Following (M.Steele) - Analysis by RealInspectorShane - updated June 2011
Year: 1985
Band: Bangles
Album: Different Light
First Live Performance: August 2001
Last Live Performance: January 2004
Lyrics:
You think I'm crazy or something
Always following you around
You say I'm a hopeless case
Run an obsession into the ground
You call me a loser
You call me a shadowing fool
Look over your shoulder
And you say I'm haunting you
So why do you call me
Why do you look for me
Why do your eyes follow me the way they do
You hold me responsible
Yeah, so I stand accused
Of causing all the trouble after high school
Between him and you
You call me a loser
You call me a shadowing fool
But I was a good girl
Yeah, 'til you taught me what it means to be true
So why do you call me
Why do you look for me
Why do your eyes follow me the way they do
Analysis:
Although technically preceded by her cowriters' credits on Born To Be Bad (Runaways) and Let It Go (Bangles), Following is Michael's first officially released composition. Due to being released in Europe it is also her only song to become a single. To many fans, it still rates among her finest work. The song features traits seen in other songs of hers, most notably a focus on the aftermath of a romance rather than the actual romance (Something To Believe In is the only exception to this trait) and lyrical ambiguity.
Sung in first-person, its main theme is the paranoia and obsession that follow from the end of a teenage romantic relationship. While stalking in itself is not an unusual topic in music,,Following is unusual for depicting it in a more complex fashion than stalker songs such as The Police's 'Every Breath You Take'. This complexity is due to the narrator and the ex-lover (although the ex-lover is often assumed to be male, this is not directly stated in the lyric) each accusing each other of obsessive behaviour, in a sense making their fears of stalking mutual. Michael has acknowledged in a 2003 chat that the song is autobiographical, without specifying anything more about its inspiration beyond it being about her 'high school sweetheart'.
The narrative perspective and the identity of the lover remain unknown. The lines "You hold me responsible/yeah so I stand accused/ of causing all that trouble after high school/ between Him and You" suggest an interpretation that the song is in fact being sung from the (male) lover's perspective. This would be unconventional, if not atypical for Michael's songs. For example, Song For A Good Son is sung in the first person, but from the male character's perspective ("the dark eyed son/the privileged man"). However, in the next verse of Following, Michael makes clear that she's singing from a woman's perspective (probably hers), with the lines, "But I was a good girl/ yeah til you taught me what it means to be true."
For this reason, an equally, if not more reasonable, interpretation of the song, is that Michael is singing about a female ex-lover. The aforementioned "Him" in the prior verse suggests a sardonic reference to her ex-lover's post-high school boyfriend. And the use of "good girl" and "truth" in the lyrics suggest that the affair between Michael and her ex-lover forced Michael to abandon societal (heterosexual?) pressures, in favor of following her own truth. This idea also gains plausibility for Michael's high school days being in the early 1970s.
Beyond this, close inspection of the lyrics reveals other interesting details. For example, the image of a 'shadowin' fool' may be a highly subtle literary reference, in that John Galworthy's epic 1920s novel The Forsyte Saga features a character being referred to as 'the fool, the shadowing fool!'. Highlighting these points does not exhaust the song's meaning however, as it is has a great amount of depth for a three-minute number.
Following also stands out for its sound, somewhat unusual for 1986 and clearly differing from the rest of Different Light in that Michael's acoustic guitar (capoed on 2nd fret) is used as lead instrument with keyboards only used to provide extra background, in a more subtle fashion than elsewhere on the album. Additionally, Following uses jazz chords and an arpeggio-heavy style of playing throughout that features virtually nowhere else in the Bangles catalogue. Musically and lyrically then, Following is a highly sophisticated song, and moreso for being its writer's first released tune.
Quotes:
"Michael wrote and sang "Following," a haunting acoustic track on Different Light. "He had totally forgotten about that song," she remembered. "He was totally freaking out about which of the 27 mixes of 'Manic Monday' was the right one. We were almost done with recording and I said 'Uhh, David, remember the song 'Following'? So it was, like, two takes."" Bill DeYoung, 'California Dreaming', Goldmine Magazine, September 2000.
