Peppermint
Well-Known Member
Roughly what the Anon above was saying - how there was a furore about the song which appeared to be glorifying shoplifting.Yeah, it's a compelling argument, and I've read the threads, but it could equally just be face value and another expressions of his romance of petty criminals, which exists throughout his work (Rusholme Ruffians, Now My Heart is Full, "pretty petty thieves," etc., etc.). What did he say in Autobiography, though? I don't recall.
'"But the song IS about shoplifting!" I wheeze out.'
There followed (I think - it's described in an odd way) some sort of oblique statement about 'conscious borrowing' - ie the theft of ideas.
So he's propping up the notion that it's actually about shoplifting, but even a cursory glance at the lyrics suggests there's a lot more to it.
But you're right, the romance of crime is a recurring theme.