“Closed Groove”

When considering Stiff Little Finger’s music, it is important to note their punk origin. Being punk, there is a level of tension with the society they live in. Being from Northern Ireland, the society Stiff Little Fingers are in tension with is highly divided and sectarian. What they are most opposed to are ideological extremists, who tend to proliferate violence. The song, “Closed Groove,” shows Stiff Little Finger’s as a band resisting a “Do what you’re told to be free,” mentality, while searching for identity.

The lyrics from “Closed Groove” decidedly dismiss what Stiff Little Fingers perceive as tired ideological rhetoric. The chorus mocks pre-existing forces fighting for their ideals: “Beep Beep, I’ve got very strong views, Plug in any tape you choose.” This establishes both Catholic and Protestant ideology as poignant but interchangeable, as both sides use the same violent means. Stiff Little Fingers also aptly address the rigidity in the extremes of sectarian Northern Ireland with the unassuming line, “Think what you like – if you agree with me.” This distance between ideological extremes is described by John Conroy in Belfast Diary, as a no man’s land. Because the numerous negative connotations, an insistence for the superseding of extremist ideology is called: “Nostalgia is past its prime, History’s a thing of the past.”

Stiff Little Fingers search for their own voice amidst antiquated rhetoric by rejecting established sectarian views – “I’m changing my views constantly.” The last lines in “Closed Groove” are a cry for autonomy and self-identity. “Speak whenever you hear this tone, Scream whenever you hear this tone” –literally a cry for like-minded people who aren’t indoctrinated by extremist ideology. Stiff Little Fingers refuse to identify with either extremes in Northern Ireland and react the only way they can. Singer Jake Burns in an interview states that “Inflammable Material,” “Reflects what we sounded like at the time – Raw, raucous and full of anger” (Louder than War).

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