Sigh...This song isn't about something abstract or inner-turmoil or spiritualism or any of that garbage. Its about the Eastern Front in WWII written from the perspective of a Soviet Red Army soldier writing to a loved one. For those of you who received the public school version of History where we were force fed the Civil Rights Movement at the cost of learning about WWI and WWII, allow me to translate...
"All is quiet on New Year's day
A world in white gets underway"
This refers to the fact that the Russian Winter e.g. "A world in white" is synonymous with the Eastern Front.
"Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered, black and white"
The first line is a reference to the fact that this part of the war was primarily fought in the USSR...a communist country under Joseph Stalin.
The second line refers to the fact that in 1941, when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, they were unprepared for winter fighting and wore primarily grey and black uniforms whereas the Soviets who were fighting on their home turf wore white snow cammouflage.
"Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true, it's true
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one"
This is a reference to Soviet propaganda. Things looked bleak for the Soviets at the end of 1941 as the country was split into two fronts in the north and south. In the north, the German Wehrmacht was at the gates of Moscow and Leningrad was cut off and under seige. In the south, the Axis were driving toward Stalingrad. Despite this, the newspapers, actually just one "Pravda" kept proclaiming that the Red Army was resisting (which they were) and that the great push to drive the Germans back was coming. But, as the song and the soldier laments, "nothing changes on New Year's Day."
BTW...The little boy on the album cover for War is from a Soviet Propaganda film about a Russian boy who becomes a Partisan (guerilla) fighter against the Germans.
@CroneCircus
Whatever "forcefed the Civil Rights Movement" means, it sounds like it involves the History of the United States, which sounds more valuable for American citizens than the history of the Great Patriotic War.
Your several references to the "whiteness" of the Eastern Front seem to betray your ignorance of three other seasons that occur in Russia. Barbarossa, Braunschweig and Zitadelle all began in June, hardly a month that white camouflage would have been useful.
What is the meaning of "New Year's Day?" The name of the song appears to have a pivotal relationship to its meaning. It is an anti-war song, whether...
@CroneCircus
Whatever "forcefed the Civil Rights Movement" means, it sounds like it involves the History of the United States, which sounds more valuable for American citizens than the history of the Great Patriotic War.
Your several references to the "whiteness" of the Eastern Front seem to betray your ignorance of three other seasons that occur in Russia. Barbarossa, Braunschweig and Zitadelle all began in June, hardly a month that white camouflage would have been useful.
What is the meaning of "New Year's Day?" The name of the song appears to have a pivotal relationship to its meaning. It is an anti-war song, whether that war is WW2, Viet-Nam or the various wars in Northern Ireland. New Year's Day and "we can be one" are references to the anti-war ideal that we are all people who can "begin again" and the subsequent period will begin with a new day. Ultimately, he is cynical about how "nothing changes on New Year's Day."
Sigh...This song isn't about something abstract or inner-turmoil or spiritualism or any of that garbage. Its about the Eastern Front in WWII written from the perspective of a Soviet Red Army soldier writing to a loved one. For those of you who received the public school version of History where we were force fed the Civil Rights Movement at the cost of learning about WWI and WWII, allow me to translate...
"All is quiet on New Year's day A world in white gets underway"
This refers to the fact that the Russian Winter e.g. "A world in white" is synonymous with the Eastern Front.
"Under a blood red sky A crowd has gathered, black and white"
The first line is a reference to the fact that this part of the war was primarily fought in the USSR...a communist country under Joseph Stalin.
The second line refers to the fact that in 1941, when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, they were unprepared for winter fighting and wore primarily grey and black uniforms whereas the Soviets who were fighting on their home turf wore white snow cammouflage.
"Arms entwined, the chosen few The newspapers says, says Say it's true, it's true And we can break through Though torn in two We can be one"
This is a reference to Soviet propaganda. Things looked bleak for the Soviets at the end of 1941 as the country was split into two fronts in the north and south. In the north, the German Wehrmacht was at the gates of Moscow and Leningrad was cut off and under seige. In the south, the Axis were driving toward Stalingrad. Despite this, the newspapers, actually just one "Pravda" kept proclaiming that the Red Army was resisting (which they were) and that the great push to drive the Germans back was coming. But, as the song and the soldier laments, "nothing changes on New Year's Day."
BTW...The little boy on the album cover for War is from a Soviet Propaganda film about a Russian boy who becomes a Partisan (guerilla) fighter against the Germans.
@CroneCircus Whatever "forcefed the Civil Rights Movement" means, it sounds like it involves the History of the United States, which sounds more valuable for American citizens than the history of the Great Patriotic War. Your several references to the "whiteness" of the Eastern Front seem to betray your ignorance of three other seasons that occur in Russia. Barbarossa, Braunschweig and Zitadelle all began in June, hardly a month that white camouflage would have been useful. What is the meaning of "New Year's Day?" The name of the song appears to have a pivotal relationship to its meaning. It is an anti-war song, whether...
@CroneCircus Whatever "forcefed the Civil Rights Movement" means, it sounds like it involves the History of the United States, which sounds more valuable for American citizens than the history of the Great Patriotic War. Your several references to the "whiteness" of the Eastern Front seem to betray your ignorance of three other seasons that occur in Russia. Barbarossa, Braunschweig and Zitadelle all began in June, hardly a month that white camouflage would have been useful. What is the meaning of "New Year's Day?" The name of the song appears to have a pivotal relationship to its meaning. It is an anti-war song, whether that war is WW2, Viet-Nam or the various wars in Northern Ireland. New Year's Day and "we can be one" are references to the anti-war ideal that we are all people who can "begin again" and the subsequent period will begin with a new day. Ultimately, he is cynical about how "nothing changes on New Year's Day."
@CroneCircus I was all with your interpretation until the little boy. He is Peter Rowen. atu2.com/news/u2-interview-peter-rowen.html
@CroneCircus I was all with your interpretation until the little boy. He is Peter Rowen. atu2.com/news/u2-interview-peter-rowen.html