Lead Feet - Boston Manor
So I’m done with exams and I now have more free time so hopefully I can keep this running more regularly. I’ve decided to come back and discuss one of my favourite songs by Boston Manor who are part of a local(ish) scene from Blackpool who I have seen perform live twice.
Henry Cox says this song “Is about how two people’s lives can begin so similarly but the choices they make take them in totally opposite directions.” This is a very real concept for me as it heavily applies to me and my twin sister and so this song does hit home.
In my opinion this song is like a discussion between two people. One of them is leading a normal life who is represented in the chorus and bridge, the other is represented in the two main verses who has made the wrong decision.
So the song starts slow and clearly shows the two people have not been keeping in touch with the opening two lines stating how its been a long time, this is shown by the fact he notes how their voice sounds deeper. This implies to me that they are old school friends possibly parting ways before college/sixth form. The use of the phrase “I’ve been moving around a lot lately” implies that this person is making mistakes and running from them once again amplified by the following line “I’ve got all the pieces but not the order they’re in” which in my head means that their life is a mess at that point.
Cut to the chorus and the character whose life IS together clearly shows empathy but feels like the mistakes are holding them back undeservedly. This is represented by the concept of the character swimming against the current which I would argue is symbolic of the ongoing battle of fighting your way from rock bottom. The lead feet they are said to be swimming with is the added challenge of doing it with the baggage the person has acquired which in this case is the mistakes that follow them.
Back into the second verse and I think it shows that the character who made mistakes has been to prison and regrets it, “Forgive me father for I have sinned”. The idea of them going to prison is shown by “Left me here for over two years//I counted every day”.
The first two lines of this chorus are the same as before but the next two show another insight into the choices made by the main character. Clearly with an alcoholic and violent history with reference to a “bottle of rage”.
The bridge comes next and once again showing the emotions of the character who hasn’t made the mistakes and they appear to be breaking down, in the actual song you can hear Henry Cox cracking up while he repeatedly screams, “There’s no words”. Once again this is followed by the chorus which maintains the same message as before possibly showing how this story is affecting them and he cannot think straight.
After the lyrics the song ends with 40 seconds of pure instrumental, half of this time is just an epic build which then slowly fades to a soft guitar riff for the remaining 20 seconds. I like to think of this as a representation of the mind of the character who hasn’t made mistakes, as shown by the bridge their mind is a mess of thoughts and it builds until eventually thinking of it just makes them numb about how it could have been them that went down that route but also how this old friend they were so similar to and close to fell down from such great heights.
Anyway that’s my thought on Lead Feet I hope I didn’t bore you all too much and that you’ll find time to enjoy this song and share this blog and even suggest ideas for how to make it better and even some songs or albums for me to cover.
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