebo's entire repertoire, which tends to point to the flaws and foibles of the human spirit, as well as the malaise and unhappiness. These lyrics give me hope and confidence in the human race, but also give me courage on a more personal level, which would make me "𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒" 😉

📢 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎?

💬 Speak In Tongues. It starts off sounding like cocktail hour at the mental hospital, and half way through it becomes this really big stadium anthem. The hook of that song is the phrase that goes, 'we can build a better tomorrow today', and I think that kind of embodies the attitude behind this record.
✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘 - 𝙾𝙺! 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙰𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊 - 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟸00𝟿

💬 On this one it would be ‘Speak in Tongues’ because of the refrain ‘We can build a new tomorrow today’, which is essentially what the album is about: hope for a better tomorrow, for yourself.”
✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘 - 𝙷𝚘𝚝 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 - 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸00𝟿

💬 I also really like the line: “We can build a new tomorrow, today,” from ‘Speak In Tongues’. I sincerely believe it’s a call to arms to build a more tolerant future. But the change has to start within ourselves first; we all have the choice to live our lives with more compassion and kindness. I see it as karma – the more you give selflessly, the more comes back your way.
✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘 - 𝙿𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚊 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚎 - 𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟺, 𝟸0𝟷𝟺

Photo credit: Pat Pope

🎸 𝙒𝙀𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙍𝙄𝙀𝙎𝙏 𝙄𝙎 𝘼𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙐𝙇𝙋𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙈𝙀 𝙄'𝙈 𝙒𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙈𝙀 𝙄'𝙈 𝙎𝙄𝘾𝙆𝙀𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 /𝙏𝙊 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙀𝙑𝙀 𝙃𝙄𝙈 𝙄𝙎 𝙏𝙊 𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙁𝘼𝙄𝙏 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄 𝘼𝙈 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄'𝙇𝙇 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝘽𝙀 🔶 𝗞𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗗

🔸 A bit like Plasticine later on, these verses are a shout for independence and individuality. To be yourself without worrying about what others want you to be, to be yourself and to live your life unaffected by how society might look at you. When Brian said that Placebo is a band for outsiders by outsiders, I think these words are totally appropriate. It is society that makes people outsiders, not the other way around.

💬 Placebo is music for outsiders, by outsiders and our gigs are like conventions of outcasts, which is cool.
✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘

🎵𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 - 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐝 🎵
🎥 https://bit.ly/3dnuCe3


🎸 𝘼 𝙃𝙐𝙂 𝙄𝙎 𝙅𝙐𝙎𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙒𝘼𝙔 𝙊𝙁 𝙃𝙄𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙁𝘼𝘾𝙀 🔶 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗭

🔸 I have to admit, these lyrics are some of my favourites as they were inspired by the Doctor Who series, and being a Whovian myself, the reference jumped out at me on first listen.

🎬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚 🎬
🎥 https://bit.ly/3zRxvLX

Photo credit: Alfred Steffen

🔸 But that's not the only reason... I must say that this is a technique I have used a lot in my life. When tears come to your eyes, there's nothing better than sticking your head on the shoulder of the person you're talking to... Just in case it goes unnoticed ! 😅

💬 Hugz for me fulfills part of the remit of what I wanted to do on this record, I wanted to talk about a kind of self-loathing which I've kind of touched on a lot in the past, but in terms of the sonics with Hugz, it very much reflects my reaction to what we've done before, our last tour, our last single, our last album, Hugz kind of epitomises the sort of the sonic brutality that I wanted to kind of inhabit on this record. And the initial inspiration comes from Doctor Who because it's a line that Peter Capaldi says, when he's hugging his companion, she wants a hug and so he gives her a hug, but he says it's just a way of hiding your face. And the first time I saw that episode of Doctor Who, I just went, OK, thank you, you know, there we go that's just perfect. I'm going to make a song out of that. A hug is just another way of hiding your face. It's that kind of duality that's interesting for me, you know, an act which is meant to be intimate also, it's about hiding yourself."
✔️ 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘 - 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎.𝚌𝚘𝚖 - 𝟸𝟻.𝟶𝟹.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟸.

