In the early days of Duran Duran, there was a lot of color and flavor from Andy Taylor’s guitar lines and bursts and John Taylor’s bass lines. That doesn’t necessarily happen in the world of pop music.įurther, lyrics in songs are most often telling a story, either complementing the story already told through the music or coming in fresh with a story because there isn’t one in the music just yet. When I write poems, I like a formal structure, such as successive iambs arranged in couplets, because then you are assured that the final result will be nice and neat. If you have ever written poetry to fit a certain meter, you know what I’m talking about. It requires you to massage syllables, either by cutting them or adding more, so they’ll fit what you’ve been given. I’ve always been amazed by writers who do this, as it isn’t easy trying to fit lyrics onto an already established melody. Simon’s job was to provide the words that would overlay the sonic landscapes that the four others had already come up with in the studio.

They were the complete package: they were five gorgeous, trend-setting English boys whose music was neither punk, pop, or funk. Quite simply at the time when they hit it big in the early ‘80s, there wasn’t another band like Duran Duran. Where to find it: ‘Notorious’, (1986, EMI/Capitol)

I recommend reading part 1 through here before diving into part 2 below. I’ve decided to post this now, 2 days before the band perform at the Kennedy Space Center Tuesday night, 16 July 2019 ( previewed on TGTF through here), as part of the festivities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. NB: This is part 2 of my song analysis of ‘Proposition’ from Duran Duran’s fourth album ‘Notorious’, released in 1986.

Duran duran notorious lyrics