1001 Songs Challenge #714: W.F.L. (Think about the Future) (1989)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenging of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post everyday (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be…

 

Happy Mondays – W.F.L. (Think about the Future) (1989)

 

We’re leaving the US today, dear reader, and making our way back to the UK. We’re heading north to Salford for our listening pleasure. Formed in 1980 Happy Mondays were pioneers of Madchester which merged the likes of independent rock with the rave scene which was in its infancy in the 1980s. We join the group in 1989 and 1001 Songs have gone with the track – W.F.L. (Think about the Future).

W.F.L. is not the most straightforward song to unravel but it does seem to concern a relationship that has changed or broken down. The narrator talks of doing different things but this other person seems to do something contrary. The narrator says he wanted luck but instead this person came into his life. In the next line he asks for juice but gets poison instead. This could be literal or metaphorical; it is open to debate. The W.F.L. stands for “wrote for luck” which is part of the opening line. I read an alternative interpretation that this song could concern drug abuse but perhaps it is best as an ambiguous piece.  

W.F.L. certainly sounds different with a synth like beat to it, catchy drum work and the vocals are pronounced but distant. For some reason it made me think of Johnny Rotten during Sex Pistols’ brief reign in the late 1970s. Although open to interpretation this was still an interesting track, cleverly fusing seemingly conflicting genres. Happy Mondays disbanded in 1993 but have reformed multiple times since.

 

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

The Doors – The End (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now (1978)

Ultravox – Vienna (1980)

The Smiths – How Soon Is Now? (1984)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)