Code Blue

I'm waiting for a mission,
Face me in the right direction,
I'm full of good intentions.

I don't know what exactly the instrument is that makes the amazing noise in "Code Blue". The album booklet just has Paul Beard on 'keyboards' so that will have to do. I am thinking some kind of analogue synth. This review says Hammond, but then it also calls me a Ben Sherman wearing piss-thrower, so I'll choose to question that. Anyway, it's this incredible forceful but slightly rusty sounding thing, and it sounds like a repeated wobbly fanfare throughout. It helps make this one easily of the strongest moments on Luxembourg musically, and is a perfect fit for the clockwork soldier conjured by the chorus.

It's a shame that the anti-war strawmanning and satire of the verses doesn't match up nearly as well. I sort of get what they were going for. The warmongering wannabe president isn't exactly original but works. However, even the strongest pacifist has to see attacking the guys actually fighting the wars as being clueless as the wrong tack to take. The noises deserve better.


An aside: 'Keep the commies out of W3 for HRH and Uncle Sam' had me confused for a long while, thinking that it was some odd shortening of World War 3. I recently realised though that they probably mean Acton.