Phonotonal
Engines Made From Soup - My People. A rough sculpture of a head made of clay. The face has closed eyes and an open mouth and looks distressed.

Engines Made From Soup
My People

Jump to...

Engines Made From Soup return with ‘My People’. This is a dramatic song with a dark glimmer and, on this occasion, they combine their alternative rock sound with flickers of The Smiths.

The song starts with a chord progression that brings a semi-tonal doomy inevitability into the otherwise bright and crisp sound. This is no accident as the lyrical themes do exactly the same thing, a strong top line with unexpectedly punchy words.

The chorus is a shift, it has more of a pop sensibility than the dark verse – yet it still uses similar transitions to maintain the mood. It’s not a noticeably louder chorus, but you feel the transition to the next verse so the dynamics certainly change.

After the second chorus, the intro gets an alternate rendering. The extra punch from the guitar comes back to underscore the coming chorus and the outro with its multi-vocal swirl.

Although those melodic moments hint at The Smiths, the overall effect is more like The Frank and Walters, which is no bad thing in my opinion.

My People Lyrics

Thought I was free
From mindless scandalous talk
I was never immune
No matter where I walked
I had an ear to the ground
Was that abuse that I heard?
I thought I was free
But I was starting to destroy myself

My people, my people
You have defamed me
Oh my people, yes my people
Rick Nixon phoned me
My people, my people
You have deserted me
Oh my people, yes my people
Joe Stalin wrote to me

It entered my mind
My rotting decaying mind
Every avenue turned
Every sinew burned
So how can I tell?
Was it because they fumed
With their minds struck dumb?
I was starting to betray myself

My people, my people
You have defamed me
Oh my people, yes my people
Rick Nixon phoned me
My people, my people
(Tick tock tick tock, any minute headlock)
You have deserted me
(Backtrack feedback, double barrel attack)
Oh my people, yes my people
(You’re gonna take me down, you’re gonna take me down)
Joe Stalin wrote to me
(Down, down, down)

Oh what’s charisma?
What’s personality too?
I was always thinking of
What the hell were you doing
You called yourself friend
But never breathed a word
Of the time we might have
I was starting to despise myself

My people, my people
You have defamed me
Oh my people, yes my people
Rick Nixon phoned me
My people, my people
(Tick tock tick tock, any minute headlock)
You have deserted me
(Backtrack feedback, double barrel attack)
Oh my people, yes my people
(You’re gonna take me down, you’re gonna take me down)
Joe Stalin wrote to me
(Down, down, down)

Every avenue turned
Every sinew burned, burned

Written by Fenton on

Steve Fenton writes in our music, words, and culture categories. He was Editor in Chief for The Mag and covered live music for DV8 Magazine and Spill Magazine. He was often found in venues throughout the UK alongside ace-photographer, Mark Holloway. Steve is also a technical writer and programmer and writes gothic fiction. Steve studied Psychology at OSC, and Anarchy in the UK: A History of Punk from 1976-1978 at the University of Reading.
Fenton

Discover More Music