SPARKS: Ron & Russell Mael's songs about songwriting 

English not my native language I still find out many times I created my own Sparks lyrics. The best one is as a 10 year old I turned " get in the swing pall" into getting the sprinkhan (a litteral dutch translation of the word grasshopper) . With Internet I got to do the Sparks all over again and now actually being able to understand every lyrics. This year I finally got to see the Sparks live in Utrecht with my Brothers, very special moment in remembrance of our dad who infected us with the Sparks in the 70's, fantastic concert and one of the best days in recent memory. Up to this day when we go Skiing in the Alpes we only play sparks in the car, we now have infected a new generation in our family with the sparks

I have always admired Sparks from afar before becoming a frothing 70 year old fan over the last 18 months or so. Your detailed analysis was much appreciated there. There is no doubt there is much more depth to this band than meets the eye. More please and thanks very much for your efforts. You are a true fan.

Surrealist pop like none other From mind to brother Back to womb of mother We ❤ dem sparks🎉

Love this. It's great to hear new ideas about their songs! I think 'It Doesn't Have To Be That Way' from the new album can be added to the pantheon of songs about songwriting - a treatise for all aspiring songwriters about following your own muse and not just what perceived wisdom would dictate...

What a lovely interpretation of Strange Animal! It's one of my absolute favorite songs, and I always thought it was about how critics can't perceive art as anything but a product to the masses. How lucky am I to find this, I've got my own drafts on Sparks stuff so it's very nice to see someone else had the same idea! I also appear to be your hundredth subscriber :) I've really tried to get those lyrics myself and I've had very little luck too, but with the idea that the previous song was about government men, maybe one of the words at the end of a line is "law"? I also very clearly hear "Where all the dangers go..." in the second line. God- there's a lot more to talk about. I remember a few years ago on the Sparks subreddit someone said that they thought Lil' Beethoven and A Steady Drip Drip Drip were both about how they believed their careers were failing (which does have *some* merit). My dad believes that songs like I've Never Been High and I Wish You Were Fun are about Ron being totally unhappy with himself. Again, really happy to see someone dedicate a whole channel to talking about this. I can't wait. Good luck! Hope you like the new album.

this is great! thank you for taking the time to dig down into Ron's lyrics - especially Strange Animal - my fave song on that Exotic Creatures. And all that overdubbing!!!

The Sparks whisperer. This set of songs about songs are probably my favorite themes. Why not wrote about writing, sing about singing? Only Sparks! Utterly unique.

Wow I’ve always wondered what those “hidden words” in strange animal were too and just assumed you all knew Thanks! This is a beautiful video

i always wondered if Strange Animal was about Georgio Moroder involvement in the late 70's - 80's. Obviously i was wrong. 😂. Enjoyable video, just subscribed. Thanks.

I've wanted to get into Sparks for a while now, and these videos are a wonderful gateway to their world!

What a great idea to analyze the work of this so singular band. Discovered them when I was a kid with "Girl From Germany" and I knew that they were not the usual cuppa tea on a lyrical plan. After an interview I did for a music mag, I recently gave to Ron a translation of Marcel Aymé's short stories (I'm French actually) because some of their lyrics share same characteristics of this great writer. Don't know if he read it. Maybe I'm wrong but I think Ron has never been more inspired, lyrically and musically, than in "Lll' Beethoven". I also realized how there were similarities between the story behind this album and Annette's scenario (having great parents and being exceptional, a sort a genetic approach of genius).

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In listening to Exotic Creatures I have recently gone from cherry picking favorites for a listen to now full album listens. It gets better each time. I really enjoyed your interpretation of 'Strange Animal!'

Mind blown! Having rediscovered Sparks thanks to the Edgar Wright doc, I'm still deep-diving. And I only happened upon at the them/it in early 2020, after going down a rabbit hole of Noel Fielding which prompted the Edgar Wright video for Mint Royale's "Blue Song" (Edgar Wright, as in Shaun of the Dead?!) Ergo, that eventually prompted recommends for the doc and Sparks. To quote Alex Kapranos, I was like "This band still exists?!" I vaguely remembered them from the late 70s, but as a Canadian teen (ahem), I then got into British post-punk and new wave, only to find out decades later that it's true - Sparks are my favourite bands' favourite band. And now to have found you and your channel! Brilliant and engaging analysis. Whilst I do listen to Sparks' lyrics, I haven't paid quite that close attention but know that you absolutely nailed it. Sorry for the novel, but there's just something about Sparks that really makes one think...and now there's even more (it's not just me) reason. Thank you!

I'm a big Sparks fan since last year, the greatest band ever! New suscriber ;⁠).

Upstairs is my first and all time favorite Sparks song. Did anyone see them at the Catalina Island Casino in the early(?) 1980s?!?!?!?

First time viewer here.I loved this video. I promise to pay more attention to you very soon!

So glad to have discovered your channel!!!

Great Video! Another great example of Songs about themselfes would be missionary Position. A Song using the Most Basic chord progression in Pop music to sing about how doing the Most basic sexual position will do. Fantastic stuff.

Excellent explanation. Always wondered what these songs were about.

Well done sir. This opens up a long held hunch of mine - and so well expounded.

Fascinating.

Bravo!

"La Dolce Vita" I'm sure is all about Sparks capitalising on the disco scene, the only bank that's open all night. It's definitely self-referential ("looking real bored's as hard as scrubbing floors"). I don't think it has anything whatsoever to do with gigolos or anything, that's just the cover story. It's really Sparks just talking about their musical career.

On the subject of secret lyrics, During the "Photoshop me out of your life" section of *Photoshop* there's another vocal going on in the background that sounds sorta like "more money, no one wins" anyone know what he's saying?

What makes this wonderful video even more delightful is how, just as you begin your analysis of "Strange Animal" at 4:06, a strange creature makes its way into your video by crawling up your right arm! You (and your mystery friend) have a new subscriber. 😊

Has anyone figured out that lost verse yet?

Very well done. I'm going to see if I can play around with some tools to try to get that vocal in Strange Animal a little bit more isolated and hear what he's saying. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if it's purposefully nothing just to throw people like us off. :)

Really wanna know what the back vocals in Strange Animal say. I've tried isolating the vocals and doing some EQ stuff but it was still equally unintelligible. 🤔

Der Ozean hält sie jung.

Ron Mael writes the songs

Sparks are waaaaay too clever to be mainstream and appealing to the masses