music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Shot by Both Sides" is a song written by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, and performed by the English post-punk band Magazine. It was released in January 1978 as the band's first single, reaching No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and appearing, a few months later, on their debut album Real Life. The song has been cited as a seminal work of the post-punk genre,[1][2] as well as a pop punk[3] and new wave song.[4][5]

"Shot by Both Sides"
Single by Magazine
from the album Real Life
B-side	"My Mind Ain't So Open"
Released	20 January 1978
Genre	Post-punk pop punk new wave
Length	4:04
Label	Virgin
Composer(s)	Howard Devoto Pete Shelley
Lyricist(s)	Howard Devoto
Producer(s)	Mick Glossop Magazine
Magazine singles chronology
"Shot by Both Sides" (1978) "Touch and Go" (1978)
Official Audio
"Shot By Both Sides" (Remastered) on YouTube

By the time of the single's recording, Magazine consisted of only four members, as original keyboardist Bob Dickinson had left the band the previous year.

The cover artwork was designed by Malcolm Garrett, based on the 1886 work La Chimere regarda avec effroi toutes choses by Symbolist artist Odilon Redon (1840–1916).[6]

Song

The name of the song came from a political argument between Devoto and his girlfriend, in which his girlfriend said to him; "Oh, you'll end up shot by both sides".[7]

The song originated in a riff that Pete Shelley came up with when Devoto was helping him with "some tentative Buzzcocks songs. He played the chord sequence and I was really impressed, said so, and he just gave them to me there and then."[8]

An identical guitar riff was used in the song "Lipstick" by Devoto's former band Buzzcocks, released as a B-side in November 1978, for which Devoto received a co-writing credit.[9]

Reception

The song was ranked at No. 9 among the top "Tracks of the Year" for 1978 by NME.[10]

Cover versions

This section does not cite any sources. (July 2019)

Swedish punk band No Fun at All covered the song on their album EP's Going Steady.

"Shot by Both Sides" was also covered by Dublin band Into Paradise, UK82 punk band English Dogs, French punk rockers Les Cadavres and Finnish punk band Kollaa Kestää (in Finnish as "Syksy").

"Shot by Both Sides" has been played live by several artists, including Radiohead (whose song "Just" contains a similar guitar riff), Mansun, and Jarvis Cocker.

Personnel

• Howard Devoto – vocals
• John McGeoch – guitar
• Barry Adamson – bass
• Martin Jackson – drums

References

На других языках

---

- [en] Shot by Both Sides

---

[es] Shot By Both Sides

«Shot By Both Sides» es una canción del grupo post-punk Magazine,[1] escrita por Howard Devoto, cantante de la agrupación, y Pete Shelley; quienes habían formado la banda punk Buzzcocks. Fue lanzada en sencillo homónimo por Magazine, en enero de 1978, siendo este disco, el primer material realizado por la banda. Meses más tarde, la canción salió también en el primer álbum de estudio, Real Life.

---

---