A deepening sense of fear and crime
“Orwellian” as a term derives from George Orwell’s 1984 and commonly has been used by those who politically lean on the left to reference the totalitarianist government of the book when real life political bodies have began to take measures to resemble the overtly controlling and authoritarian dystopia in the story. Like all terms used by the left, the more conservative bodies eventually began to co-opt it to refer to perceived “nanny states” and their own persecution complex when it came to their “freedom of speech”, and that seems to be the more common usage of the term in current political discourse. The result of this back and forth is that “orwellian” has not only become an overused cliché term, but a loaded one that is going to court controversy or bad faith debates when evoked.
All of which makes it a really awkward term for the Manics to use when speaking about their own confusion and distrust in modern day politics. As a political band the Manics had thrived when they had a clear bad guy to rage against, but with the core political parties in the UK starting to muddy the waters between political lines, it lead the band and particularly Wire to spiral into a state of political apathy as the left currently struggling for power is no longer the left that he once knew – a subject he’s already touched upon a few times across the past couple of albums. “Orwellian”, the song, is very sharply about that confusion of not knowing who to trust anymore when both sides obfuscate the truth and wage culture wars that feel completely detached from anything relevant, and I don’t think the use of the titular term is in any way a comment on the band’s current political stance (some internet commenters have referred to this as a “centrist anthem” and as as e-savvy of a catchphrase it is, I don’t think it’s quite correct). What’s more likely is that Wire, in his own bubble, is likely completely unaware of the nuances and without all the explanatory context, the lyric reads really awkwardly given the very aggressive state of modern political discussion and the band’s own past in that regard. Despite its subject matter I’m not sure it’s a lyric that really should be read into too deeply – especially with the chorus culminating in the nearly romantic notion of “I’ll walk you through the apocalypse / where you and me could co-exist”, which is so far removed from the rest of the lyric that it reveals how surface-level the rest of its snappy one-liners should be taken as.
Snappy lyrics for a snappy song. “Orwellian” is a classic Manics single full of Bradfield’s iconic melodies, a sing-along anthem of a chorus and soaring soundscapes. The twist this time is the “The Clash plays Abba” mood that Wire used to describe the album, most apparent in the crystalline piano stabs that punctuate the bridge. “Orwellian” was one of the first songs written for the album and even back when there was still no clear plan for the record, the band were mentioning it in interviews as the likely point of reference to go forward with and in terms of its execution it’s the most obvious example on the album about the sound they started to quote for the album once it was ready for release. Those ABBA nods had coincidentally started to become a fairly popular reference point all across popular music around the same time and so the approach isn’t particularly novel in the grand scheme of things, but in the Manics’ own realm there’s something thoroughly exciting in those glacial pianos accentuating the song. If the lyrics are a potential pothole you could end up getting lost in while discussing the nuances behind it all, the music in contrast barely warrants a deeper analysis because it’s simply so strikingly efficient. It’s the Manics pulling off another traditional lead single off their sleeves, with all the exciting immediacy and melodic rush that accompanies those songs at their best.
Typical for a late-period single, the usual accompaniments that go together with such promotional efforts are largely devoid of that very effort. The video was directed by the band’s contemporary court director Kieran Evans who preferred to call it it a “visual accompaniment” rather than a music video, combining a number of archival footage of vast sceneries Evans had shot around the world with a few clips of the band standing around in the middle of nowhere, looking pensive; an edited version accompanied the original album teaser and did a pretty efficient job in stoking the excitement with the cryptic shots of a diamond shape panel reflecting lights in abandoned areas, but the full video is the kind of an afternoon job that barely remarks a comment. The only physical version of the single was a 7″ bound together with select pre-orders of the album, came with no sleeve quote and was flipsided by Gwenno‘s remix of the song. Gwenno, an avowed Manics fan, has opted to be a traditionalist with her remix and turned the song into a largely original and repetetive instrumental composition with select soundbites of James’ original vocals thrown in and looped for good measure – it reminds me of many of their golden period remixes, but specifically the ones that you don’t put in your DIY remix compilation.
yeesh… :) Some of us love the Manics’ music without loving their politics – just sayin’!
” Like all terms used by the left, the more conservative bodies eventually began to co-opt it to refer to perceived “nanny states” and their own persecution complex when it came to their “freedom of speech”, and that seems to be the more common usage of the term in current political discourse.”
So? Are you expecting to be catered to? What’s your point?