Reviews:
"One of the biggest revelations of Different Light is Michael Steele's debut as a singer and songwriter. Surprisingly, she shows herself to be the band's most interesting lead vocalist. Her alto is full of blue-Monday moodiness; her phrasing is informed by the talk-sing styles of Bob Dylan and Rickie Lee Jones. And Steele's angry, sorrowful ballad "Following" arguably stands as the LP's strongest track. Certainly, it points the band in another direction – toward darker feelings as well as jazz and folk constructions." Laura Fissinger, 'Different Light', Rolling Stone March 13 1986
Year: 1985
Band: Bangles
Album: Different Light
First Live Performance: August 2001
Last Live Performance: January 2004
Lyrics:
You think I'm crazy or something
Always following you around
You say I'm a hopeless case
Run an obsession into the ground
You call me a loser
You call me a shadowing fool
Look over your shoulder
And you say I'm haunting you
So why do you call me
Why do you look for me
Why do your eyes follow me the way they do
You hold me responsible
Yeah, so I stand accused
Of causing all the trouble after high school
Between him and you
You call me a loser
You call me a shadowing fool
But I was a good girl
Yeah, 'til you taught me what it means to be true
So why do you call me
Why do you look for me
Why do your eyes follow me the way they do
Analysis:
Although technically preceded by her cowriters' credits on Born To Be Bad (Runaways) and Let It Go (Bangles), Following is Michael's first officially released composition. Due to being released in Europe it is also her only song to become a single. To many fans, it still rates among her finest work. The song features traits seen in other songs of hers, most notably a focus on the aftermath of a romance rather than the actual romance (Something To Believe In is the only exception to this trait) and lyrical ambiguity.
Sung in first-person, its main theme is the paranoia and obsession that follow from the end of a teenage romantic relationship. While stalking in itself is not an unusual topic in music,,Following is unusual for depicting it in a more complex fashion than stalker songs such as The Police's 'Every Breath You Take'. This complexity is due to the narrator and the ex-lover (although the ex-lover is often assumed to be male, this is not directly stated in the lyric) each accusing each other of obsessive behaviour, in a sense making their fears of stalking mutual. Michael has acknowledged in a 2003 chat that the song is autobiographical, without specifying anything more about its inspiration beyond it being about her 'high school sweetheart'.
The narrative perspective and the identity of the lover remain unknown. The lines "You hold me responsible/yeah so I stand accused/ of causing all that trouble after high school/ between Him and You" suggest an interpretation that the song is in fact being sung from the (male) lover's perspective. This would be unconventional, if not atypical for Michael's songs. For example, Song For A Good Son is sung in the first person, but from the male character's perspective ("the dark eyed son/the privileged man"). However, in the next verse of Following, Michael makes clear that she's singing from a woman's perspective (probably hers), with the lines, "But I was a good girl/ yeah til you taught me what it means to be true."
For this reason, an equally, if not more reasonable, interpretation of the song, is that Michael is singing about a female ex-lover. The aforementioned "Him" in the prior verse suggests a sardonic reference to her ex-lover's post-high school boyfriend. And the use of "good girl" and "truth" in the lyrics suggest that the affair between Michael and her ex-lover forced Michael to abandon societal (heterosexual?) pressures, in favor of following her own truth. This idea also gains plausibility for Michael's high school days being in the early 1970s.
Beyond this, close inspection of the lyrics reveals other interesting details. For example, the image of a 'shadowin' fool' may be a highly subtle literary reference, in that John Galworthy's epic 1920s novel The Forsyte Saga features a character being referred to as 'the fool, the shadowing fool!'. Highlighting these points does not exhaust the song's meaning however, as it is has a great amount of depth for a three-minute number.
