Skyclad band: Encyclopedia II - Skyclad band - Lyrical themes

Skyclad band - Lyrical themes

Skyclad could very nearly be described as a protest band. Their lyrics deal with a wide variety of real-world themes (as well as more personal issues, though this was mainly under Walkyier) including poverty, drugs, environmentalism, politics, urban decay, paganism, society and commercialism. The bands polemics are often based on real experiences: In an interview, Walkyier recalled a point in the bands early days where his electricity meter reached 19 pence, and he was reduced to sharing cold baked bean sandwiches with guitarist Steve Ramsey. Skyclad's politics are generally left wing, with a strong working-class bent, although the band is by no means entirely liberal: "Men of Straw" and "Catherine at the Wheel" amongst others show a strong, zero-tolerance attitude to child abuse, and "Ten Little Kingdoms" is anti-devolution. Walkyier's writings for the band also show a particular fascination with sexually predatory women ("My Mother in Darkness", "Polkageist!", "Little Miss Take").

The band is noted for concealing the message of its songs somewhat in allusion and wordplay ("Womb of the Worm", "Vintage Whine"), though this has become less pronounced in later albums written by Ridley, who favours a slightly more straightforward style. Puns and wordplay, however, have become for many an integral part of the band, and there is no evidence that they have been entirely excluded.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Lyrical themes", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki