Dave Allen, Bass Player for Influential Postpunk Band Gang of Four, Dies at 69

The Hollywood Reporter ^ | 4/6/25 | Rick Porter

[sushiman]

Never heard a Shriekback record . I knew GO4 were very political but never took the lyrics seriously . Just dug the tunes , the beats and the overall vibe they projected .

[philman_36]

It was a rhetorical question.

[philman_36]

Amazing. And he is lauded.

[sushiman]

From someone on the net :

” The video focuses pretty heavily on Nemesis The Warlock, a fictional character from an ongoing story run in the comic 2000AD.

The character is a hedonistic alien magician fighting a war of resistance against the intergalactic human empire. The human empire requires moral purity, self-denial and devotion from its citizens and officers.

The ruler of the empire is named after his historical counterpart Torquemarda. Both the original historical and the fictional Torquemarda embody those austere characteristics.

In the music video the singer looks like both Torquemardas.

Nemesis corrupts imperial citizens by introducing magic, hedonism and criticism of the social structure.

The aesthetic of the video is reflected in the lyrics: as the lyrics reflect indulgence in the senses, the video mentions forbidden fruit and Dionysus wallowing in wine in sensuality, spiting the imperialistic humans who give an ancient imperialist roman salute while singing the chorus.

At the very beginning of the video we see the alien figure of Nemesis in the background contrasted against scales - which refer to the ancient greek God Nemesis who represents Justice, order and righteous vengence: principles valued by the ancient Greeks.

There’s some ambiguity and irony there. It’s like a triple-entendre. An alien hedonist being simultaneously associated, and with contrasted with divine order. This irony reflects the nature of Nemesis the Warlock himself, who has stated that he’ll take any form that represents the opposite of whatever values the Empire will assume.

The ancient Deity Nemesis, like many Indo-European Gods had a dual nature: representing both harmony and destruction. The cult of Nemesis at Smyrna acknowledged this dual nature.

The lyrics themselves recount the singers participation in a hedonistic, seemingly obscene ritual - drinking an elixer made from “the juices of the dying”. He claims to be a moral person in spite of this act.

But he also knows that the active is considered obscene by God, who could deign to punish him and his cohort at any moment: “God is not mocked, He knows our business. Karma could take us at any moment”.

Even his dreams are filled with anxiety about divine judgement resulting in death..
“But I don’t know, my dreams are vicious. We could still end up with the great big fishes”.

Drinking juices from the dying may constitute cannibalism - which the ancient Greek Gods held to be uniquely abominable. Tantalus, the forebear of House Atreides received eternal punishment for serving human flesh to the Gods.

Basically, the singer knows that he’s screwed . “