FAR
FROM CRAZY PAVEMENTS
...THE
TASTE OF SILVER SPOONS
A
CLINICAL ARRANGEMENT
...ON
A DIRTY AFTERNOON
WHERE
THE FECAL GERMS OF MR. FREUD
...ARE
RENDERED OBSOLETE
THE
LEGAL TERM IS NULL AND VOID
IN
THE CASE OF... BEASLEY STREET
-By saying Freud is obsolete, it implies that no philosophies are upheld in this place
-The legal term having no effect; Laws mean nothing
-All of this pertaining to Beasley Street
IN
THE CHEAP SEATS WHERE MURDER BREEDS
SOMEBODY
IS OUT OF BREATH
SLEEP
IS A LUXURY THEY DON'T NEED
...A
SNEAK PREVIEW OF DEATH
BELLADONNA
IS YOUR FLOWER
MANSLAUGHTER
YOUR MEAT
SPEND
A YEAR IN A COUPLE OF HOURS
ON
THE EDGE OF BEASLEY STREET
-"Cheap seats" means cheap entertainment; The inhabitants probably can afford little more than a 5$ movie
-No one gets any sleep; Sleepless nights are a sign of worry/anxiety; Since it is here "where murder breeds," people probably don't sleep for fear they will be the victim of a crime
-Time seems to flow quickly there because there is little to do but attempt to survive, and time passes slowly as your brain "skips" over familiar actions
WHERE
THE ACTION ISN'T
THAT'S
WHERE IT IS
STATE
YOUR POSITION
VACANCIES
EXIST
IN
AN X-CERTIFICATE EXERCISE
EX-SERVICEMEN
EXCRETE
KEITH
JOSEPH SMILES AND A BABY DIES
IN
A BOX ON BEASLEY STREET
-"Vacancies exist" shows that many people don't want to live there; they've moved out
-X-certification is a rating for movies with explicit content. Clarke is making an analogy, that if Beasley Street were in a movie, it would bear a triple-X rating for its contents.
-There was much controversy regarding this verse, as Keith Joseph worked in the cabinet while Margaret Thatcher was in office.
-After James Callaghan devalued the British pound, Margaret Thatcher was elected as Prime Minister, and had to deal with the economic decline the devaluation created. Many people held Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet responsible, and thus Keith Joseph would not have been looked upon very highly at the time of this poem
-Keith Joseph himself has been called the "power behind the throne" in relation to Thatcher's policies and political style. Thus, it is not surprising to see Clarke paint him with such a terrible image
FROM
THE BOARDING HOUSES AND THE BEDSITS FULL OF
...ACCIDENTS
AND FLEAS
SOMEBODY
GETS IT
WHERE
THE MISSING PERSONS FREEZE
WEARING
DEAD MEN'S OVERCOATS
YOU
CAN'T SEE THEIR FEET
A
RIFF JOINT SHUTS - OPENS UP
RIGHT
DOWN ON BEASLEY STREET
-Places where people are meant to live are flea-ridden, disease-filled, etc
-By "accidents" he might mean accidental children, who without loving parents, probably ran away or were put in boarding houses or bedsits
-"gets it" is slang for dies
-"Where missing persons freeze" could mean either a morgue, being where people who go missing and turn up dead would end up, or potentially the bottom of a river, which would be cold and would be the place a murderer would likely dispose of the body
-The overcoats are very long, and go past the feet of those wearing them
-"riff joint" could mean a music club, "riff" referring to a piece of music and "joint" a slang for a meeting place
CARS
COLLIDE, COLOURS CLASH
DISASTER
MOVIE STUFF
FOR
A MAN WITH THE FU MANCHU MOUSTACHE
REVENGE
IS NOT ENOUGH
THERE'S
A DEAD CANARY ON A SWIVEL SEAT
THERE'S
A RAINBOW IN THE ROAD
MEANWHILE
ON BEASLEY STREET
SILENCE
IS THE CODE
-"Cars collide" and "disaster movie stuff" describes that car accidents are frequent, and considering the state of the place so far, they are probably due to impaired driving
-"Colours clash" could refer to either a gang war, as gangs usually choose a colour to identify themselves by, or it could refer to blood from these accidents, the red colour clashing with the black pavement
-"Fu manchu moustache" is a reference to one of his other poems, kung fu international, which describes a fight between the narrator and a man bearing a mustache of the same description
-Wikipedia
states "A Fu Manchu moustache is a full, straight moustache that
grows downward past the lips and on either side of the chin; and
often, the tapered, pointed ends of the moustache hang past the
jawline."
