[ N | Introduction | Song Index ]
Navigating by the Stars
747:
Boeing 747, a large passenger aircraft.
[ Back to Navigating by the Stars ]
|
1984
The song:
After much consideration I came to the conclusion that this must be about the British
Miners' strike in 1984. I'm probably the last person
in the world who has noticed this. Anyway, The Charge
is also about that strike.
Meden bridge:
Apparently there is a river Meden in the west of the county Nottinghamshire,
near Mansfield, where a big miners' demonstration took place during the strike.
War:
By calling the striking miners "the enemy within" Margaret Thatcher used war
terminology, and so it is only appropriate for Justin here to call the confrontations
between miners and police "battle" and "war".
Green and pleasant land:
A phrase often used for England. I think it is based on William Blake's poem
'Jerusalem' (1809):
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among this dark Satanic Mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire.
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
1984:
1984 is a quite symbolic year, as it is the title of George Orwell's dystopic
novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (written in 1948): In 1984 (duh) Great Britain
is the centre of Oceania, one of three world powers that are constantly at war
with each other. The people of Oceania are controlled by a small elite around
a mysterious 'Big Brother'. By means of constant surveillance and spying, poor
living conditions, a simplified and manipulative language, propaganda, openly
falsified history and news, and torture, the ruling party controls not only
people's actions, but even their thoughts and feelings.
- Read more:
Wikipedia -
Two nations:
In his novel Sybil, or The Two Nations (1845) Victorian politician and
writer Benjamin Disraeli describes England as divided into two nations: the
rich and the poor. As the root of all problems he sees the selfishness of factory
and land owners, his solution, however, is not the abolition of the Capitalist
order, but a return to Christian values.
- Read more: Wikipedia
-
[ Back to 1984 | Back to The Charge ]
|
No Greater Love
While kings are in their
counting houses:
Reference to the English nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence":
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing.
Now, wasn't that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
The king was in
his counting house,
Counting out his money.
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in
the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird
and pecked off her nose!
- Read more: Wikipedia -
|
No Man's Land
No man's land:
The phrase originates from the Great War (1914-1918) and was used to describe
the narrow ribbon of muddy, bloody land that lay between the German and British
trenches. Since that time, the phrase has been used as a vivid and lyrical metaphor
by many different writers.
- Source: NMAFC Newsletter 3 -
|
No Mirror, No Shadow
Priest:
In the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches people may confess their sins to
and have them absolved by priests. Priests are obliged to keep the confessions a
secret under any circumstance.
This family thicker than blood: [
Back to No Mirror, No Shadow ]
Blood is thicker than water is an English proverb meaning bonds
between family members are stronger than other relationships. Apparently, here
bonds between members of a chosen group are even stronger. Other songs about
family are BD3,
Dawn,
Familiy,
Family Life, Home,
Inheritance, My
People and
Twilight Home.
No Pain
Nails and cross: Abraham: [ Back to No Pain ]
Perhaps a reference to Jesus Christ who died nailed to a cross.
Another twisted version of a biblical story. This is how it really goes: Abraham
and his wife Sarah had remained childless until they were very, very old. Then
God told them that Sarah was pregnant with a son, and when the boy was born
they called him Isaac and were really happy and grateful for this miracle. But
God wanted to test Abraham's loyalty and asked him to sacrifice Issac: "[3]
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt
offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. [4]
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
[5] And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you, [6] And Abraham took
the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took
the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. [7]
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here
am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb
for a burnt offering? [8] And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. [9] And they
came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there,
and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar
upon the wood. [10] And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife
to slay his son. [11] And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven,
and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. [12] And he said, Lay not
thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know
that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son
from me."
- Source: The Bible. Genesis, 22.312 - Read more:
King
James Bible -
No Rest
No rest for the wicked: [ Back to No Rest |
Back to Eleven Years ]
In the bible it says: "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot
rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt".
- Source: The Bible. Isaiah, 57.20 -
Notice Me
14/10/2007