a short site about The Divine Comedy

French version

Dumb It Down

Lyrics & Music: Neil Hannon

Published by: BMG Music Publishing Ltd.

Originally interpreted by: The Divine Comedy

 

To see the lyrics, click on the name of the version you are interested in (on the left).

 

Tabs/Scores

Informations

This is one of the Regeneration songs which were played first in Edinburgh in 2000. It hasn’t been played since 2001, though.

It’s a very clever song. Neil said: “It’s about how the media think the public is stupid. They think they only want shit, and give it to him. That’s wrong! Even when they’ve had a bad day, people want quality. And besides, intelligence doesn’t have to be serious: look at the Beach Boys’ songs…” [1]

This song shows how much Neil Hannon has changed since the beginnings of The Divine Comedy. Whereas in Liberation, Neil was evolving in an imaginary world, trying not to face reality, he’s now dealing with it. Sometimes his words are harsh. But they are always right. He has become an adult.


[1] New Comer, 2001