Analysis of "Lord Anthony"

Today, I will be doing something a little different: an interpretation of one of my favourite songs!

I love Belle & Sebastian, and this song really stood out to me, so I decided to nerd out and type out my thoughts about it, lol. (The English exam is already in the past but OH WELL).

Even if you hate English and all the deciphering shenanigans, I still highly recommend listening to the song!

Lord Anthony – Belle & Sebastian

Anthony, bullied at school
Get your own back now you are cool
Or are you scared bunking off though you're a toff?
It's all gone wrong again, you've got Double Maths.

It starts by setting the tone, which is slightly accusing. The song focuses on Anthony, who is a student who suffers a lot of bullying. Now for some British slang. “Bunking off” means playing hooky, and a “toff” is someone of a higher class. A picture of Anthony is starting to form now, and for me, it is a picture of a boy in middle school trying to fit in the “cool crowd.” However, he gets made fun of for coming from a richer family (I’m guessing mainly blue-collared families send their kids to this school) and also for being above average in academics (just as he was close to setting a cool appearance for himself, they find out he’s taking smart kid math classes).

For the accusing or mocking tone, this is seen in “now you are cool,” which gives a sense that the speaker is challenging Anthony, and also “are you scared,” which is a phrase many adolescents use to get others to do stupid things.

But the teacher's got no control
The boys all run riot
"You will stay quiet or you will die."

This reflects on the condition Anthony’s school is in. I don’t know much about the British education system, but I did do some research about it. From the little knowledge I have on the subject, it appears to me that there is less control in the social sphere of students (please feel free to correct or add to that, I would actually really like to know more about European education systems). By this, I mean that issues such as bullying in schools aren’t emphasized as much as it is in North America. Perhaps the teacher does recognize the problem, but getting involved would not only use up personal time, it would also likely be difficult to really change anything (one teacher can’t change an entire culture, but if everyone has this mindset, there definitely won’t be any progress).

Anthony can’t even confront about being bullied because of that threat of death.

Tony, at the back of the gym
Smoke another one, your chances are slim,
'Cause here they come again
And they got you on the ground.
Tasting blood again;
At least it's your own.

That last line really stood out to me. What an incredibly optimistic comment for such a terrible situation! This gives an idea about how common being beat up is for poor Anthony. Being beaten to the ground until he tastes blood is something he has experienced before (who knows how many times), and it’s become so routine that he has no choice but to find a bright side to it.

When will you realize it doesn't pay
To be smarter than teachers, smarter than most boys?
"So shut your mouth, start kicking the football."
Bang on the teeth. You are off for a week, boy.

Before I even looked up the lyrics to this song, this is the part that I kept repeating in my head. The meaning of it is just so sad (and it can apply to both genders, as I will elaborate on later). Again, the commanding tone of the speaker shines through. He’s empathetically looking at Anthony, wondering when he will realize that being unique will only make the bullying worse. The only way Anthony can temporarily escape the harassment is by conforming to the ideal masculine role of playing football.

You may as well take it in the guts, it can't get worse.
Just take it in the guts, it can't get worse than this.

This is where I start to get the idea that the speaker is Anthony himself, but later in his life. He’s looking back on his youth, chanting to himself that the pains will be over (they are over now).

'Cause you'll soon be old enough to leave them
Without a notion of a care
You'll leave two fingers in the air
To linger there.

At first, I thought “two fingers” meant a salute or peace sign, but then I remembered that putting up two fingers in the shape of a V is meant to be offensive in the UK. The speaker is reassuring Anthony that the bullying will soon be but a bad memory, and he can safely leave it with a final “screw you guys” attitude.

Tony, you're a bit of a mess;
Melted Toblerone under your dress.
If the kids could see you they would pass you right by.
Blue mascara running over your eye.

This was so confusing to me the first few times I read it. The words “dress” and “mascara” really contrasted with the tough guy image Anthony was forced to keep up in school. I interpret this to mean that Tony has left that image behind along with his memories, and now he is a completely different person that the bullies would pass by without a glance. The person he has become is the real Anthony, and he has finally worked up to courage to go out in public as himself. I think that Anthony is probably transgendered, and the “melted Toblerone” is subtly referring to his biological male bits. Because he is a wearing a dress and mascara is running over his eye, it probably means that the season is now summer so chocolate would melt. Not to fill your imagination with images of melting… parts, but it’s symbolic for the disappearance of Anthony’s old life.

When will you realize it doesn't pay
To be smarter than teachers, smarter than most boys?
"Shut your mouth, start kicking the football"
Bang on the teeth. You were off for a week, boy.

As promised, I will talk about what I meant by the other gender. When I first listened to this song, I thought that “it doesn’t pay to be smarter than teachers, smarter than most boys” meant that it wasn’t beneficial to girls. Know-it-alls aren’t especially liked, and since this school isn’t up for social equality, being a female know-it-all would be fatal. Anthony probably knew this, so he has to refrain from showing not only his intellect, but also his feminine side. A boy dressing as a girl would be even more of a no-no in unaccepting communities like this.

(Anthony. it could be worse)
(Anthony, it could be worse)

Suddenly, Sarah Martin’s beautiful voice appears! Soft and feminine, it stands out from the rest of the song. This could mean that Anthony finally decides to show his true personality. These lines are repeated in the background for the next part, like the voice in the back of your head, pointing out the obvious.

They call you Lord Anthony but hey, it could be worse.
Lord Anthony but hey, it could be worse.
Lord Anthony but hey, it kind of suits you anyway...

According to Urban Dictionary, “Lord Anthony” refers to someone who thinks highly of themselves and look down upon others. This links back to “toff,” but neither of these names are extremely offensive. Perhaps this is why Anthony keeps repeating “it could be worse,” because he knows that if the kids found out who he really was, they would be doing much worse things to him. The continuation of “Anthony, it could be worse” in the background hints as what it is that Anthony is hiding.

Also, a “Lord Anthony” is some jacket that’s common with kids on the playground, or something. I really don’t know about this one, I think it’s used like how we use “Canada Goose” here?

You'll soon be old enough to leave them
Without a notion of a care
You'll leave two fingers in the air
To linger there.

I actually searched up the name “Anthony” and all the meanings behind it to see if there’s some clever hidden meaning. Sadly, this is as straightforward as it gets. Well, it depends on how you interpret it. The origin of Anthony comes from the Roman general Marcus Antonius (Mark Anthony), which is pretty much confined to masculine use. Now that I think about it, this makes sense. Anthony is “confined” to a masculine gender ideology, unable to express his real personality in fear of being harassed.

Believe it or not, all of this isn’t even everything I want to say. I could go on to analyse every single word, but for everyone’s sake, I’ll just leave it at this.

The moral of the story is: majoring in English is fun! Some people may say that breaking down a piece of writing is pointless, but I think that it’s an enriching experience.

1) It gave me a deep understanding, something I can’t achieve by only listening to it over and over, of a song I love.

2) I have given more thought to issues of bullying, discrimination of class, and the inner struggles of a non-dominant sexuality.

3) The uniqueness of education systems in different cultures has piqued my interest. This and #2 will be useful for my teaching career in the future.

4) I also learned some British slang! Yay!

TL;DR: “Lord Anthony” is a great song and you should listen to it along with many other Belle & Sebastian songs :D