Music & lyrics by Then Jerico

As someone who hates looking back, the other day I got a full blast of nostalgia while rummaging in an box tucked away in some drawer from which I dug up some old gig tickets, letters, postcards, autographs and a couple of souvenir pictures from a previous life. The moment I picked up a backstage pass for the two shows Then Jerico performed in a small club in Paris back in 1988, this song (about Apartheid in South Africa) I had not heard again since over 30 years ago, started playing in a loop inside my head. A band I had discovered two years earlier, while still unknown, at the legendary Marquee Club in London. And much to my surprise, I found that Then Jerico still exist, at least their charismatic singer who clearly hasn't lost any of his verve nor poise and still has it “muscle deep”. That said, however, there aren't many “ressurected” groups of the 80's who successful regained their past glory while reinventing and improving themselves along the way. The only example I could think of is Indochine of which Nicola Sirkis is the last surviving founding member. Mark Shaw probably never will, but I'm pleased to hear that he still has an audience and that he's having fun. The obvious kick it must have been to his ego didn't kill him after all and that's great news. The feeling's not gone and it's not pretending. L♥ve this song!

Ziggy played guitar,
Jammin' good with Weird and Gilly
And the Spiders From Mars.
He played it left hand,
But he made it too far,
He became the special man...

♫ "Ziggy Stardust", David Bowie (1971)

Ey@el

Some of them want to break you down
And its alright when the fear is theirs
But it kicks you in the face sometimes,
When the cold is biting muscle deep.

Well, I don't know if it matters
Or if i can say it doesn't fool me
When the fear is strong enough to hold its own way
Then you know it's gonna spread around.

What am I gonna do about you
(Across the border)?
When the feeling's gone, it's all pretending
And the living is always easy —
It's a fine line.

So you do what you can just to survive
And it gets too close for comfort sometimes,
Everyone i ever knew agreed
The prejudice lies muscle deep.

Well, I don't know if it matters
Or if i can say it doesn't fool me
When the fear is strong enough to hold its own way
Then you know it's gonna spread around.

What am I gonna do about you
(Across the border)?
When the feeling's gone, it's all pretending
And the living is always easy —
It's a fine line.

Come on look at my world
And I'll take you by the hand.
It doesn't take too long to see
We're living in a land
Where faith and hope and glory
Count for more than life and peace
Bitterness and breaking point
Are only muscle deep.

Well, I don't know if it matters
Or if i can say it doesn't fool me
When the fear is strong enough to hold its own way
Then you know it's gonna spread around.

What am i gonna do about you
(Across the border)?
When the time breaks up, it's all pretence here
And the living is always easy —
It's a fine line.

What am i gonna do about you
(Across the border)?
When the feelings run, it's all intense here
And the living is alway easy —
Its a fine line.

© Mark Shaw, 1986