Digging Your Scene

Has the following ever happened to you - you listened to a song in your youth and misheard the lyrics, kept those misheard lyrics in your head for decades, then had a revelation about the real lyrics that had nothing to do with your long-held notions about the song?

Music is life!

That happened to me quite recently. For some reason a song from the mid-80s popped up in my head out of the blue. Not having heard the song for at least 25 years, my thinking was that the song was about a man pleading with his girlfriend that the reality he is working hard to make for them both can in be what she desires. Although for the life of me I could barely remember the verse of the song in question, my version of the chorus went like this: Tell me why ... Can't this be your dream? I could have died, baby!

That is the lyric! Of this I am 100% certain!

With this swilling about in my head for three decades, I finally decided to chase down the song on the Internet last week. It turns out the the song is called Digging Your Scene and was a 1986 hit for a British pop band called The Blow Monkeys. (You can view the music video on YouTube.) However, listening to the song again brought an entirely new meaning for me when I heard the true lyrics (which you can look at in full here).

ScottyPedia had this moment very recently!

Far from being a melodramatic plea made to a finicky lover, this song was actually about AIDS and homosexuality in the early-to-mid 80s! To the best of my knowledge, the only pop song that openly dealt with a homosexual topic that I remember hearing on the radio back then was Rod Stewart's The Killing of Georgie Pts. 1 & 2! Which is probably why I don't remember hearing it on the rotations of our (then) notoriously conservative local radio stations.

Digging Your Scene Maxi Vinyl Single

Although the song has a very up-tempo and catchy beat, with the obligatory saxophone solo that was a staple of 80s soft rock, the subject matter sung about was very heavy indeed. In short, the song is about a closeted gay man who learns that his lover/friend is dying from complications from AIDS and the man in personal anguish as he faces (what he personally feels is) an accelerated mortality. Considering that the popular and memorable songs of 1986 were offerings like Mr. Mister's Broken Wings; Lionel Richie's sultry Say You, Say Me; our own Billy Ocean's There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry); Peter Gabriel's sexually charged Sledgehammer, Falco's legendary Rock Me Amadeus and even comedian Eddie Murphy's surprise smash hit Party All The Time; this song dealt with a rather morbid and controversial topic.

Ah, the mid-80s! Times of Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper!

The early 80s were a troubling time for the homosexual community worldwide. They suffered persecution for their sexual preferences that extended into all aspects of society. This included the mainstream media as well where open mention of your non-heterosexual leanings was considered a kiss-of-death to your career and prospects. I'm sure many of you who lived in the era will remember that it was usually after certain male celebrities died that we realised the herculean efforts made to maintain a macho, heterosexual public image that belied their private preferences. The names of Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, Raymond Burr, Liberace and Freddie Mercury easily come to mind.

God's Revenge!

As many closeted gay men chose to mask their preference by entering into conventional (but unsatisfying) marriages, they would look to secretly frequent the gay clubs to express their true selves. This club scene that admittedly attracted gays and heterosexuals alike, as it was referred to in the song, is what the song's protagonist is 'digging'. In the devastating early years of the AIDS crisis, it was publicly characterised as a gay people's disease. In fact, the song alludes to this as many homophobes called HIV/AIDS "God's revenge" - a virus that was cutting down the men from the gay clubs. Although it is a sexually transmitted disease (meaning a person of either gender can contract it), the homophobes often blamed closeted gays for spreading it into the heterosexual community.

A sampling of the kind of AIDS-related headlines of the era.!

Throughout the song, the protagonist seems to be experiencing a fiercely moral and personal conflict, wallowing in a lot of self loathing that reflected a lot of the guilt that was thrown on the gay community. Religions to this day still deride homosexuality as an abomination against God, with homophobes freely quoting scripture that heaps scorn, condemnation and hell fire upon anyone who professes to be gay. Certainly this led many closeted gay people to remain firmly tucked away in the closet, instead choosing to make their gay forays in secret. Especially for those who happened to be of the Christian faith, this led to a very real spiritual dilemma, hence the line: Oh I know I should come clean/But I prefer to deceive/Every day I walk alone/And pray that God won't see me/I know it's wrong, I know it's wrong ...

 

Real moral dilemma

Part of this conflict also has to deal with how society at the time misunderstood homosexuality and misinterpreted the root of the preference, treating it like it was a disease or depraved mental condition that the sufferer needed to recover from. For the already conflicted closet gays, this was doubly hard as they tried to maintain a 'normal' heterosexual façade. For several of them, their straight peers would espouse the opinion that being gay was 'not normal' (note not different, mind you). So society pressured many conflicted individuals into some serious self-loathing, thinking that their problems would all go away if they embraced their false heterosexual identity, as the song says, I'd like to think that I was just myself again.

Sadly, this was the thinking of many in the era!

Perhaps the most haunting part of the song is the chorus. In it, the protagonist laments that, despite knowing the high pprobability of fatal consequences in  continuing his actions, he is inexorably drawn into the gay life. Indeed, he wants to know ... why is it I'm digging your scene?/I know I'll die, baby! 

Agonising but still can't resist ...

... while Death stalks you!

For me, the music video does very little to convey the song's meaning. My suspicion is that back in 1986 a video around such themes would be a commercial disaster for all involved, despite what the words of the song openly expressed. What we end up being treated to is the lead singer - Dr Robert - at his androgynous 80s best camping it up for the camera as a nightclub singer, not really doing anything in regard to the song's very serious topic.

Dr Robert of The Blow Monkeeys in his 80s splendour

By strange coincidence, the most popular song of 1986 happens to be That's What Friends Are For, sung by Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder (officially listed as Dionne Warwick and Friends). This song was recorded as a charity single to benefit the American Foundation For AIDS Research, and asks for compassion and understanding in dealing with persons who were suffering with the disease. There is a bit of irony here in that Elton John, who is openly gay now, was at the time in a existential dilemma not unlike the Digging Your Scene's protagonist. For decades John had tried to project a heterosexual image during his early professional career despite several rumours to the contrary, culminating in a sham marriage in 1984. After the inevitable divorce four years later, he official came out as a gay man and has remained proudly so since.

Note the use of scripture to "justify" the anti-gay stance. And this is very recent!

It is now a full 30 years since Digging Your Scene was released. Although the messages contained in it are not as relevant today as attitudes to the LGBT community have changed considerably, it does remain a poignant reminder of a time when society was nowhere near as liberal-minded and accommodating. And I still find myself singing the chorus even though it bears no personal relevance to me. I am grateful for the knowledge gained through this lyrical journey though. It  makes me wonder what other songs there are out there that dealt with similarly controversial topics.

Feel free to share your thoughts.