Life's Pleasures Quote by Andrew Eldritch

Eldritch delivers this like a half-confession, half-provocation: a Northern English lifer admitting the romance is real, but the maintenance costs are high. The opening pledge of loyalty - "I still like being in North of England" - is quickly hedged with logistics ("I keep a place there"), as if affection needs a contingency plan. That little property detail matters; it signals class mobility and exit options, the classic artist move of staying culturally rooted while physically unpinned.

Then he swings the spotlight to "the Continent", and the comparison isn’t about scenery or vibes. It’s infrastructure. "Social institutions work better" frames Europe as competence, a place where the state and civic life aren’t permanently in a DIY crisis. Coming from a postindustrial Northern context - where the mythology of grit often substitutes for investment - that praise reads less like travel writing and more like indictment.

The line about women is the tell. Eldritch isn’t just ranking nightlife or fashion; he’s pointing at gender norms as a barometer of modernity. It’s an implicitly political claim dressed as casual observation: a society that treats women as fuller citizens is simply more livable. The last kicker, "and the food", adds a sly rock-star shrug, but it’s doing rhetorical work. He ends on something undeniable and sensory to make the heavier critiques land without sermonizing.

Subtext: he’s rejecting the idea that Northern identity requires defending Northern dysfunction. You can love the place and still prefer systems that don’t grind people down.