Light Aircraft on Fire

The song was the only one released from The Auteurs' most famous album, After Murder Park. The album was, and still is, held in high regard by fans of the band and it was considered to be the band's true breakthrough.

The lyrics of the song are influenced by the Britpop era of the time, which reached its peak in the time that this album was recorded. They appear quite random and hard to be linked, but they are talking about British things and people.

Tombstone Queen Victoria
Was an ex-wing walker
Everybody ignored her
Everybody implored her to
Vanish into the radio
Disappear in the waveband snow
Light aircraft on fire

[edit] Song Video

The video of "Light Aircraft on Fire" begins with a young girl in a movie theater watching a film of the band performing. Eventually she walks towards the screen, and finds herself in a white room surrounded by black statues. Momentarily she steps into the set in which The Auteurs are playing who appear to be wearing white attire with pilot hats. After dancing and twirling in front of the band members, she picks and smells a pink flower, then blows a bubble in the air. During the final breakdown of the song the young girl grabs each of the members instruments and smashes them to pieces, which then concludes the film on the projector. There are also effects used for the band throughout the video, including the replacement of their heads with those of animals, including a pig for the drummer, a cat for the bassist, and a bull terrier for the guitarist. Another effect is the use of a magnifying glass positioned in front of the microphone, having the singers mouth and eyes appear enlarged.

[edit] Trivia

The song is in C-sharp minor and in 4/4 time.
The video for the song was directed by Chris Cunningham.
The title of this song inspired the name of Garswood based psyche folk collective, Light Aircraft on Fire.