The Meaning Behind Suede’s Britpop Outsider Anthem “Trash”

In 1993, Suede released a self-titled debut that many recognize as the first Britpop album. It won the Mercury Prize; however, amid the pop-culture craze it helped stir, the band nearly imploded while recording the follow-up, Dog Man Star.

Primary songwriters, singer Brett Anderson, and guitarist Bernard Butler couldn’t see eye to eye in the studio, and eventually Butler walked. Suede may have descended into darkness, but they emerged with a masterpiece. And lost a guitar genius in the process.

Minus Butler and with a teenage virtuoso named Richard Butler as his replacement, Suede returned with the chart-topping third LP, Coming Up, which brings us to the U.K. hit “Trash”. It’s a song for the outsiders, but it’s also about perseverance.

Maybe It’s Our Kookiness

Anderson told Britain’s Absolute Radio that the lyrics distill his band’s “whole attitude to life”. Echoing David Bowie and T. Rex, Suede gave Britpop its glam element, in equal parts dark melodrama and camp.

Oh maybe, maybe it’s the clothes we wear,
The tasteless bracelets and the dye in our hair.
Maybe it’s our kookiness.
Or maybe, maybe it’s our nowhere towns,
Our nothing places and our cellophane sounds.
Maybe it’s our looseness.

The chorus feels like a mantra for Suede and its fans—an outsider community that celebrates London’s underground youth culture in the 90s.

But we’re trash, you and me,
We’re the litter on the breeze,
We’re the lovers on the streets.
Just trash, me and you,
It’s in everything we do,
It’s in everything we do.

Maybe It’s Our Cheapness

Unlike Oasis and Blur, Suede didn’t have global appeal, especially not in the United States. Perhaps the music was too Brit-centric for the Yanks to understand or connect with. However, without Suede’s debut LP, there’s a chance Britpop looks and sounds very different, if it even happens at all.

Oh maybe, maybe it’s the things we say,
The words we’ve heard and the music we play.
Maybe it’s our cheapness,
Or maybe, maybe it’s the times we’ve had.
The lazy days and the crazes and the fads,
Maybe it’s our sweetness.

Anderson’s band might have ended after Butler’s exit and the chaos that birthed Dog Man Star. Instead, they recruited Oakes to fill Butler’s giant shoes and released Coming Up, which remains Suede’s biggest-selling album. And “Trash” stands as a triumphant anthem for the Britpop pioneers.

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