Television

Album: American Stonehenge (1998)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Television" is the opening track on the second Lucid Nation album, American Stonehenge. In her interview with Songfacts, Lucid Nation frontwoman Tamra Lucid explained:

    "On our first tour, we stopped at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco where Ronnie [Pontiac] bought a copy of The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord. Riot grrrl zines criticized and satirized mainstream corporate culture because of the way it creates unrealistic expectations about how a person should be. About 30 years earlier, Debord and the Situationist movement he inspired talked about how celebrity worship, with its mirage of fame as an endless holiday, is at the core of alienation in our culture. Ronnie and I were talking about that a lot.

    A guitarist friend named Yves challenged Ronnie to write a song with three chords, a la Oasis. At the time, Ronnie told me this was his Situationist love song to me.

    Also, this is one of my favorite songs, so I'm so happy you noticed it. This was video-taped at Fortress Studio in Hollywood during a rehearsal."
  • City Lights is a San Francisco landmark that has been operating since 1953. It was an important location in the story of the Beat Generation cultural phenomenon/movement of the '50s.

    The Society of the Spectacle by was written in 1967, providing a Marxist critique of modern culture and bringing to the public the notion of the "Spectacle." The book was the foundation for the Situationist movement that played heavily into the 1968 French workers' uprising known in France as "May 68."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in Rock

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in RockSong Writing

We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Leslie West of Mountain

Leslie West of MountainSongwriter Interviews

From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.

Country Song Titles

Country Song TitlesFact or Fiction

Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?