🎵𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐇𝐮𝐠𝐳 🎵
🎥 https://bit.ly/3papbC2


🎸 𝘼𝙎 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝘿𝙊𝙀𝙎 𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙈𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙄𝙉 𝙆𝙄𝙎𝙎𝙀𝙎 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙏𝙍𝙐𝙀 ? 𝙙𝙊𝙀𝙎 𝙃𝙀 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙆 𝙏𝙊 𝘽𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 ? 🔶 𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦

🔸 I know a lot of fans love that song and I understand that because a lot of them have been in that situation of lack, anger, extreme sadness.

🔸 For me, this song was liberating to the point that it changed my life for the better. Those lyrics freed my mind from the evils that imprisoned it. Goodbye guilt. Welcome happiness ! The exact opposite effect of the song's theme.

📢 𝑨𝒃𝒚𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 "𝑬𝒙𝒊𝒕 𝑾𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔".

💬 In "Exit Wounds" we have already arrived at the next step. Here someone has been abandoned and is thinking about whether he wants to go on living in general. People see the album title "Loud like Love" and think "Aha, all right, love songs." I would like to stress that this is not the case. Or that it is the case in a different way. Love, for me, is not just about the initial rush of infatuation and the blissful, cosy feeling of companionship. Love can also be very violent, brutal and insane. Love can destroy everything and everyone, not least yourself. The new songs undoubtedly contain more drama than optimism.
✔️ 𝙳𝚎𝚛𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 - 𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟿,.𝟸0𝟷𝟹

🎵𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬-𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 (𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑) 🎵
🎥 https://bit.ly/3PeJ6KJ

 Photo credit: Gill Flett

🔸 I like very much this expression from 𝐴𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑛: "𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍, 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔". Placebo has often found the words I was missing. 💗

🔸 Many of their lyrics play an essential role in my life, sometimes being reminders or simply written in my life's story like a diary written by someone else.

🔸 There's also a commitment against dogma and world politics that Placebo appeals to. It's great to hear these kinds of words and ideas being circulated. Music and art are much more than entertainment or an external support to our inner self. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭.

Post by Laetitia


#Placebo #Placeboworld #PlaceboAnyway #PlaceboLyrics #Soulmates #BrianMolkoQuote #IKWYL #SpeakInTongues #TriggerHappyHands #KangarooDied #ExitWounds #Hugz #Plasticine #NeverLetMeGo #PlaceboDemo #PlaceboSongs #PlaceboQuotes #AndersenQuote #DoctorWho #Whovian

🟧▪️𝟏𝟏 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒: 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒆 𝑮𝒐▪️🟧

While celebrating the release of 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐆𝐨, a music magazine 𝑮𝒊𝒈𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆 reminded us of some great older Placebo songs which deserve to be appreciated more than they are, according to Gigwese’s opinion.
🟧𝟏𝟏 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒: 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎🟧
𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐'𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒖𝒎 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒆 𝑮𝒐, 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒐'𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒔.

Wembley Arena 2004, credit unknown

🔸'𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠'🔸
Appearing on fan favourite album Meds, ‘Drag’ would surely have been a single on a weaker record. It’s immediate, catchy and refines Placebo’s early energy with a more refined production. “I had just fallen in love and wanted to write a song about feeling inferior to someone,” Brian Molko told Rock Mag about the song. “You think that the person you love is perfect and you just feel like a piece of shit on their shoe.”


🔸'𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞'🔸
A softer, contemplative track on the same album, ‘Follow the Cops Back Home’ is built around a mournful guitar line from Stefan Olsdal and was inspired by visiting Iceland and later meeting Sigur Ros. “Those guys are 25 and already have got 7-year-old kids. Seeing that, I said, ‘are you crazy? Is there really so little to do in Iceland?’” Molko remembers (per Rock Mag). “They replied ‘yeah, that’s why we get drunk and fuck.’ This trip to Iceland inspired us, made us think about what you do when you live in a place like Luxembourg or Iceland where there’s nothing to do. Most of the time, you just go looking for trouble.” Formerly a live favourite, hopefully it finds its way back to setlists again.


🔸'𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬'🔸
The best song from 2013’s overlooked Loud Like Love album, ‘Exit Wounds’ opens with heavily processed percussion and a murmured verse before, right on cue, kicking into the kind of arena-filling chorus that Placebo could write in their sleep by now.
“The way I see it is if I can’t have you, and there’s nothing else I can replace you with then I’d rather be dead,” says Stefan Olsdal about Molko’s desperate lyrics (per Bandwagon). “It’s not something that I personally experience; it is a very extreme place to be in.”