-"dead
canary" refers to the use of canaries in coal mines. To test for
carbon monoxide, and other deadly gases, the miners would carry a
canary into the mines, and if it died, they knew there was a
dangerous gas and that they must leave. Clarke uses it's postion "on
a swivel seat" to imply that even in the offices, where swivel
seats would be found, the environment is toxic
-When
oils are on a flat surface, the refraction of light makes a rainbow
pattern. Thus, "rainbow in the road" refers to oil or
gasoline poured out on the pavement, with no one to care to clean it
up
-Wikipedia
states "A code of silence is a condition in effect when a person
opts to withhold what is believed to be vital or important
information voluntarily or involuntarily. A more famous example of
the code of silence is omerta, the Mafia code of silence." If
"Silence is the code" in this place, there is crime of some
sort, which everyone turns a blind eye to.
HOT
BENEATH THE COLLAR
...AN
INSPECTOR CALLS
WHERE
THE PERISHING STINK OF SQUALOR
...IMPREGNATES
THE WALLS
THE
RATS HAVE ALL GOT RICKETS
THEY
SPIT THROUGH BROKEN TEETH
THE
NAME OF THE GAME IS NOT CRICKET
CAUGHT
OUT ON ...BEASLEY STREET
-The place smells terrible
-Rickets is a condition that occurs due to lack of Vitamin D or Calcium digestion. It weakens bones and muscles, and causes dental problems (which explains the "broken teeth"). Wikipedia says "Cases have been reported in Britain in recent years of rickets in children of many social backgrounds caused by insufficient production in the body of vitamin D because the sun's ultraviolet light was not reaching the skin due to use of strong sunblock, too much "covering up" in sunlight, or not getting out into the sun." Clarke is trying to convey that the place is so dark that even rats don't get enough sunlight
THE
HIPSTER AND HIS HIRED HAT
DRIVE
A BORROWED CAR
YELLOW
SOCKS AND A PINK CREVAT
NOTHING
LA-DI-DAH
O-A-P
MOTHER-TO-BE
WATCH
THE THREE-PIECE SUITE
WHEN
SHITSTOPPER DRAINS
AND
CROCODILE SKIS
ARE
SEEN ON ...BEASLEY STREET
-A hipster is a person who tends to deviate from current fashion
-Yellow socks and a pink cravat are unusual forms of dress
-OAP is the Old Age Pension program offered in the UK
-"Mother-to-be" could imply underage pregnancy
THE
KINGDOM OF THE BLIND
...A
ONE-EYED MAN IS KING
BEAUTY
PROBLEMS ARE REDEFINED
...THE
DOORBELLS DO NOT RING
A
LIGHT BULB BURST LIKE A BLISTER
THE
ONLY FORM OF HEAT
WHERE
A FELLOW SELLS HIS SISTER
...DOWN
THE RIVER ON BEASLEY STREET
-Blindness is often a metaphor for ignorance, thus, "the kingdom of the blind" implies that the subjects in the kingdom, i.e. the people who live on Beasley Street, are ignorant of their situation and what is happening outside of it. Continuing in the analogy, they all blindy follow their "one-eyed king." Based off of the criminal activity mentioned previously in the poem, the king is most likely some sort of crime boss.
-His one eye could further represent a war wound, which in a tribal society, which most mobs are similar to, would gain him respect. It could also be an allusions to the Norse god Odin, who was famous as the one-eyed king of the Norse pantheon, but this is less likely, as Odin is often considered wise, and the previous line would imply that wisdom is not a trait available in this place.
THE
BOYS ARE ON THE WAGON
THE
GIRLS ARE ON THE SHELF
THEIR
COMMON PROBLEM IS
...THAT
THEY'RE NOT SOMEONE ELSE
THE
DIRT BLOWS OUT
THE
DUST BLOWS IN
YOU
CAN'T KEEP IT NEAT
IT'S
A FULLY FURNISHED DUSTBIN
...SIXTEEN
BEASLEY STREET
-"Boys are on the wagon" could refer to young men all needing to go to work, carpooling for cost efficiency, or as an idiom means they are absatining from alcohol
-"Girls are on the shelf" is an idiom; refers to being too old to marry
-They regret their own lives
-It's a literally dirty place at an apartment?
