One of my favorite Kinks songs. It is divided into two distinct parts, representing the clean abstraction before the war, vs the more stark reality during the war.
The first half is filled with morale-boosting speeches from the pantheon of British lords, about small shared sacrifices, rah-rah, etc. The politicians sound distant, and their words are abstract and lofty. The words make you feel good, because that's what they're designed to do. You can imagine the words coming through the radio from distant politicians, getting you prepared mentally for war.
In the second half, the perspective shifts to the ground during the bombing. We are now in the stark reality of bombs and dead bodies, the politicians are gone and the people are alone with that reality. The talk is direct and between real people.
In the end, someone remembers what "Mr. Churchill says", which is basically to keep on carrying on. Almost like children remembering advice from their parents. I feel this really is the theme of the song: how the paternal leadership "prepared" its people for war.
An interesting question to ask is: how much sacrifice did Churchill, Beaverbrook, etc. suffer, compared to the average person living through the bombing?
One of my favorite Kinks songs. It is divided into two distinct parts, representing the clean abstraction before the war, vs the more stark reality during the war.
The first half is filled with morale-boosting speeches from the pantheon of British lords, about small shared sacrifices, rah-rah, etc. The politicians sound distant, and their words are abstract and lofty. The words make you feel good, because that's what they're designed to do. You can imagine the words coming through the radio from distant politicians, getting you prepared mentally for war.
In the second half, the perspective shifts to the ground during the bombing. We are now in the stark reality of bombs and dead bodies, the politicians are gone and the people are alone with that reality. The talk is direct and between real people.
In the end, someone remembers what "Mr. Churchill says", which is basically to keep on carrying on. Almost like children remembering advice from their parents. I feel this really is the theme of the song: how the paternal leadership "prepared" its people for war.
An interesting question to ask is: how much sacrifice did Churchill, Beaverbrook, etc. suffer, compared to the average person living through the bombing?