Songfacts®:

• "World Shut Your Mouth" seems to be about a woman who has broken out of anonymity ("she always used to live so secretly") and found fame only to discover that she wants the world to shut up and leave her alone. If so, the woman is likely a stand-in for Julian Cope himself.
  
  Cope was dragged (by his own account) into rock stardom while playing with the UK post-punk band The Teardrop Explodes ("Treason (It's Just a Story)"). He had some hits with that band and some as a solo artist, but never liked being famous. Ironically, "World Shut Your Mouth" would go on to become his biggest hit.
• Cope spoke openly about how much he detested pop stardom and the kinds of people that it brought into his orbit. He despised sellouts and never wanted to be one. Many fans and critics have long held that Cope had one of the best voices of his era and could have been more financially successful than he was. Whether or not that's true, Cope's antagonistic attitude towards fame is well-documented and long-lived.
• Cope's debut solo album, released after The Teardrop Explodes broke up, was also titled World Shut Your Mouth (1984) but didn't include this song, which was part of his third album, Saint Julian.
• This was the first single released from Saint Julian. Hitting stores on September 15, 1986, it was the only Cope single to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it reached #84. In his native UK, he had 17 chart hits.