VINCE
THE AGEING SAVAGE
BETRAYS
NO KIND OF LIFE
...BUT
THE SMELL OF YESTERDAY'S CABBAGE
AND
THE GHOST OF LAST YEAR'S WIFE
THROUGH
A CONSTANT HAZE
OF
DEODORANT SPRAYS
HE
SAYS ...RETREAT
ALSATIANS
DOG THE DIRTY DAYS
DOWN
THE MIDDLE OF BEASLEY STREET
Vince is a character - a bachelor?
PEOPLE
TURN TO POISON
QUICK
AS LAGER TURNS TO PISS
SWEETHEARTS
ARE PHYSICALLY SICK
EVERY
TIME THEY KISS
IT'S
A SOCIOLOGIST'S PARADISE
EACH
DAY REPEATS
UNEASY,
CHEASY, GREASY, QUEASY
...BEASTLY,
BEASLEY STREET
-People there are terrible
-"Quick as lager turns to piss" refers to how quickly the environment of Beasley street could affect a person, as beer is very readily digested by the body
-Love can't even survive
-Sociologists would enjoy how unchanging the place is; it would make a good control for an experiment
-Adjectives
EYES
DEAD AS VICIOUS FISH
LOOK
AROUND FOR LAUGHS
IF
I COULD HAVE JUST ONE WISH
I
WOULD BE A PHOTOGRAPH
ON
A PERMANENT MONDAY MORNING
GET
LOST OR FALL ASLEEP
WHEN
THE YELLOW CATS ARE YAWNING
AROUND
THE BACK OF BEASLEY STREET
-Deadeye refers to a cowboy that is a good shot, so the eyes dead as vicious fish good be a group of gangsters with guns looking around for something to do (namely someone to rob or intimidate)
-He wishes he could be a photograph instead of actually living there
-Monday mornings are generally regard as awful; the place always feels like that
John
Cooper Clarke, being a teenager during the chaos of the 1970s in
Britain, with the numerous strikes, the "three-day week,"
and the rapid inflation, probably saw a lot of neighbourhoods akin to
the one he describes in this poem. "Beasley Street," if not
an actual street name in Britain, is without doubt a representation
of what he saw in his time. Employees in many industries went on
strikes, garbage literally filled the streets, and crime became much
more common. Margaret Thatcher's administration was largely seen as
to blame.
The
album on which the poem is first heard, Snap, Crackle & Bop,
was released in 1980, an ablum which recieved little attention as the
punk movement had lost its momentum by then. This poem is among his
longest on the album, and is styled, like his other poems, with
little punctuation. The poem does, however, follow a pattern of
twelve stanzas of equal length. This is an uncommon structure for
Clarke; many of his other poems are written free-verse, and he does
not seem to use much structure in his poems.
The
first stanza of the poem provides an introduction to the major themes
of the poem. "Far from the taste of silver spoons" implies
a lower-class standard of living; silver cutlery is a symbol of
upper-class lifestyles, and Beasley Street is far from it. The stanza
goes on to mention the "fecal germs of Mr. Freud" being
"rendered obsolete," as well as the "legal term"
being "null and void," giving the impression that neither
the rules of psychology nor law have any effect on what happens in
this place. It is chaotic and dirty, themes which continue to be
detailed in the rest of the poem.
The
poem continues with "sleep is a luxury they don't need/ a sneak
preview of death." This phrase compares the unconsciousness of
sleep to death, implying that none of the inhabitants believe in an
afterlife. This connects to the lawlessness of the place; not only do
they not obey the law, neither do they have any faith in religion.
The
third stanza has three quite potent lines. The first, "vacancies
exist," refers to the vacancy sign often seen on motels; the
line shows that there is space in the motels because so few would
want to live there. The second, calling the place an "x-certificate
The third, "keith joseph smiles and a baby dies," is a very
controversial verse. Keith Joseph worked in the cabinet while
Margaret Thatcher was in office. After James Callaghan devalued the
British pound, Margaret Thatcher was elected as Prime Minister, and
had to deal with the economic decline the devaluation created. Keith
Joseph himself has been called the "power behind the throne"
in relation to Thatcher's policies and political style. Thus, it is
not surprising to see Clarke paint him with such a terrible image.
The
poem continues in this fashion, making numerous symbolisms of all
sorts. The main theme the Clarke was trying to get at, however, was
that Beasley Street isn't a place. It is a pattern. The poem gives us
a view through his eyes, at the places he must have seen countless
times during the punk movement. He describes it in such a vile
fashion because it disgusted him; constantly seeing people fall into
the same trap of crime and grime must have made him question his hope
in his own people. Ironically, however, the situations and atmosphere
of the punk movement are some of the key sources for Clarke's
inspiration.
