Mixed Up Lineup
Tempted - Squeeze (Blast from the Past Sunday)
I’m a total sucker for songs with hidden details. I always feel like a detective when I find one, worn out as if I’ve chased the case for years, trailing cigarette stubs and scribbled-on pieces of paper behind me. However, while much of my effort goes towards trying to uncover these on purpose, occasionally a little detail within a song will jump out at me by surprise, like a jack-in-the-box that isn’t as creepy as they usually are. (I mean seriously.) This was the case on one night, when after hitting play on my family’s cherished Squeeze Singles: 45s and Under, I heard something I had never heard before. Right before the first verse starts, hidden as if it was uttered far away from the microphone, a soulful and heartfelt “I bought a toothbrush” is sung. Not so unbelievable, as those are the exact words that follow, but it’s still a silly moment always makes me grin when I hear it.
I gotta be honest before I say my piece. “Tempted” is not my favorite Squeeze song. I know, I know. It did nothing to wrong me, I’ll say that outright. Honestly, it’s tough to choose. The latter half of Singles: 45s and Under are the ones I gravitate towards the most, but I do have a particular fondness towards “Is That Love?” and its incessant, hammering beat and apprehensive chord progression. But is this a write-up on that? No. This is about “Tempted”, and I’ll tell you why. I was putting together a playlist for my radio show No Static at All (cough cough which you can stream here every Friday from 9:30-11:30 EST shameless plug cough cough) themed around secret guests, aka a-list musicians who went uncredited for parts on certain tunes. Imagine my surprise when I found out Elvis Costello was featured on it! I wasn’t shocked to find out he was the producer, as that made sense, but I really felt like I’d never heard his voice on “Tempted”. Well wouldn’t you know it, that super low “the people keep on crowding” and “it’s no story I could tell” on the second verse are him! Listening back, its pretty obvious, with the signature Costello sound coming through on the “ing” of “crowding”. Good on him for exercising that low range! The other crazy thing about “Tempted” is that the lead vocal on the song isn’t even the regular lead singer! It’s none other than the great voice behind Ace’s classic “How Long”, Paul Carrack, who was their newly appointed keyboard player! The more you know.
For a song with such a mixed up lineup, “Tempted” sure displays the whole band very well. Here is a tune I think sounds truly collaborative, as if every instrument is in tune (pun intended) with the others, creating this genuinely warm sound that contrasts the pain of the lyrics. A moment that I think makes that statement a little more clear is in the chorus. On “tempted but the truth is discovered”, everyone kind of does their own thing, but on “what’s been goin’ on” there’s this sort of pullback, as if to really confront the tough situation at hand, a pattern that screams “yeah, we know what’s been goin’ on”. One of the most interesting aspects of the tune for me is the use of both a keyboard and a traditional piano. The keyboard is front and center (I mean, Carrack was the keyboard player after all), but there’s moments where you can hear the faintest suggestion of deep, chiming piano chords. I think the part where I heard the piano most was under “memories of it still keep calling”, where it plays a few ascending chords then disappears just as quickly as it came. The piano is more featured in the chorus of course, but then those aren’t those blocky chords, its just the accent to the durge of the keyboard. The guitar is really subtle too, playing a picky pattern that almost sounds like morse code during the chorus. This is then mirrored by staccato backing vocals in the verse! I guess what I’m getting at is that “Tempted” is a song with a big sound made up of a bunch of softer parts. It’s an interesting contrast, especially when you think about the weighty subject that the track covers. For people like me who obsess over music history and music sound, “Tempted” is the ultimate song, one filled with every aspect I could ever want. Plus, I always love pointing out the little “I bought a toothbrush” at the beginning.
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