Behind the Songs: Pulse

A selection of quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on the song "Pulse."

Tim Butler: "There was this thing in this magazine recently, that said that 'Pulse' was like a truncated 'Peter Gunn' theme. And we'd never heard of it." (Sounds 1979)

John Ashton: "'Pulse' started as an A... Someone said 'Dog [Roger Morris], play on A' and it just sort of went from there." (ZigZag 1979)

Richard Butler: "The first verse is about styles, everybody dyeing their hair, all about fashion. The second verse is about religion. The third verse is saying people like you do that. This is the pulse...everybody, when they're young, is a Commie." (ZigZag 1979)

Tim Butler: "One chord can make a great song!" (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

John Ashton (on hearing a demo tape of The Furs given to him right before he joined the band): "I put the tape on and I really liked it. There were early versions of 'We Love You,' 'Blacks/Chaos/Radio,' which didn't make it on the US domestic release but was on the original United Kingdom release; maybe 'Flowers,' another one. They were very much of the punk edgy sort of harder songs. Maybe 'Pulse' as well, I'm not sure." (Everyone Loves Guitar podcast, 2021)