‘Evil’: was Interpol’s signature song inspired by a serial killer?
Bear with me; I have a theory to work out. The Strokes were indie rock’s Nirvana; not quite the first to do it, but the first to work it all out and make it popular at the right time. The White Stripes were The Smashing Pumpkins; weirdo outsiders driven by one overarching creative force, a little bit out of step with everyone else but the most thrilling of all at their peak. Which makes Interpol the Pearl Jam of the group. Perhaps not the hippest, but the most consistent of all of them, both in terms of the music and popularity.
Seriously, if you wondered where Paul Banks and Co had gone since Turn On the Bright Lights and Antics seemed poised to make them America’s answer to The Cure, the truth is they haven’t gone anywhere. They’ve kept going steady, releasing several solid-to-great albums of sleek, post-punk-inflected indie rock.
They’ve clearly got the goodwill stored up for a major American Idiot/Black Gives Way To Blue style comeback if they really felt like it. However, considering the last time they made headlines was due to playing a concert in Mexico to 160,000 people, one wonders whether they really need it. That goodwill and international appeal come from absolute bangers like ‘NYC’, ‘The Heinrich Manoeuvre’ and ‘Slow Hands’.
A decent part of their appeal also comes from the band’s inherent darkness and mystique. While most bands of that NYC garage-rock revival scene dressed in torn skinny jeans and Converse, Interpol looked like goth hitmen. Literally, in talismanic bassist Carlos Dengler’s case, his go-to accessory for the band’s first two records was an empty gun holster strapped to his shoulder.
That darkness seemed to stretch to their music, too. In fact, there was a longstanding rumour that ‘Evil’, the lead single of Antics and one of their most iconic songs, was about two of the most repellent serial killers England ever produced. The opening lyric of the song goes “Rosemary / Heaven restores you in life” and, since the rest of the song is a twisted love song about a criminal couple who’ve done terrible things, fans have speculated that the song is about Fred West and his wife, Rosemary.
However, the band have been keen to knock this interpretation on the head. In an interview with The Garden, singer Paul Banks said, “I’d hate to rain on someone’s good time by spoiling the lore or theories about some songs, but generally, they are wrong. Everyone thinks Evil is about serial killers, but it isn’t at all.” It’s a very Interpol move to nix a fan interpretation without offering any clue as to what the song is about, but I think it’s justified here.
After all, making a song about the Wests goes straight beyond the realm of edgy, gothic cool and straight into the realm of crass. I don’t think it’s a coverup on the band’s part either, there’s no direct link to what the couple did apart from the opening lyric’s reference to a fairly common girls name and a song-wide focus on ‘evil acts’.
If anything, the bands’ reaction reads like they’re shutting down the idea that their songs are about one thing rather than a specific rejection of that theme. Which is for the best! Sure, the band may have their own inspirations for it, but as much of a cliché as it sounds, individual interpretation is just as valid as anything else. Don’t take anyone else’s word for it. Find out what it means to you.
