''Tux' is short for Tuxedo, the male suit traditionally worn with bow tie to important functions.
'Bingo'
'Bingo is a game largely confined to the English-speaking world; slight variations exist between the UK version and US/Canadian versions. In the UK version, each contestant is given a grid containing 15 randomly-drawn numbers from 1 to 99.
Numbered balls are pulled lottery-style from a machine, and anyone with the corresponding number on their grid crosses it out. The object is to cross of all of your numbers before anyone else. It's traditionally seen as a working class pursuit, mostly for elderly ladies, but with the introduction of larger prizes, its appeal has widened.
'The match was rained off Saturday but the panel came in right'
'The British have a game called the Football Pools, a game that could only have been invented in the UK, since winning is dependent on the football teams not winning! The rules are basically as follows: You select 10 UK football matches from the coming week's fixtures that you predict will end as score-draws (i.e. 1-1, 2-2 etc), and mark your choices on a form. You may have up to 4 lines of 10, each line costing to play. Points are awarded for each match. As well as score-draws (3 points), you gain 2 points for a no-score draw (0-0) and 1 point for a home or away win. The form is collected from your home along with the appropriate fee (doubtless it's all online now).
You need roughly 17 points to win, but the exact score depends on the weekend's results. If a match is postponed, a panel of experts decide the likely result for each match had it gone ahead. So, in the song, although the match was cancelled due to bad weather, the pools panel decided that the match would have been a draw, and the main character has won a considerable sum.
'Burning all your credit cards... new-found friends'
A feature of many gatherings of celebrities is the snorting of cocaine from the tops of toilet cubicles. 'Coke' is often chopped into lines with the aid of a credit card or a razor (cf 'he's razored more than lines up').
'Eyes down in the parlour...'
A funeral parlour.
'Blue-black vein'
An image that strongly invokes the idea that the deceased's corpse shows signs of intravenous drug use, such as heroin. Injection can cause veins to collapse, causing a blackened appearance under the skin.
'Razored more than lines up'
As per the previous stanza's credit card line, this about chopping out lines of cocaine in toilet cubicles, however, as noted by Mixe in the comments below, the implication of pulling the cuffs down and razoring more than lines up suggests the character has slit his wrists.
'Lies in state'
Lying in state is where a nationally important dignitary such as a prime minister, president or senior royal dies and their coffin is displayed for a period in order for the public to play their respects before it is buried.
'Tenement'
A tenement is a Scottish block of flats. Very often the tenements were council-owned and run.
Songs with a link have explanations.
- Introduction
- Hotel Hobbies
- Warm Wet Circles
- That Time of the Night (The Short Straw)
- Just for the Record
- White Russian
- Incommunicado
- Torch Song
- SlĂ inte Mhath
- Sugar Mice
- The Last Straw
- Happy Ending?
- Going Under
- Tux On
- Beaujolais Day
- Story from a Thin Wall
- Shadows on the Barley
- Sunset Hill
- Tic-Tac-Toe
- Voice in the Crowd
- Exile on Princes StreetClick to access album
Re the football pools.
ReplyDelete1. You get more points for a score-draw or no-score draw because that outcome is less far likely than a home or away win.
2. The 8 from 10 combination is the most common entry and your best 8 results count. Therefore 8 score draws gets you the maximum 24 points. You really need 22 points or more to win a prize (not 17 as stated) but this does vary slightly as it is dependent on the real football results.
It was a very long time ago that I wrote this entry, and I definitely would have copied the info from somewhere else as I'm not interested in football or the pools; perhaps a different scoring regime was in place at the time as I understand it has changed a little over the years.
DeleteBingo is definitely not "peculiarly British!" It's common in the English-speaking areas of North America, where it is considered a pastime suitable for the elderly.
ReplyDeleteThank you, YVR Jon - I stand corrected.
DeleteBut how about the line
ReplyDelete“His razor’d more than lines out”
Is that a reference to suicide by cutting the wrist? And what does the “lines out” mean?
Sorry, non-native.
Yes, exactly that - the implication is that he’s slit his wrists. The lines out bit is a cocaine reference. I’ll add an Explanation to cover this. Thanks for bringing to my attention.
Delete