I don't see the indications that the song is specifically about Northern Ireland. It is certainly talking about a place where the government oppresses the people and industrial jobs make things even bleaker, but that could be any Orwellian society. It could have just as well been about East Germany or the USSR, couldn't it? In fact, was Northern Ireland at any point in the 20th century really as bad as the place this song describes?
The lines "they're only going to change this place by killing everybody in the human race", if taken literally, indicate that the song is not about one country or another but a fictional one-world government -- certainly to change Northern Ireland, or even the USSR, you wouldn't have to kill everybody in the human race. You wouldn't even have to have killed all the citizens of Northern Ireland.
The invisible sun is something the speaker imagines that could get one hope despite the bleakness of life in this society. It is powerfully ambiguous to say "there has to be..." He may be saying that such a thing does already exist, or else people would not be able to endure the way they do. Or he may be saying that things are too bleak and that such a thing is needed, but hasn't come along yet.
I don't see the indications that the song is specifically about Northern Ireland. It is certainly talking about a place where the government oppresses the people and industrial jobs make things even bleaker, but that could be any Orwellian society. It could have just as well been about East Germany or the USSR, couldn't it? In fact, was Northern Ireland at any point in the 20th century really as bad as the place this song describes?
The lines "they're only going to change this place by killing everybody in the human race", if taken literally, indicate that the song is not about one country or another but a fictional one-world government -- certainly to change Northern Ireland, or even the USSR, you wouldn't have to kill everybody in the human race. You wouldn't even have to have killed all the citizens of Northern Ireland.
The invisible sun is something the speaker imagines that could get one hope despite the bleakness of life in this society. It is powerfully ambiguous to say "there has to be..." He may be saying that such a thing does already exist, or else people would not be able to endure the way they do. Or he may be saying that things are too bleak and that such a thing is needed, but hasn't come along yet.
@rikdad I would have to say this song is mostly about the son of God, and does have some political theme as well.
@rikdad I would have to say this song is mostly about the son of God, and does have some political theme as well.
@rikdad You are right, i agree with you, its about a totalitarian plutocratic dictatorship, like most oligarchic capitalist countries
@rikdad You are right, i agree with you, its about a totalitarian plutocratic dictatorship, like most oligarchic capitalist countries