1. The more i listen to it, the more i think of "He Thought Of Cars" as the deformed, misshapen twin of "End of A Century"
2. I say this because of several reasons: (1) Both concern the future, and (2) the future described in the song is not a very pleasant one.
3. However, in "End Of A CEntury", at least the protagonist is content, comfortably numb, as Roger Waters might say. Although the end of the century is 'nothing special', they still find comfort in the mundanity of their lives.
4. On the other hand, "He Thought Of CArs" depict a very bleak future indeed.
5. Images of endless queues, cocaine ("Columbia is in top gear"), a feeling of pure loneliness in a crowd ("He thought of planes/ and where to fly them/ and who to fly them with/ there is no one"), hopelessness ("the Evening News/ says he was confused"), and something improbable becoming grimly true ("The motor ways will all merge soon / lottery winner buys the moon")
6. The contrast also extend to the music. While "End of a Century" sounds polished and pristine, "He thought of Cars" seem wobbly and distorted. Every instrument seem 'hung over': the drums nondescript, the guitars backward-sounding.
7. Thankfully, cheese tycoon Alex James is there to supply his melodic bass lines through out.
8. It also possess a beautiful tune, something it has in common with "... Century".
9. It's on the "Great Escape" LP. Dont listen to the band, who all hate it (except Alex). If you take it out of the hype, it stands as one of the great albums of the '90's.
10. I'm not persuading you. I'm simply telling you.
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