| Wilco – Impossible Germany Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Some of you may be missing a specific aspect of this tune. The lyrics are making a particular historical reference: Germany and Japan. In the years before WWII, no one could have seriously considered these two nations a real threat to the world's balance of power. Germany was leveled financially and socially after WWI, and Japan, despite its 1905 defeat of Russia, was looked down upon (it was at least partly racism) but the West, and its naval power was considered no match for that of GB and the US. The alliance between these two nations was an odd one to be sure, but it represented an unholy union that put everyone else on their heels for about 7 years or so before the Allies started to turn the tide. Working this into the idea of the song being a relationship metaphor, I kind of see the song as being about two individuals be an unlikely pair that could nevertheless be an effective partnership - though not necessarily for "good". |
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