Rogue FX is Andrew Wood, from the United Kingdom. Part of the Synthpop group “Please” in the 1980s, then dedicated to House music in the 1990s as “Bass Value“, he returns to give us his art after 20 years of hiatus.
Initially, he released high-quality works such as “filofax” and “The Fifth Step“and today we are talking about his cover of “People are Strange” by The Doors.
Lyrics
People are strange
When you’re a stranger
Faces look ugly
When you’re alone
Women seem wicked
When you’re unwanted
Streets are uneven
When you’re down
When you’re strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you’re strange
No one remembers your name
When you’re strange
When you’re strange
When you’re strange
People are strange
When you’re a stranger
Faces look ugly
When you’re alone
Women seem wicked
When you’re unwanted
Streets are uneven
When you’re down
When you’re strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you’re strange
No one remembers your name
When you’re strange
When you’re strange
When you’re strange
All right, yeah
When you’re strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you’re strange
No one remembers your name
When you’re strange
When you’re strange
When you’re strange
The song's meaning
It is interesting how a text written to represent the social alienation that was felt in the 1960s is still so relevant in 2023, demonstrating that despite progress and scientific discoveries, society still faces the same challenges of that time.
People are categorized through “labels” that others give them. Labels that are created ad hoc by the media and that aim to channel the population into different paths of both growth and hatred, making sure that whoever is useful to the system is considered worthy of “conforming” but that, as soon as someone does not bow to social directives, it is the system itself, made up of other people like us, to ostracize them, demonize them, ridicule them, exclude them and, in doing so, often condemn them.
The song already when it was written by The Doors aimed to talk about this social exclusion and how the world looked when an individual was “different.”
The power of its message has not only diminished over the years, but if we stop for a moment to observe the world around us, it could even have become, in the total indifference of those who do not perceive it, even more important.
Musical Analysis
Electronic keyboard sounds that pulsate in the air, appearing and disappearing, combined with basses clearly inspired by Moroder, create an extremely catchy retro rhythm that captures the listener’s attention and prevents them from stopping listening, even after one, two, three repetitions of the song.
A retro-style voice, perhaps not perfectly clean but perfect for the sound of the song, powerful percussion, and instrumental full of effects but that perfectly maintains the clarity of each individual sound make this cover one of the best in circulation.
A great production for a great text.
Conclusion
Rogue FX‘s cover of “People Are Strange” is a fantastic tribute to a historic band that takes a powerful message and fills it with new energy, releasing it into the world at a historical moment when its importance is more important than ever to understand.
What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
All the best,
Luca
