Close To The Bone (Thompson Twins Album) - Writing

Writing

In an issue of The Spokesman-Review from early July 1987, an article/interview with The Thompson Twins was published, based on the band's touring for Close to the Bone. In the issue, the article speaks of the album, stating "The Thompson Twins are riding high on the success of their latest album "Close to the Bone," which, in addition to carrying the hit "Get That Love," delves into Bailey and Currie's personal experiences during the period since their last album, "Here's to Future Days"." Bailey, quoted from a press release, stated "The reason the album is closer to the bone is that for the first time in years we had taken a break from the music business and we actually had real experiences to write about." The article also spoke of some of the personal experiences, stating "For Bailey, one of those experiences was being accepted back into the fold by his parents who had disowned him more than 10 years before; for Currie, one of those experiences was the emotional trauma of seeing her mother die, and losing her and Bailey's baby to a miscarriage - both on the same day." Currie also spoke of the experience and putting it into the song "Long Goodbye", stating "I spent all of last summer crying. It was an awful time, and I put a lot of my feelings into that song. It was like a parting gift. It's all OK now. I'm OK. But I still can't bear to listen to that song."

The article spoke of the album's other lyrical themes and the meaning of the track "Twentieth Century", writing "Close to the Bone" goes beyond Tom and Alannah's personal experiences, maintaining some of the social and political poignancy for which Currie's lyrics have become known. The track "Twentieth Century," in particular, is an analytical, socio-political statement in the vein that seems more common among British than American groups, but both Currie and Bailey guard against making too much of their lyrics." In relation to this, Bailey stated "I'm wary of placing too much importance upon music as the solution to the world's problems because in one very important sense, it's just entertainment." Revealing that the duo's social and political tone comes from the environment in which they live, Currie stated "You always write about things that affect you. We live close to Northern Island and Lebanon, where-as America is in many ways isolated."

In a July 1987 article based on Thompson Twins by The Deseret News, the article quoted Currie in stating that she had resisted writing made-to-order hits, despite record company insistence - or changing the duo's self-styled look, however peculiar. The article also made note of Currie's loss of both her mother and child, where Currie stated "It was awful. I spent the whole summer grieving. This album came out of that. The songs are like your own children. They take on a life of their own. They all have different sorts of moods."