Exploring the Infamous Nick Lowe Lyrics From 1990 That Steamrolled the Rickroll

As the years progressed, esteemed British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe left behind the New Wave and punk touches of his early music. In their place, he delivered retro vibes. His later songs dwelt heavily in rockabilly and jazz balladry.

But that didn’t mean that his feistiness as a writer abandoned him in any way. The 1990 song “All Men Are Liars”, with Lowe serving up a candid premise and a savage dig all at once, provides ample evidence of this.

“Liars” Club

Nick Lowe’s 1990 album Party Of One continued the trend of his remarkable series of late-period albums. His writing, as sharp as ever, effortlessly segues from cheeky come-ons to melancholy ruminations.

At that point in his career, Lowe’s releases didn’t get a ton of attention, save for fawning reviews from critics. But Party Of One does contain the song “All Men Are Liars”. And it gained a bit of notoriety thanks to Lowe’s tongue-in-cheek name drop of one of the biggest pop stars in the world at the time.

Biblical scholars might note that the title phrase can be heard in the book of Psalms. But Lowe actually got the idea when he was watching an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show and heard a woman in the studio audience shouting it. Lowe immediately seized on it as a great topic for a song.

As for the aforementioned pop star, it was Rick Astley and his song “Never Gonna Give You Up” that ended up in Lowe’s crosshairs. The dig fit pretty seamlessly with the rest of Lowe’s observations about the untrustworthy nature of the male of the species.

Exploring the Lyrics of “All Men Are Liars”

Lowe doesn’t waste any time diving into his feelings about “Never Gonna Give You Up”. “Well do you remember Rick Astley?” he asks in the first line of the first verse, as if music fans had already put him in their rearview. And then, the punchline: “He had a big fat hit it was ghastly.”

“He said I’m never gonna give you up or let you down,” he follows, quoting Astley’s massive single. “Well, I’m here to tell you that dick’s a clown.” Lowe’s clever wordplay finds another of the common shortenings of the name Richard to make his acidic point.

In the second verse, Lowe suggests that Astley’s narrator is far from the only deceiver. He deems man “the most slimy and slippery” of “God’s creatures.” Then, there’s this withering assessment: “There stands the naked ape in a monkey suit/Behind the little mustache he grew, a shifty brute.”

The chorus delivers Lowe’s thesis with piercing clarity. “All men, all men are liars,” he claims. “Their words ain’t worth no more than worn out tires.” His final assessment? “Hey girls, bring rusty pliers,” he beckons. “To pull this tooth/All men are liars and that’s the truth.”

The song’s loping groove and the way you can practically hear Lowe winking at you as he delivers the lyrics bring out the humorous aspects. That said, we wonder if Rick Astley had much of a laugh about “All Men Are Liars.”

Photo by Estate Of Keith Morris/Redferns