Song #7 - Steve Again

Steve Taylor released this song, On The Fritz, in 1985. I didn't hear it until about 1994. To this day it stands as one of the few brutally honest songs I have heard; one that doesn't pull any punches about the consequences of sins.

In 1995, Steve Taylor released a live album entitled "Liver". The concert version of the song delivers a psychotic intensity to the song. He later released a video that was equally as intense. I tried finding it on the web, but no dice.

The song shows the unraveling of a life caught up in "secret sin". How a man, seen by many as a "man of God" (ST was singing about the "televangelist" types), tries desperately to mask a wrong committed, but watches as his sin life spins out of control. The song illustrates those hurt along the way as well. The video was disturbing, because while it was not explicit in any way, the imagery clearly conveyed the anxiety, pain, and guilt associated with the fear of a hidden sin being uncovered.

On The Fritz

He wished to right the wrongs
he sang religious songs
he kept the private he
under a lock and key
heat keeps rising in an age of passion
shakes a conscience to the core
stopgap, hand-slap, take a tongue-lashing
my poor soul can't take any more

chorus:
On the fritz
on the fritz
there he sits
on the fritz

He kept his ego there
it was a sad affair...on the fritz
the inner circle knows
and so the story goes...on the fritz
airborne rumors chip away the image
but you knew the stakes were high
first they get you thinking you're a prophet
now they've got you living a lie

(chorus)

So the crowds grew, and their praise did too
and a mailing list sent you money
so they love Jerry Lewis in France
does that make him funny?
it's too late for apologies when trust has been betrayed
now victims of your double life are naming names

He kept his ego there
it was a sad affair...on the fritz
the public's had enough
they've come to call your bluff...on the fritz
small talk breeds where kingdoms come crashing
rumor conquers where it wills
no one hears you, go ahead and cash in
if you don't die to yourself
pride kills