Okay so on twt people were talking about the line “hockey cokey with the opposite sex/the things you try to forget” and why it represents queer themes thus it sent me down a rabbit hole where I took a look at the song (and touches of others from the album) as a whole through this lense and I was told to share it here lol so below is my analysis of the songs queer coding I came up withon the fly.
The information action ratio is a term from the book Amusing Ourselves to Death (which TBHC is written around). It is this idea that information and action are in a ratio setting, it’s the parallel between what you’re being told via information verses your actions that contradict the information. Putting into the context to the song its this idea that the information being told isn’t factual to the actions that alex has experienced which is contradicting the information being told (information and social media = misleading)
In the song he talks a lot about clubs/going to clubs/ the “hokey cokey with the opposite sex the things you try and forget” these analogy’s of trying to forget ones queerness etc. the information action ratio is recalling information he has seen and heard online about gay culture, people, homophobia being the charge of it all verse him going to these clubs/gay club which we ALL know he has been to many times and being more involved in that culture and realising the ACTION of being apart of that is different to what he has learned and been told (the information).
The line “four stars out of five that’s unheard of” is this idea that the media’s outlet is now changing, four out of five for anything related to this topic is really unheard of as lgbtq+ is only now becoming more accepted in the media, getting four stars out of five in a context like this is rare.
“it’s all getting gentrified cute new places keep on popping up” its this idea that the media is blasting these places and things that were supposed to be safe spaces because you know “take it easy for a little while come and stay with us” and in this case tranquillity base is supposed to be one of these safe places.
You could even take “Mr bridge and tunnel on the starlight express” as an analogy for queerness, in Mr bridge and tunnel is a phrase used towards new Yorkers as they tend to walk everywhere compared to other cities in America which are car oriented. Associated with tunnels and bridges in this phrase you think of more gangster looking men, masculine men dangerous hanging out in tunnels/ under bridges, (Mr bridge and tunnel) and this idea that they’re going on the starlight express is contradictory to the INFORMATION that you have been told about these people. They are travelling to find themselves on the starlight express, it’s a juxtaposition between these masculine gruff men travelling via the starlight express to go to a place that is a tranquil base for them, they’re going from what the information that has been stated to the ACTION that is going and expressing themselves.
It goes from talking about the information action ratio being something you can rely on to being a place you used to go (“the information action ratio is the place to go!”, this idea that “Alex” is a guy who used to go to the media outlet to get information and then learns his actions have a better more face value and realistic outlook on what the world is really like rather than what the media says its like.
The media associates queer people with horrible events as well “you could meet someone you like during a meteor strike its THAT easy.” The information the media persues is this horrible sort of like “if you do this, look at the consequences” the start of the song he projects it in that way making this seem like a bad thing and by the end of the song its twisted that way to be like “you shouldn’t rely on the information you should rely on the action of the ratio” you should be action based not information based. The whole lunar expressed and the taqueria at the start is seen as a negative but by the end its seen as a positive, hes flipping the information from a negative to a positive through his action.
When looking at the music video there are two different versions of “Alex” in them, theres bearded alex (him), and clean cut Bronx new York style look dressed stereotype “alex,”(mark) like with mr bridge and tunnel theres two versions the real alex and the stereotype alex which is the information AND the action, the two versions of him have physically made himself the information action ratio. Theres mark and theres alex, hes the personification of the information action ratio, the INFORMATION = clean shaven clean cut new yorker stereotype Mark, versus ACTION = beard alex (surrounded by information but doesn’t believe in it)
This has personified the information action ratio through versions of himself throughout his life, Mark, which resembles 2014 self, taken two legitimate versions of himself one that listens to the information and one that listens to the action.
“the old grey whistle test” is a phrase used in the early forms of pressing records/vinyl, a thing used in new York in record studios where they would bring older men in suits in to deem if music was successful or not. If these old men were whistling the tune after they left it was deemed a success. In the context of the song they are putting the reliance of success and what is good, moral and correct in the hands of old white males.
It was also a tv show in the 80s where artists would come on and perform music, but they didn’t have the technology to broadcast the live footage of the actual artists playing o they would have people edit footage over the top of it to portray a certain feeling and mood over the top of songs that weren’t really played, they would edit the songs in a way to be what they wanted, the songs are edited to be completely different so that it would fit the media and people’s ideas of what it should be on TV. (This is something Alex has faced during AM, editing of the truth and/or the music to fit American television). They brought this show back for an anniversary special in 2018 (when TBHC was written and released). The show was literally a placed used for artists that didn’t chart for them to get seen, but they were seen in a way that wasn’t how the artists wanted, losing integrity and the original vision.
