Golden Brown, Texture Like Sun

The fuck is that you're playing, Beethoven? Beethoven? BEETHOVEN!

How better to start off this spin-off blog than with the band that produced the best song of all time, The Stranglers. The Stranglers, responsible for such gems as Peaches (featured in the ripper British gangster flick Sexy Beast starring Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone and Ian McShane), No More Heroes (which included the lyrics "Whatever Happened to Leon Trotsky, he got an ice pick that made his ears burn") and, the best song of all time, as alluded to just moments ago, Golden Brown, were significant players in the British punk scene.

So much for clarity.

For years my friends and I struggled to make sense of the Golden Brown lyric which I now know, through the magic of the web, is "With My Mind She Runs". Simon Turchett and I used to sing "With my mansheeruns". No, it doesn't mean anything.

The guy third from the left refuses to embrace the punk ethos - in fact I think it's uncle Nev

The song is about heroin as far as I know, but at the age of 11 when I first heard it, brilliantly waltzing along to the sound of a harpsichord, I neither knew nor cared. It was just fucken ace. And still is. Harpsichord! Who'd've thought? It neatly paved the way for Beethoven to enjoy punk. The Hold Steady are probably fans too, as they made good use of the harpsichord on their album Stay Positive. Golden Brown was, incidentally, used very effectively in Guy Ritchie's Snatch.

The Fucking GREAT Golden Brown:

No More Heroes:

Golden Brown in Snatch:

The Sexy Beast Trailer without, unfortunately, Peaches: