From Eno's only Top 40 Single, the Rarities E.P. and Eno II CD box set Disc 1
Oh, the French girls with their strings of pearls
Think it's such a burning shame
That the local boys with their country joys
Never make them daisy chains.They're swapping disappointing incidents
While at the dock another ship pulls in
And suddenly the door breaks down (Hourah!)
It's the Seven Deadly Finns!Oh soldiers and sailors
Have all been there before:
Gigolos and governments
Have tumbled through that door.Because they need those French girls
With all their kiss-curls
And powder in their guns
And the Seven Finns with the deadly grins
Tend to measure beauty in tons!The first is a freak with a masochistic streak
And the second is a kitten up a tree
The third is a flirt with an awful print skirt
And the fourth is pretending to be me
The fifth wears a mac and never turns his back
And the sixth never shows his eyes
But the Seventh Deadly Finn is so tall and slim,
He shouldanever been with those guys.Although variety is the spice of life,
A steady rhythm is the source
Simplicity is the crucial thing
Systemically of course
(work it on out like Norbert Weiner)So when those French Girls say to you
"Would you like your ashes raked?"
You'll have to take their word for it:
It's the only thing to take...(Yodelling chorus)
Alternative Hearing:
French girls = French Girls (--p.n.ance)
burning = fucking (--p.n.ance)
hourah! = 0o La La! (--p.n.ance)
there before = here before (--p.n.ance)
tons = tuns (--p.n.ance)
when = if (--p.n.ance)
raked = piped (--p.n.ance)
yodelling = analogical (--p.n.ance)
References:
"Do you know what 'burning shame' is by the way? It's a pornographic term for a deviation involving candles ... Very popular in Japanese pornography. They're always using lit candles because Japanese pornography is very sadistic..."
(-- Brian Eno, interviewed by Chrissie Hynde, NME, 1974)
