Sinister: The Chalet Lines

[Mark Casarotto]

Maybe I'm just as bad as Stuart, but "a clichéd rape"? Is this possible? 

Isn't rape, by definition, something intensely personal and (hopefully)
unique, something which comes in as many forms as there are victims? Some
may question the wisdom of Stuart writing the song. I quite literally did at
the press conference. However, I don't personally think it was unwise, but
courageous ("brave" always seems a bit weedy, almost an excuse). 

When I spoke to Stuart after the event, partly to apologise in case I had
embarrassed him, he said he was pleased someone had asked him a question
that didn't have a mindless journalese answer (sorry if I'm blowing my own
trumpet here, but it's an important subject, I think). The point was that
something very emotional affecting happened to a friend of Stuart's, and
many years later it still made enough of an impression for him to want to
express how he feels about it, the incident, the subject. For one second
imagine if he'd written a third person account. Yuk. Instead, Stuart puts
himself in an extremely vulnerable emotional position - I'm sure it was hard
for him to express those emotions, and I'm sure he's aware that others will
interpret them negatively, in ways he never meant, and he's prepared to
stand up for himself. 

The song is awkward and sometimes difficult to listen to, but I can't
imagine any male putting it more honestly or more sensitively. Perhaps, you
may argue, that's the point - he simply shouldn't have written about it. I
strongly believe the opposite, and to me, this otherwise unremarkable song
is probably the most vital on the album. Stuart, so adept at writing about
the vague and abstract, has taken an impossible subject and tackled it
without hesitation. It's one of the few pieces of evidence that B&S are
moving forward, rather than treading water and indulging in retro as recent
releases have hinted at.

Markx



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