As always, when I do a blog post like this, I start with a little clip. As a b-side, there was not an official video made but it was played live some throughout its 30 years. Here is one of the most recent live performances of it in 2011 in St. Augustine, Florida.
Here are the lyrics:
Wise on a birthday party in a world full of surprising fireworks
And sudden silence shh
Lying on a strangers bed the new day breaks like a speeding train or an old friend
Ever expected but never knocking
Holding your own in a battered car all night parties cocktail bars
And smile when the butterfly escapes the killing jar
Sure eyes awake before the dancing is over wise or naked in secret Oktober
Freefall on a windy morning shore nothing but a fading track of footsteps
Could prove that you never been there
Spoken on a cotton cloud like the sound of gunshot taken by the wind
And lost in distant thunder racing on a shining plain
And tomorrow you’ll be content to watch as the lightning plays along the wires and you’ll wonder
Sure eyes awake before the dancing is over wise or naked in secret Oktober
Sure eyes awake before the dancing is over wise or naked in secret Oktober
So what could these lyrics mean? What kind of theories are out there? There are a few out there on the internet. The first theory is that it is about rethinking one’s life on a birthday. Life used to be a lot of parties but that life has gotten tired. Second theory is that it is about someone thinking about suicide. A third theory is that it is about Simon’s attempts to meditate and have out of body experiences. Of course, we recently learned that the song was written and recorded in one night, done quickly as they needed a b-side for Union of the Snake. Interestingly enough, the meaning of the song was also an Ask Katy question. Simon responded that it was about escaping one’s birthday. So, do any of these theories hold up?
Theory #1: Rethinking life and choices on one’s birthday
The first line definitely fits this idea since it is a birthday party and being wise means that one might have learned something. The new day could also imply that it was the day of a new year and it could be that one is thinking of those all night parties and cocktail bars. Maybe the memories do bring a smile to one’s face. Then, the second verse sort of throws me. Is it about the thoughts one will have in the future if the first verse was about the past? The future then will be stormy with the references to thunder and lightning? I’m just not sure this completely follows the theory.
Theory #2: Suicide
The only thing that I could see connecting to this idea is the gunshot. The last line of the second verse, though, doesn’t fit. “And tomorrow you’ll be content to watch as the lightning plays…” If you are going to kill yourself, you won’t have a tomorrow and you won’t be content. Right? Am I missing something?
Interesting. I think it's an easy answer to say it's about birthdays – given that Simon's is in October and all. But for me, it's too easy of an answer and it doesn't completely make sense. I won't even entertain the idea of suicide because I don't even see it to try and explain it that way. I have always thought it was about their lives at the time. They moved from place to place without ever settling down. Crazy parties, making friends…moving on the next day as though they'd never been there. It's like living without ever really LIVING and rooting yourself.
I love this song. I love the imagery, the lyrics, the music….and how it makes me feel when I hear it. I wish they'd play it just a little more often. 🙂 -R
You didn't want to talk about the out of body experiences theory? LOL
-A
@EasternViolet here. I don't dare comment on the meaning here. Simon's lyrics are often streams of consciousness, where one line might not be narratively connected to the next. But one thing that is worth mentioning is how I recognized the lyrics way before I ever heard the song. In the book http://duranduran.wikia.com/wiki/Duran_Duran:_Their_Story – each of the band members fill out their own biography. (At least this is my impression). Nick's is pretty quirky, John's is detailed, Andy and Roger's pretty sparse and predictable. But Simon's is just prose. And in that are the lyrics to Secret Oktober. Angela had the book with her at Durandemonium (I had a copy when I was younger, but it was destroyed in a flood) — so I had the chance to flip through it again after so many years. I wonder if more meaning can be gleaned?
For me, the theme of escape is played over. I venture no further in my interpretation, however.
I have that book. Perhaps, I should check it out as, as you point out, it might provide more insight. I always welcome that. As for not venturing into more interpretation, be brave. I am…or so I like to think! I'm probably just crazy! LOL
-A
Secret Oktober just won the “Best B-Side” Music Award off the so-called “DD portion” on DD TV, by the way.
The theory I put most credit on is the #1, “Rethinking life and choices on one's birthday”.
Ran across this when I did a Google to find the meaning of this song. I am inclined to go with the birthday reflection idea.
A few-ish years ago I wrote an essay about the song and my interpretation, which is that the song is about fame and the dark side of it and the fleeting nature of it. I imagined someone getting swept up in this overwhelming wave of fame and all that goes with it, things moving so fast you hardly know what is happening. Then one day the sameness of all that partying playing over and over again allows you to really look around you. Maybe you see an innocent newbie on the scene, who escapes the madness before being consumed by it and you smile. You start to question the point of it all, does it matter? Maybe you see another face, someone who has been in the madness even longer than you have, someone who was once just as famous, but now you know are all but completely forgotten as the fresh young things come to the scene.