Whereas some songwriters are quite overt with their drug-centric lyrics while still leaving a little room for ambiguity (ahem, Rick James), others remain opaque to the point where you don’t even realize the lyrics might relate to something else. For instance, there’s no reason at all to think this song is about heroin. And yet…..

The Stranglers formed in Guildford, Surrey, England in the mid-70’s, and despite their advanced ages (drummer Jet Black was almost 40) and advanced musical skills (one member had played with symphony orchestras and another with jazz bands), they somehow found themselves swept up in the punk movement, labeled and booked as such, and shared stages with young, snotty bands who could barely play their instruments. The Stranglers initially dumbed themselves down a bit — and scored a bunch of hits as a result — but as the punk rush faded and morphed into post-punk, there was no longer any need to hold themselves back.

More sophisticated sounds emerged from the band by the early 80’s — with a corresponding slippage down the charts — and in 1981 all three of their singles peaked outside of the Top 40. It looked like The Stranglers might be on their way out. And their new record label agreed.

EMI Records acquired The Stranglers when they bought United Artists Records, and the label didn’t care for the (relatively) old geezers at all. The group didn’t play by the rules, they no longer had hits, they didn’t look or sound like Duran Duran (also on EMI), and for their next single the band wanted to release an atmospheric, waltzy, harpsichord-driven song with no chorus.

EMI capitulated, but released “Golden Brown” in January of 1982, hoping it would die a quiet death amid all the holiday songs and the crush of contenders who had been competing for the Christmas #1. The label executives didn’t get their yuletide wish. “Golden Brown” began to climb the charts with alacrity, peaking at #2 in the UK, only halted from reaching the top by The Jam’s “A Town Called Malice.”

Songwriter Hugh Cornwell, however, blamed the group’s bassist for the failure of “Golden Brown” to crown the charts after his bandmate revealed to a journalist the true subject matter of the song, which, as you may recall, is heroin. Cornwell insisted the song contained a dual meaning and he had written the lyrics about both a lady and the drug, and you could completely ignore the heroin aspect, but some broadcasters stopped playing the single anyway. Fortune favors the oblique. Unless you’re Rick James — and then fortune favors the super freak.

So stay for a day. There’s never a frown … with The Stranglers.