🔸'𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬'🔸
Lowering the curtain on their brilliant 2003 album Sleeping with Ghosts, ‘Centrefolds’ is another barebones piece, Olsdal’s piano backed by a brushed drumkit to deliver Molko’s haunting words. “[It’s] someone telling a washed-up celebrity ‘I’m the best you can get now so you’d better be mine.’ It’s about obsession, questions of status and self-degradation.”


🔸'𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬'🔸
A real shape shifter, ‘Speak in Tongues’ is full of mystery and menace in its first two minutes, guitar harmonics, tinkling pianos and stuttering drums, before opening up into a widescreen rock chorus, guitars set to “anthem”. The guarded verses are contrasted by a refrain sung with open arms: “We can build a new tomorrow, today”. It’s also touring violinist, keyboardist and vocalist Fiona Brice’s favourite song to play live, so it gets extra points for that.

Photo credit: Sandy Caspers 

🔸'𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐞'🔸
A melodic break-up song, ‘Happy You’re Gone’ is rumoured to be about the band’s split from former drummer Steve Hewitt (although this has never been confirmed) and finds Molko in turmoil on its chorus “How many times? How many times? Now I can't look you in the eye”. The swelling strings and more restrained pace were a marker of this period of Placebo, pointing to the direction they’d take on next album Loud Like Love.


🔸'𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭'🔸
A punked-up, breakneck rock song that pulses on Olsdal’s inventive bass playing, ‘Second Sight’ is a welcome burst of energy on Sleeping with Ghosts’ side B. “A one-night-stand song saying walk away for your own self-respect,” Molko said simply of the content. Extra credit for simply intoning “Third verse same as the first” in lieu of writing a middle eight.


🔸'𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞'🔸
The final track on Battle for the Sun, ‘Kings of Medicine’ builds from palm-muted acoustic guitar, culminating in a final chorus splashed with brass fanfares. It’s still restrained though, never hitting the distortion pedal or exploding in a flurry of heavy percussion. The lyrics read as an addict struggling to sober up.


🔸'𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐐'🔸
An outlier on their debut self-titled record in treading a slower tempo, ‘Hang On To Your IQ’ rolls along on its stoned rhythm, guitars strummed with a loose wrist. For all the world it sounds like the hangover from the debauchery taking place on the rest of the album. “That’s the most story-like song on the album,” Molko said to NME in 1998. “The person in ‘Hang On To Your IQ’ is so self-conscious they can’t operate properly sexually, which we all go through at certain times in our lives.”

Photo credit: Annabel Staff

🔸'𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐧'🔸
A morose song about abusive relationships, Placebo strip things back to a toy piano and distant drums, with clean guitar strums. A difficult, contemplative narrative, we’ll let Molko (speaking to Rock Mag in 2006) tackle the subject matter. “It’s a song about destructive relationships, violent relationships. After having written it, I realised that it could well have been about family relations as well as between lovers. A lot of songs – mainly Country – talk about women being hit by their husbands. In “Pierrot the Clown,” the target of the violence is a man. A vulnerable man, trapped in a violent and destructive relationship".


🔸'𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜'🔸
Appearing at the tail-end of 2000’s experimental ‘Black Market Music’ album, ‘Narcoleptic’ uses the disorder as a metaphor for the stupor brought on by drug abuse, with a lackadaisical arrangement of lilting drums and meandering guitar suiting the mood perfectly. Here’s what Brian said “Drugs and love are one big pillow and they can make you forget about so many things and they can make you forget about living and put you into a somnambulist state, like sleep walking.”
Its lyrics gave Placebo the phrase “a place for us to dream”, which they’d later title their 2016 retrospective compilation.
(𝐺𝑖𝑔𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 29𝑡ℎ, 2022)


⭐️If you ask me, most of the tracks belong to my favourite, so I picked up one of them, 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐍, to watch with you tonight. The shared video was recorded at 𝑽𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒂'𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒌𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒔 on April 14th, 2006.

