Song Analysis #2: We Are All Accelerated Readers

Los Campesinos!--”We Are All Accelerated Readers”

Los Campesinos! is a British band that formed in Wales in 2006. “We Are All Accelerated Readers” is a track off of their first album, Hold on Now, Youngster... Many pop culture references are made in the song, as well as frustration clearly being expressed. The song also refers to relationships in movies not being real, and this is a large focus of “We Are All Accelerated Readers.” This song uses several poetic devices, most notably allusion and metaphor, to convey its meaning.
There are several instances of allusion in “We Are All Accelerated Readers”. The first is in the line “you said you looked less like the Venus de Milo, and more like your mother in a straitjacket.” The Venus de Milo is a famous statue of the Greek goddess Aphrodite (or Venus to the Romans). Venus being the goddess of beauty, looking less like the Venus de Milo and more like your mother might be considered a bad thing. In addition, the Venus de Milo’s arms are missing (it being an ancient work of art). Straitjackets hold the arms back, so it could be similar in appearance to the Venus’s missing arms.
The second instance of allusion is in the lines “no more conversations about what Breakfast Club character you’d be/ I’d be the one that dies (no one dies)/ Well then what’s the point?”. The Breakfast Club is a famous eighties teen movie. As the song asserts, no one does die. The writer of the song threw the line in after his friend talked him into watching the movie, which he didn’t enjoy. The movie is, however, generally liked, so many people talk about what character they most resemble, or resembled in high school.
The third example of allusion in “We Are All Accelerated Readers” appears in the line “I’m not Bonnie Tyler and I’m not Toni Braxton”. Both women are singers, and neither are British, which I find curious considering the band’s nationality. The following line, “this song is not gonna save your relationship” implies that Gareth, the writer, is not a songwriter whose songs save people’s relationship. It also suggests that Tyler’s and Braxton’s songs do.
The main example of metaphor in the song is “you should have built a wall, not a bridge”. As far as I can tell, this means that the person in question should have blocked the other person off entirely, not made an effort to overcome problems with them. The building of bridges and walls is a common metaphor, but not necessarily together, and it is interesting having the two juxtaposed.
Overall, “We Are All Accelerated Readers” is an excellent song, with Los Campesinos’ great songwriting and music. As a seven-piece band, they accomplish a very unique musical sound, which I enjoy. Even better, it includes great uses of metaphor and other poetic devices, particularly allusion. In summary, this song is an excellent example of metaphor and allusion.