Victoria Gardens lyrics

A great song, but what does it all mean? Without a hotline to Suggs I can only interpret it as best I can.

The trap many fall into with Madness is to suppose their lyrics are meaningless but often they’re coded and fairly complex. In the case of Victoria Gardens there’s only one line which, I believe, gives it its meaning: “She said for the good of us all”.

Interpreting this song relies on placing it in its context, Thatcher’s Britain at a time when Union tensions were at their highest. Edward Heath called the 1974 General Election on the question, “Who runs the country, the Government or the miners?” He lost. Thatcher, in his cabinet, witnessed this, and when she came into power had already drawn up secret plans on how to tackle them (the lesser known Ridley plan). Although Thatcher always denied plotting against the Unions, there is little doubt that she planned to drastically limit their powers and their hold on the country.

In 1983, when Victoria Gardens was written, Margaret Thatcher was the most unpopular Prime Minister since records began (arguably it was only the conflict with the Falklands which went on to secure her another term in office). Britain, although crippled in the late 70s, did still not show many signs of rejuvenation in the early 80s.

Homeless people have always been known to the UK, but until the 80s this was almost limited to old drunk Scotsmen staggering around London and the rest of the country. In the 80s, for the first time, young men, women, even families were seen living on the streets. It could be suggested that when Suggs sings “I just left Victoria Gardens and walked through cardboard city land” he was referring to the massive increase in homelessness in London and around the UK.

“A burnt out star was asking how would I like to shake his hand?” In this metaphor (burnt out star) the irony is that most perhaps wouldn’t want to shake a tramp’s hand. Were these burnt out people stars of the past, who, previously, you might have wanted to know?

When Suggs “walks on in no hurry” – and this is a big leap of faith – it’s possible that he’s in no hurry because he’s jobless/ How many of us find the time for a stroll through our local town? And when he wonders where we’ve gone wrong, this again alludes to the political climate.

The chorus is interesting: we’re looking, listening, and hoping that things are changing for the better. Don’t want to teach or preach the blues to you my brother.”

The term “brother” could be interpreted in many different ways. The most probable is that it’s used to show a fellowship, Madness in harmony with the public. Least probable but more interesting is the political connotations: traditional left wing and Labour MPs historically called each other brother. Arthur Skargill of the National Union of Miners was often refereed to by his colleagues as “brother Skargill”. The most tenuous link, but perhaps the most imaginative, is that the miners at the end of their shifts were covered in head to toe in black soot – black men in the 80s would call each other “brother” (it’s now used across many races).

“It’s a bloody fine situation that we find ourselves in” again most probably refers to the political and economical climate. This is closely followed by the tell-tale line “She said for the good of us all.” There is nothing I can find on the record which shows Thatcher said these words, however, this doesn’t necessarily undermine the argument. Ask most political students who said “there’s no such thing as society” and they’ll all say Thatcher. Actually, she didn’t – at least not in the context it is suggested.

I’ll perhaps never know for certain whether Madness’ Victoria Gardens is, as I think, a damning verdict on the political establishment. Does anyone else have an interpretation?