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Will-o-the-wisp

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2020
Original album - Hotspot
Producer - Stuart Price
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)

Neil has specifically compared this song, the energetic opening track of Hotspot, to "Two Divided by Zero," the first song on their debut album, Please. On that much earlier song, the narrator talks about hopping a train to escape his humdrum existence for the more exciting life of London. The narrator of "Will-o-the-wisp" also starts at a train station, in this case on the U1 line, part of the U-Bahn, the Berlin rapid transit rail system. Neil has noted that on the weekends the U1 is "like a party train," which he mentions in the song. The Boys go so far as to incorporate actual sampled sounds of the Berlin rail transit system into the recording.

In talking about this song, Neil revealed to interviewer Jan Kedves that his inspiration was Anglo-American author Christopher Isherwood (born and raised in the U.K. but spent most of his adult life in the States, becoming an American citizen in 1946), who wrote in his diaries about a visit to Berlin after the Second World War, during which he recognizes a former lover from a distance. "Isherwood still has a crush on him, but the man does not recognize him—or is pretending not to." Whether we regard the narrator of the song as Isherwood himself or merely a character inspired by him, the "will-o-the-wisp" of the title is a man on the train who has caught his eye. It turns out he's a figure from the narrator's past whom he's now seeing "after many years."

I think, my, you may have changed
But you're such a handsome thing

He's also always been "a free spirit who came and went so much." (See my first annotation below for details about the underlying meaning and significance of "will-o-the-wisp.") He now suddenly becomes the object of the narrator's wonder and fantasy. The narrator refers to their past familiarity—

You were always such a free spirit
A bright-eyed eager chap
A will-o-the-wisp

—and then, as Isherwood himself does in his diary, speculates about the path this man's life may have taken in more recent years:

But maybe you've gone respectable
With a wife and job and all that
Working for the local government
And living in a rented flat?

Could he now be taking the U1 "party train" as a temporary respite from his humdrum life, "in search of love and laughter"?

The narrator then wistfully wonders whether this man would recognize him after all this time and "give [him] a smile for old time's sake." In the final variations of the chorus leading to the song's conclusion, he reveals a crucial detail about his feelings for this will-o-the-wisp: that he (the narrator) is "still longing for [his] touch." Whether he once was actually the narrator's lover (which is what I suspect) or only a friend for whom he harbored an unrequited passion is uncertain. Whatever the case, this man becomes once again a will-o-the-wisp as he disappears on the train: a fleeting, ephemeral vision who has, as always, come and gone.

With its chugging, driving rhythm—no doubt reflecting its train setting—and its unusual, almost free-form melody, "Will-o-the-wisp" proves an outstanding album opener.

Annotations

The term "will-o-the-wisp" (often written with an apostrophe as "will-o'-the-wisp," the apostrophe taking the place of the missing letter f since the original phrase is "will of the wisp") comes from English folklore, referring to a mysterious "ghost light" seen at night, particularly in marshy areas. It most likely has its origins in an actual natural phenomenon: bioluminescence caused by the oxidation of naturally occurring compounds, such as methane, produced by the decay of organic matter—dead plants—a common enough occurrence in bogs, swamps, and other areas where the will-o-the-wisp is said to appear. There are analogues in various other cultures as well, including several European nations, Canada, the United States, and even parts of East Asia. The will-o-the-wisp is commonly viewed as a negative thing since, according to legend, it can lead unsuspecting travelers toward dangerous bogs into which they might fall and drown. In literature it carries more ambiguous connotations—sometimes positive, sometimes negative. It may metaphorically describe an inspirational dream or objective, though it may prove elusive or even impossible. In other cases it's far more sinister, harkening back to its original meaning as something quite dangerous. At least one dictionary provides an additional metaphorical definition for "will-o-the-wisp," stating that it can refer to "a person or thing that is elusive or allures and misleads," which certainly relates to its metaphorical application in this song.
Uhland, Warschauerstraße, and Nollendorfplatz – Stations along the U-Bahn's U1 line mentioned in the lyrics. Uhland is short for Uhlandstraße (Uhland Street), the station that serves as the western terminus of the line, named for the nineteenth-century German poet Ludwig Uhland. Warschauerstraße (Warsaw Street) is named for a major city thoroughfare. The Nollendorfplatz station is named a city square that has a history of association with Berlin's "gay scene." In fact, a pink triangle memorial plaque at that station commemorates the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany. Another station mentioned in a sampled U-Bahn announcement, Hallesches Tor, also has strong "gay connections," being near where a number of gay bars and other hangouts are located.
"Do you still hang around that old arcade to see what luck will bring?" – A double entendre with strong sexual connotations. Speaking of which, at least one of my site visitors has speculated that the "will-o-the-wisp" addressed in this song might be the same person—many years later, now all grown up—whom Neil's lyrical persona was addressing in the Boys' 1993 song "Young Offender," who indeed had a penchant for hanging around arcades.
One of my site visitors has suggested that the Boys may have chosen Berlin's U1 underground train line, as opposed to its "sister line," the U2, not only because the U1 is indeed more a "party train" but also on account of its name—specifically, that it's not U2. As longtime fans know, our musical heroes have something of a history with the band U2, most famously exemplified by PSB's notorious cover of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" back in 1991. As this site visitor pointed out, surely Neil and Chris were aware as they recorded most of Hotspot at Berlin's Hansa Studios that U2 had also recorded there. (U2 recorded most of their 1991 album Achtung Baby at Hansa Studios.) Could the assertion that the U1 is "such a party train" be a slight, winking dig at U2 for presumably not being a party train (that is, band)? Personally, I don't think any sort of actual or perceived "rivalry" between PSB and U2 is a factor after all these years. Still, one can't dismiss out of hand the possibility that some sort of playfulness like this might be at work.
In Annually 2020, Chris revealed the fascinating origin of the music for this song:

I wrote a piece of music, started at 12:17 in the morning on Friday, the 2nd of February 2018.… The name I gave to the track was 'Dad Dancing.' That was because I'd been to see Pete Tong's Hereitage Orchestra at the O2. I was thinking of a riff that would be good for an orchestra to play to a dance beat, but I was also picturing how the men of a certain age at this concert danced, sort of moving from side to side. Quite endearing, actually.… It's certainly men of a certain age dancing to house music back in the day.… It became 'Will-o-the-wisp' in the studio on February 23."

Mixes/versions

Officially released

Mixer: Stuart Price
- Album version (4:27)
- Instrumental (4:27)

List cross-references

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