The song is among the numerous highlights of Gang of Four's landmark 1979 debut, Entertainment!, which was released 45 years ago last week. The refrains of 5:45 could easily refer to our conflict-heavy, media-saturated world today, just as other lyrics on the album feel positively prescient – take Natural's Not In It and its mockery of a collective "coercion of the senses", which could equally be an allusion to our society's obsession with TikTok and Instagram.
Even the artwork of Entertainment! – which shows a cowboy and a Native American framed by the sarcastic words, "The Indian smiles, he thinks the cowboy is his friend. The cowboy smiles, he is glad the Indian is fooled" – feels bold. The outmoded term for Native Americans aside, it's a cover that still feels hyper relevant, especially given the sustained discussion about the pitfalls of colonialism in recent years. Today, therefore, Gang of Four seem as much prophets as rock stars.
Musically, too, Gang of Four – and Entertainment! – remain a key touchstone for many contemporary artists: it's a record that has directly inspired everyone from Idles to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Run The Jewels and Frank Ocean. Indeed, listed as one of Kurt Cobain’s 50 favourite albums and described by REM's Michael Stipe as something he "lifted a lot from", Entertainment! is one of those albums that seems to have lit the fuse for generation after generation of boundary-breaking musicians.
It's become a staple on Best Albums of all time lists, whether from Pitchfork or Rolling Stone – and all this cultural impact has occurred, despite the album having never set the world alight in terms of sales. "It's like what they said about the first Velvet Underground album," King tells the BBC, "it didn't matter that it didn't sell great, because everyone who bought Entertainment! was inspired to form their own band."
