Music Archive: Wire’s Still Relevant Live Performance From 1979

Ever since the U.S. government got their excuse to invade and/or bomb Yemen, thanks to the alleged actions of the “underwear bomber,” two songs by post-punk luminaries Wire have been stuck in my head. One, “Being Sucked in Again” from Wire’s 1978 album Chairs Missing and also “Blessed State” from the band’s 1979 album 154. Although Wire’s music may echo the frustration many of us are feeling in these times of instability, it’s the lyrics that make them still relevant thirty plus years later.

From “Blessed State”
Closing doors
Opens eyes
To the fatal gift
Of a well timed lie
Loved in the flesh
And (but) butchered in the mind
Oh what a pearl
What a well made world
Holy globe
Eternal home
Sacred sphere
So glad I’m here
Oh what a pearl
What a well made world

From “Being Sucked in Again”
Bound and gagged your labour’s saved
The cost minute, the rules are waved
No hand, no step, your labour’s in vain
Being sucked in again

Both live versions of these songs were recorded in 1979 by the German TV show Rockpalast and re-released in 2004 by Wire as a part of a live CD/DVD set called Wire on the Box: 1979. It is excellent.

For those new to Wire and wanting more, we also highly suggest any of the band’s first three studio albums.

Wire – Pink Flag – 1977
Wire – Chairs Missing – 1978
Wire – 154 – 1979

Find out more about Wire here

posted by: Harold Johns III