Putting that into a context with Alex, when they broke through in America they were portrayed in a different way than he always had been in the UK, everything was different in the peak of his career which made him into the version of what the media and producers wanted rather than he wanted and intended with the album. This lyric is him projecting where he had been seen through the old grey whistle test which turned him and the album into something it never intended to be, which he then conformed to, pushing this persona forced upon him, but then going back to himself after realising the ACTION is better than the INFORMATION.
AM = Information, TBHC is the action. He’s saying he’s no longer the information of what people expect and being the action of what he wants to be. These albums are the information action ratio, which is also seen through the album sales where TBHC tanks as the information always overtakes the action in the ratio, there is always more information than action.
If you look at the song Tranquillity Base, this is the action whilst four out of five is the information. The song is so different from what 4/5 was, it’s more open and expressive than five out of five which is more melancholic, it talks about people getting dressed up in colourful clothing and jesus is in a day spa it’s a completely different vibe, in the track list TBHC comes BEFORE four out of five, in alexs mind the action overtakes the information, so in alexs mind in his life NOW the action is OVERTAKING the information which had not happened previously. He is now believing the action over the information.
He literally says in the song that he “ponders all of the questions” hes pondering the information being told in the media yada yada yada, they all interconnect and hes heavily said that the album as a whole needs to be analysed TOGETHER as a whole, its this idea that he is slowly morphing himself into believing and taking his actions and life as a whole to create his own view on information rather believing all information that’s given to him from a third party and adhering to what they expect.
“Tranquility base mark speaking may I take your call,” it comes into place right after talking about how he’s questioning things, hes beginning to question what hes being told only for the mark character to enter making himself known saying “let me direct your call to where *I* want it to be” the information part still taking over which he is now fighting against.
He says that he “spent a whole generation trying to figure things out” and immediately Mark comes back again to DIRECT the call away from that line of thinking, each time alex goes to realise that the actions should be over the information mark enters to redirect that line of thinking. He is fighting off himself in a sense. The idea that “technological advances getting him in the mood” is both good and bad, It’s opened his eyes to things he previously wouldn’t have considered but also made him REGRESS his ideas as well.
He goes in to talk about “pull me in on a crisp eve” going more into this hot and heavy intimate section of this song only to then be INTERRUPTED by Mark again, redirecting this call. He’s opening himself up to a more realistic view of what he wants only to be snapped back again by media outlets and internalized hatred for things, he’s trying to get past it but still fighting with what is publicly known to be wrong
The entire album as a whole, again he wants you to collectively analyse it as a whole which hes said. If you look at TBHC (album) as a whole it starts information heavy with Star Treatment and being given the star treatment by conforming to the media and what they want him to be and how he is now this person he is not only to then be more contemplative of his existence (Batphone, The Ultracheese) is a complete contrast in information from star treatment versus ultracheese… its this idea that hes searching for himself and trying to outbalance the information action ratio within himself, hes found himself and lost a lot on the way.
If you go One Point Perspective it’s this idea that everyone’s looking at him and has an idea of what he should be, and then u go into Science Fiction where he says in the opening line that “religious iconography gives him the creeps” its opened his eyes and this religious outlet of how things are dominated in the media from religion scares him in a sense and then you get into She Looks Like Fun, this internalized him of that he has this nagging voice in the background telling him to do things as hes living his life, theres still this nagging voice telling him to fall back into line and conform to what people expect of him.
Monster truck front flip as well, “you push the button we’ll do the rest” = you make the music, we’ll (the media) present it into the world in the version that we want to show to make you successful. He says lines of how theres “things I cant explain and hope I never have to” because of how things are he cant express the way he wants to be due to the overseeing force (the media) controlling him in a way.
“I’ve got a laser guiding my love that I can not unjust” in the sense that someone is controlling him, unable to express his love as hes got a target on his back (higher ups), he loved making these albums but the vision wasn’t a heared to and he was forced into performing these characters for the media.
“Do you celebrate your dark side then wish you never left the house” is also him expressing himself and then regretting it.
This is the craziest one yet but Alex likes to be detailed with album organization so this was likely also intentional, there’s 11 tracks on the album, a number often associated with trusting your intuition, embarking on a new path and a new way of living and trusting your own guidance, seeking a divine path within yourself. This is the biggest stretch but it’s a funny thing to add
Please don’t take this as me trying to say “aha Alex was clearly speaking about this” I just found it interesting how you can interpret it’s themes in this way that coherently tell a story that many LGBT people can relate to.
sometimes you give me the vibes of an old man who has his glasses pushed to the tip of his nose and holds his phone 17 inches away from his face while trying to read the daily mail, and other times you give me the vibes of a teenager who giggles every time they see their fave pop up on their timeline
Yes!
Look I found out how to add gifs here’s miles in the bath!
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