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We are interupting your regular blogcast with a guest blogger.

For those who don’t know me, I’m Alexandra Kitty, and my usual hang-out is Chaser News, but as any good team-up will do, we are having a Cross-over event of sorts.

Since Randy’s theme is Under-Dated songs, I thought I discuss the Eurythmic’s song 1984.

Appropriately enough, I bought the album in 1986 as a young teen in Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia during a family vacation.

A place that knew a thing or two about being a Big Brother state.

A place where people would go missing in the middle of the night and never be seen or heard from again.

But back to 1984.

The song was part of the sound for the film 1984, which in turn, was an adaptation of George Orwell’s dystopian novel of the same name.

In a way, the song is Under-Dated.

In a way, it is very relevent.

In Orwell’s book, Big Brother was always watching.

There was a Ministry of Truth which was anything but truthful.

History was being constantly revised to suit the needs of the regime.

The flow of informtion was always impeded.

And at all times, your every movement was duly noted.

People’s spirits were broken and they learned to love Big Brother.

It’s an interesting novel. And as technology makes it possible to monitor our every move in a way, it seems that there is a Big Brother State and that Orwell might be right.

Except he never took into account the fact that the same technology that monitors us can also free us.

Providing information and viewpoints that differs fromt he mainstream has never been easier.

Finding like-minded people who are facing the same obstacles is no longer a challenge.

We can be more open and honest with our true selves.

It’s not perfect. And not a foregone conclusion — yet.

But Orwell’s dystopia hinges on a gate-keeper who holds all the cards.

But that’s far from the case these days.

So 1984 is an under-dated song. We are far from living in an dystopian world.

And if we plar our cards rights, it could very well be an utopian one.

Holidays In the Sun was the opening track from Never Mind the Bollocks…, and it’s a great song. Angry, frustrated nihilistic vocals, a good rocking sound, and a lot of energy put it over the top.

From Wikipedia:

The song was inspired by a trip to the Channel Island of Jersey, “We tried our Holiday In The Sun in the isle of Jersey and that didn’t work. They threw us out”, followed by a couple of weeks spent in Berlin. Although they described the city as “raining and depressing”, they were relieved to get away from London. Says John Lydon, “Being in London at the time made us feel like we were trapped in a prison camp environment. There was hatred and constant threat of violence. The best thing we could do was to go set up in a prison camp somewhere else. Berlin and its decadence was a good idea. The song came about from that. I loved Berlin. I loved the wall and the insanity of the place. The communists looked in on the circus atmosphere of West Berlin, which never went to sleep, and that would be their impression of the West.”

Someone did a video using footage from A Clockwork Orange:

And of course, the lyrics:

A Cheap holiday in other peoples misery!

Please don’t be waiting for me