{"id":1333,"date":"2016-02-10T15:21:47","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T20:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bandsiusetalike.com\/biul\/?p=1333"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:58:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:58:24","slug":"hate-proof-adam-ants-goody-two-shoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bandsiusetalike.com\/biul\/hate-proof-adam-ants-goody-two-shoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Hate Proof: Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You probably won’t believe this, but when I was a stage actor in the late 90s, I hung around with an actual carny. A guy who really did run off to join the circus as a kid, name of D.C.; a character so colorful, the memories seem like legends. We used to cruise the streets of Savannah in his gigantic box truck and pick up chicks. It was every bit as great as it sounds. Who amongst you can say you’ve been a carny’s wingman?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no idea where D.C. went after the century’s turn. Probably somewhere fun and awesome, relatively close to a beach or a circus. Backstage when we were castmates in a production of Brendan Behan’s The Hostage<\/em>, he would signal an impending night of debauchery by singing “pound note, pound note.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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I got to kiss three different actresses per show during that play’s run, and then I’d go carouse with my carny friend afterward. This is a big part of why I’m so mad all the time; I have experiences like these to compare with the present. I was an inveterate pub crawler; I knew a girl who would tell every bartender in town that it was my birthday, on any night, and I once arrived at Vinnie Van Go-Go’s with the fanfare of empty beer bottles rolling out of my girlfriend’s truck, onto asphalt. <\/em>I come from drinking culture, <\/em>folks. What can I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway; the raucous carny, the rumbling box truck, the sloppy make-outs with strange maidens- all these things are perfectly accompanied by Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes”. The song and the memory are permanently fused. I can’t imagine a better soundtrack for such shenanigans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Goody Two Shoes” kicks off with a heavily-reverbed, uptempo shuffle, leading into a saucy guitar (bass?) twang. Right off the bat we get an image of young female legs, shy, trembling to the rhythm of the jukebox in a cavernous space. Hopefully that’s an honest evocation of the music, and not just something I fucking half-remembered from the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next we get a delirious, pixillated horn section, providing a brassy, almost mocking back-and-forth for the song’s hook. The martial pace and briskness knock energy into the air like colorful party balloons. Then Adam Ant appears like a soused martinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the heartbreak open
\nSo much you can’t hide
\nPut on a little makeup, makeup
\nMake sure they get your good side, good side<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the words unspoken<\/em>
\n Get stuck in your throat<\/em>
\n Send a treasure token, token<\/em>
\n Write it on a pound note, pound note<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I never understood the “two shoes” part. Is Goody a prude because she wears two shoes instead of one? That’s a grim judgment to place on a girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless, the words “Goody Two Shoes” make for a choice chorus, like vocal paradiddles. Ant overdubs the vocals, and he clearly knows more than a thing or two about harmony. He has the timing of a drummer, which is a nice counterpart to the drums themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?
\nDon’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?
\nSubtle innuendos follow
\nThere must be something inside<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is great pop. Since I know it’s already stuck in your head, here it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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