THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT



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After the three consecutive massive hits Plaastik enjoyed in 1983, this was the hotly anticipated first single from their sophomore album, and it met with universal ambivalence. Fans already knew to expect the unexpected, but the press, particularly in Britain where FUN GOLDFISH TOYS had never been released, pounced on what they saw as an immediate downslide when confronted with this trippy midtempo piece. In Melody Maker, Neil Tennant wrote "The fame has gone to their heads. It's hard to imagine a more perverse and awful way to follow up on major success than with a song about being on the road." Although it's true that road songs frequently hamper second albums, "The Middle of the Desert" actually dates from early 1981, when it was a crowd favorite among the small club audiences in Plaastik's presence.

But the damage was done and the single only made it to #29, a strong showing in itself but nothing compared to the top ten extravagance of the NO PARKING ANYTIME material. Many critics guessed that the album would bomb, and it did (in comparison), although it ended up being widely praised once it was issued.

When the song was recorded, it was the first time the band had played it in over two years, its final appearance having been amid other keyboard-based works on the Goldfish Tour. The band's attempt to ditch the keyboards and replicate the densely layered, thick sound of the live performances with guitars and feedback proved a headache for Mitch Easter. "The song was extremely difficult to record," Easter has said, and indeed three times as much time was spent on "The Middle of the Desert" as on any other cut from the sessions.

"Desert" became the center of an uproar on the Information Tour when the band, perhaps due to the difficulties in performing it, chose to make it the one song on which prerecorded DAT music was used. Fans booed and complained loudly and the song was eventually removed from the setlist; it hasn't been played since.

As for the lyrics, they are "confused and indirect, on purpose." Not so for the video, which features night desert scenes filmed by Jeff Jooce.


Twenty-three hours till we're out of Tennessee
Twenty-three hours you bastards alone with me
Twenty-three hours till at last we all are free
Twenty-three hours but I bet you'll never see

I want the time to pass more slowly
I want the stars to fall from the sky
I want this town to disappear in the moonlight
I want to know what it feels like to die

Let's run away and lose all that we've treasured
Let's get away from the middle of the desert

23 HOURS till the end of everything
23 HOURS till we drink from the spring
23 HOURS till we rejoice and sing
23 HOURS till we grasp the eagle's wing

I WANT this heat to pass me by
I want to see you live and try
I want to cheat and I want to lie
I want to fall in love and cry

Let the temperature fall and the cold seep in
In the desert, you know you'll never be a free man

Wail and escape
Wail and escape, darlin'

Let's run away and lose all that we've treasured
Let's get away from the middle of the desert

The middle
The middle
The middle
Of the desert...