Following also stands out for its sound, somewhat unusual for 1986 and clearly differing from the rest of Different Light in that Michael's acoustic guitar (capoed on 2nd fret) is used as lead instrument with keyboards only used to provide extra background, in a more subtle fashion than elsewhere on the album. Additionally, Following uses jazz chords and an arpeggio-heavy style of playing throughout that features virtually nowhere else in the Bangles catalogue. Musically and lyrically then, Following is a highly sophisticated song, and moreso for being its writer's first released tune.
Quotes:
"Michael wrote and sang "Following," a haunting acoustic track on Different Light. "He had totally forgotten about that song," she remembered. "He was totally freaking out about which of the 27 mixes of 'Manic Monday' was the right one. We were almost done with recording and I said 'Uhh, David, remember the song 'Following'? So it was, like, two takes."" Bill DeYoung, 'California Dreaming', Goldmine Magazine, September 2000.
Reviews:
"One of the biggest revelations of Different Light is Michael Steele's debut as a singer and songwriter. Surprisingly, she shows herself to be the band's most interesting lead vocalist. Her alto is full of blue-Monday moodiness; her phrasing is informed by the talk-sing styles of Bob Dylan and Rickie Lee Jones. And Steele's angry, sorrowful ballad "Following" arguably stands as the LP's strongest track. Certainly, it points the band in another direction – toward darker feelings as well as jazz and folk constructions." Laura Fissinger, 'Different Light', Rolling Stone March 13 1986
Michael Steele
Possible influence for "Following"?
The Forsyte Saga p428
Outraged and on edge, Soames recoiled.
"Don't make a scene!" he said sharply. And they both stood motionless, staring at the little Niobe, whose greenish flesh the sunlight was burnishing.
"That's your last word, then," muttered Soames, clenching his hands; "you condemn us both."
Irene bent her head. "I can't come back. Good-bye!"
A feeling of monstrous injustice flared up in Soames.
"Stop!" he said, "and listen to me a moment. You gave me a sacred vow - you came to me without a penny. You had all I could give you. You broke that vow without cause, you made me a by-word; you refused me a child; you've left me in prison; you - you still move me so that I want you - I want you. Well, what do you think of yourself?"
Irene turned, her face was deadly pale, her eyes burning dark.
"God made me as I am," she said; "wicked if you like - but not so wicked that I'll give myself to a man I hate."
The sunlight gleamed on her hair as she moved away, and seemed to lay a caress all down her clinging cream-coloured frock.
Soames could neither speak nor move. That word 'hate' - so extreme, so primitive - made all the Forsyte in him tremble. With a deep imprecation he strode away from where she had vanished, and ran almost into the arms of the lady sauntering back - the fool, the shadowing fool!
The Forsyte Saga p428
Outraged and on edge, Soames recoiled.
"Don't make a scene!" he said sharply. And they both stood motionless, staring at the little Niobe, whose greenish flesh the sunlight was burnishing.
"That's your last word, then," muttered Soames, clenching his hands; "you condemn us both."
Irene bent her head. "I can't come back. Good-bye!"
A feeling of monstrous injustice flared up in Soames.
"Stop!" he said, "and listen to me a moment. You gave me a sacred vow - you came to me without a penny. You had all I could give you. You broke that vow without cause, you made me a by-word; you refused me a child; you've left me in prison; you - you still move me so that I want you - I want you. Well, what do you think of yourself?"
Irene turned, her face was deadly pale, her eyes burning dark.
"God made me as I am," she said; "wicked if you like - but not so wicked that I'll give myself to a man I hate."
The sunlight gleamed on her hair as she moved away, and seemed to lay a caress all down her clinging cream-coloured frock.
Soames could neither speak nor move. That word 'hate' - so extreme, so primitive - made all the Forsyte in him tremble. With a deep imprecation he strode away from where she had vanished, and ran almost into the arms of the lady sauntering back - the fool, the shadowing fool!
Michael Steele performs "Following"
Michael Steele performs "Following"