The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold
"So if I can shoot rabbits then I can shoot fascists"
Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain
Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked La Ramblas but not with real intent
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next, yeah will be next
And on the street tonight
An old man plays with newspaper cuttings of his glory days
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
The present to be afraid and cold
"So if I can shoot rabbits then I can shoot fascists"
Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain
Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked La Ramblas but not with real intent
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next, yeah will be next
And on the street tonight
An old man plays with newspaper cuttings of his glory days
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
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Regardless of the songs true meaning, to me it makes me think of trying to do better in my own life in order to protect the next generation (or my children) from experiencing any hardship or undue pain.
Not as deep but still as poignant :-)
They tended to be from strong working class unions, often miners. the line "if I can shoot rabbits I can shoot facists" was origionally from the book Miners Against Fascism.
The facists did not have more local support than the republican/communist/anarchist side, most of franco's troops were nonlocal mercinarys brought in from outside spain and when the facist troops launched their coup it wasnt an organised army that stopped them in their tracks it was ordinary people rising up across spain.
Whilst some people who went to spain thought of themselves as communist, many were socialist, socialdemocratic, anarchist, or just commited to anti-facism and pro working class struggle. The majority of the spainish replublican side at the start of the war were not communists. It was only later that the communists took power over the reblican side (nearly leading to all out streetwarfare between the stalinists and the trotskyist/anarchists in 'La Ramblas' -which has a lot to do with the meaning of that line imo). The reason for there power was due to the fact that whilst hitler and Mussolini aided the facists, the democratic powers in europe refused to aid the rebllicans leaving russia as their only real source of weapons and munitions.
It's fair to say that the revolution in spain was defeated twice, firstly by the stalinist communists and then after by franco's facists.
I think that the message of the song is that everyone looked aside when the war started except for the brigadist. If the majority of people included governments (Britain, France etc.) had helped the Republicans who were elected by the people then it would have been a different story.
There is a special place in hell for those who remain aside as Dante said.
The song is against fascism. Unlike those idealists who went to Spain to fight the evil of fascism despite "only hunting rabbits" without any military experience, many stayed at home thinking fascism will not come to their home and their children will not be next. Hitler and Mussolini came few years later and made british children "the next".
As for "Gravity keeps my head down, Or is it maybe shame", G.Britain was secretly supporting Spanish fascists against "lefties" as a mean of keeping the british business interests in Europe (against rising socialism and communism).
this beautiful song is dedicate to INTERNATIONAL BRIGADISTS, young common people who changed shooting rabbits at the country side for shooting fascists in the battlefields of Spain
isthmus.com/archive/from-the-archives/unrepentant-red-clarence-kailin-looks-back-on-a-lifetime-of-fighting-the-good-fight/
isthmus.com/archive/from-the-archives/unrepentant-red-clarence-kailin-looks-back-on-a-lifetime-of-fighting-the-good-fight/