Then he phoned back half an hour later and said, 'It doesn't really mean that- it means sort of "if life is"; it's not a proper sentence'.' Md I said, 'It's too late now - I like "that's the way life is".' No one speaks Portuguese anyway. Apart from in Brazil. And Portugal. But then I changed it right at the end, in the second part of the chorus. 'Come on, 'Se a vida e', and that does mean 'that's the way life is' in Portuguese. At the time I was never really that happy with the words, because they are so simple, but I think they're sweet now. It's sort of saying: get over it - come outside and see the sunshine. Everyone thinks it's a gay song because it uses the word 'closet', but it wasn't meant to be. Though I think people were quite surprlsed at the time because this has such a normal, sweet, could-have-been-written-by-a-pop-star lyric. Although it does spark the debate: is life more simple when you're young? I think it is.

Chris I disagree entirely.

Neil  I know you do.

Chris Life's a lot simpler when you're older. It just is. As simple as that. You can deal with the complications easier. What might have been a complication when you were younger; when you're older no longer becomes a complication. Everyone knows that adolescence is the most traumatic time of your life, because it's difficult.

Neil  The song is saying that you see things in very black-and-white terms when you're young.

Chris Well, you should have said that then.

Neil  I love this song, always have done. I like the way my voice sounds in it.

Chris Porter did a very good job on this, fiddled around with it forever. Even after the album was cut, we went back into the studio to add some more percussion, and re-cut the album with it on.