"We shall defend our honor over land and over sea."

[bord_du_rasoir]

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I can't figure it out. The tone of Ray Davies' voice makes it appear as though the lines are spoken with irony/cynicism/sarcasm. But that just doesn't make sense; this song is about the men who lead the British for their country's very sustenance against the Nazis; Davies can't possibly lampoon that. But he just sounds so sarcastic. I'm

Comments

[timiathan]

I tried to help you out, but I'm baffled, too. Definitely sounds like the whole song is sarcastic, but given the circumstances, you'd have to be nuts to disagree with the Brits defending themselves against Nazi Germany.

[bord_du_rasoir]

The only thing I can figured is he's lampooning those in the generation above him who seem to romanticize Churchill & apply his mentality to situations (like Vietnam, perhaps?) where he doesn't think Churchill's fight-fight mentality should be applied.

So, I guess he's sort of lampooning Nostalgia? The album after this (Village Preservation Society) is all about combining sincere & sarcastic takes on nostalgia.

[bord_du_rasoir]

I'm not seeing the disappointing-over-class-distinction thing. My theory is that he's disappointed somehow in the idolization of Churchill & people living too much in the past, maybe. I can imagine growing up in the 25 years after WWII, Chuchill must have been mythologized in conservative circles 20 times more than Reagan is in the US today.

I'm interested in your drawings...

What motivates you to do them? Do you get commissions to do any work? Does your work work (that you get paid for) have anything to do with art?

I've recently started to paint & think about painting much more in recent months. (But I am a better draftsman than a painter.) Here is my website:
http://markpitre.com/

And here's the last painting I just completed:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3788107731_fd5f8ae8d3_b.jpg