Happy Music Monday! Today Scott celebrates the genius of the novel of the future that might just be responsible for all of modern politics, 1984. Come join in the celebration while you still can.
When David Bowie went to George Orwell's widow and proposed a musical about her husband's novel, she said no. And so what did Bowie do? He gave it a little touch up and ran with it! Today it might be considered unauthorized sampling, but back then, eh? Who cares? And so we got, well, one of the weirdest concept albums of his career. But a good song, certainly.
Take a few minutes to hate and then get right back here. If you don't, we'll know.
Oingo Boingo - Wake Up (It's 1984)
The image of 1984 is often called up to warn us about a possible dystopia, but it came up most in, you guessed it, 1984! Orwell very likely didn't predict the perfect storm of pop culture, the love of media, the rise of art rock and the primacy of the kids who were all forced to read his book in schools. Danny Elfman's warning song has more to do with the year than the novel, but then again, maybe they were the same!!! I don't know what that meant, it just seemed like the right thing to say.
The Eurythmics pretty much devoted most of an entire album to 1984 references, and it was considered very literary by those in the know. Can you imagine that happening now? Where's our Bridge To Terabithia concept album, people? Also, this song is super lovely.
Rick Wakeman - The Room (Brainwash)
Can you imagine anything worse than having to listen to Rick Wakeman with a rat mask on your face? I sure can't.
Rage Against The Machine - Testify
The lesson we were supposed to take from 1984 was that it was an awful world to be in. Sadly, like Blade Runner, the story of the dystopia was just too compelling. What was meant as a warning has turned into a lifestyle for more than few people. Can we ever get back? RATM certainly seems to imply we can, as long as we take note of Orwell's words of warning. But then again... playing this song does earn money for Sony...
Let us just remind you: some images come from the corresponding Wikipedia page and are here under fair use. See you next week, unless you're from Eurasia, whom we've always been at war with.