Post by Olga

#Placebo #PlaceboAnyway #PlaceboWorld #BrianMolko #StefanOlsdal #Molko #Soulmates #PlaceboHistory #PlaceboLive #PlaceboConcert #PierrotTheClown

𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔 - 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑨𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 2009

💫💜 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝑰𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔 💜💫

🎙️𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝?
I think we’ve changed through our career, so it would have to be from album to album. On the last one ‘Meds’ is definitely the defining track because it’s about a drug-induced psychological breakdown, which is kind of what was going on at the time. Before that, Sleeping With Ghosts was very much concerned with the ghosts of past loves and how one carries them around, so I would say the title track there. On this one it would be ‘Speak in Tongues’ because of the refrain ‘We can build a new tomorrow today’, which is essentially what the album is about: hope for a better tomorrow, for yourself.”
▪️𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜, 𝐻𝑜𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 2009

✨ "𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘"✨
This is a beautiful phrase and that's why I thought this song was perfect for my first post of 2021.💗

"𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔" is the seventh song on 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐's sixth studio album, "𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏"(2009). The title is a reference to the French kiss, as you will see later on this post. The lyrics are about a passionate relationship, in that unique way 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 has of writing about love and desire in his songs. 💗🔥🎶

It is curious that in this song the name "𝑲𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒚" is mentioned again. The first time this name is mentioned on the album is in the title of the song "𝑲𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓", but until now it is a mystery if it's really the same character. It would be great to ask 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 about it...

🔹𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳?

However, this is the only thing 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 has stated these songs have in common:

🎙️𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐬 "𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝".𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?
How does someone become less sexually charged? I don't know about that. (Laughs) Perhaps it's less on the surface. With Battle For The Sun, I started out wanting to make quite a libidinous record. A celebration of all sexuality, because it's such a part of life, the beauty of life. So it's there. It's there in songs like 'Kitty Litter', 'Speak In Tongues', 'For What It's Worth', "Come on lay with me / 'cause I'm on fire"? Do you need me to write that down for you, man?
Perhaps the sexuality is more subtle; it's not coming at you in terms of a transvestite on crystal meth."
▪️𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜, 𝐽 𝑀𝑎𝑔 𝐴𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎, 2009.

Placebo at Main Square 2009. Photo credit unknown

𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐, 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒏 𝑶𝒍𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒍 and 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 agreed that "𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔" was their favorite song as you can see in the quotes below:

🎙️𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦 𝐁𝐅𝐓𝐒?
𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛: I really like Speak in tongues.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?
𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛: cause it starts off sounding like cocktail hour at the lunatic asylum and …

𝐃𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐬?
𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛: in mine, they do. In my mind, in the ones that I invented (laughs) .

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 , 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫.
𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛: absolutely. Yeah. And a steam-room. And a hot tub. And don’t think most lunatic asylums have it, anyway it starts off like a cocktail hours at the loony bin and sort of metamorphosizes into massive, sort of arena filling rock song, with a really positive message like, we can build a new tomorrow, today. I hope people will find it inspiring, you know.
▪️𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑜, 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐽, 2009.

Placebo at Main Square 2009. Photo credit unknown

🎙️"Well, I mean, it's weird with me because I find that the music is such a mood related subject, that it depends on how you feel and what time of the day it is, you know. 'Cause when you wake up in the morning you don't want to listen to the same songs as when you go to bed at night or as when you are tired or when you are happy or when you wanna dance or… you know, when you're feeling lonely, you know. It really depends on your mood and I think right now I'm probably more in the mood for a song like Speak In Tongues for example, you know."
▪️𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛 𝑂𝑙𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑙, 𝑅𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎, 2009

🎙️"Brian and I share the same favourite song, 'Speak In Tongues'. The melody is very epic. It starts off sounding like cocktail hour and ends epic. To me it conjures up the image of a flickering light and at the end you need a seat-belt to get through the explosion. In Bible terms, it's when someone is possessed by the Holy Ghost and speaks in different languages. But what Brian means in this song is french kissing."
▪️𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠.𝑑𝑒, 2009.

Enjoy this beautiful song dear soulmates, may it fill you with ✨𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 positive vibes ⭐✨ and you have a wonderful year.
💗Lots of love! 💗💕

Post by Rita