if you tolerate this then your children will be next . . .
April 3rd 2008 10:51
The Manic Street Preachers 1998 song "If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next" is in the Guinness World Records as the number one single with the longest title without brackets.
The song is from the bands fifth studio album "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours".
The song is about the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), and the idealism of people from around the world who volunteered to join the International Brigades against Franco's fascist army.
The International Brigades were Republican military units in the Spanish Civil War, formed of many non-state sponsored volunteers of different countries who traveled to Spain to fight for the Republic. They fought against rebel Spanish Nationalist forces, who were led by General Francisco Franco and assisted by Nazi German and Fascist Italian forces.
The title of the song comes from recruiting posters used by the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. They showed images of carnage caused by Francos's Nationalists with the strapline "If you tolerate this your children will be next."
Title: Madrid. The ´Military´ Practice of the Rebels. If you tolerate this your children will be next.
Collection: Imperial War Museum Spanish Civil War Poster Collection
Date Creation: 1936-1939
Description: The dead body of a young girl, with numbered labels for identification, against the background of a clouded sky across which aeroplanes fly in formation.
Text: MADRID. THE "MILITARY" PRACTICE OF THE REBELS. 4 - 21. 35. IF YOU TOLERATE THIS YOUR CHILDREN WILL BE NEXT. MINISTERIO DE PROPAGANDA.
The Spanish Civil War has been an inspiration for many artists from the initial uprising until today. Spain was devastated in the 1930s due to right-wing rebels overthrowing the marxist Republic government in a military coup, the conflict ending with the victory of the rebels and the founding of a dictatorship led by the Nationalist General Francisco Franco.
"Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)" (1936) is a painting by Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí. Depicted is a grimacing dismembered figure symbolic of the Spanish state in civil war, alternately grasping upward at itself and holding itself down underfoot. The painting is used to show the struggle of war that can sometimes be both self-fulfilling and self-mutilating at the same time. Dali was openly against war, and used this painting to show it.
Francos early reign was depicted in the 2006 Guillermo del Toro film "Pans Layrinth" which depicted soldiers from the Nationalist regime rooting out Marxist guerillas who hide in the woods.
Franco ruled Spain until his death in 1975.
Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell and Robert Capa all covered the Spanish Civil War and the war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, and for atrocities committed on both sides of the conflict.
Selected literary works inspired by the Spanish Civil War:
- "Behind the Spanish Barricades" by John Langdon-Davies (1936)
- "Homage to Catalonia" by George Orwell (1938)
- "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway (1940)
- "The Living and the Dead" by Patrick White (1941)
- "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning" by Laurie Lee (1969)
- "A Moment of War" by Laurie Lee (1991)
- "Bicycles are for summer" by Fernando Fernán Gómez(1976)
- "Labyrinth of Struggle" by Mauricio Escobar (2006)
- "The Wall, a book and a short story" by Jean-Paul Sartre
- "Winter in Madrid" by C. J. Sansom
Lyrics by The Manic Street Preachers
The song is from the bands fifth studio album "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours".
The song is about the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), and the idealism of people from around the world who volunteered to join the International Brigades against Franco's fascist army.
The International Brigades were Republican military units in the Spanish Civil War, formed of many non-state sponsored volunteers of different countries who traveled to Spain to fight for the Republic. They fought against rebel Spanish Nationalist forces, who were led by General Francisco Franco and assisted by Nazi German and Fascist Italian forces.
The title of the song comes from recruiting posters used by the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. They showed images of carnage caused by Francos's Nationalists with the strapline "If you tolerate this your children will be next."
Title: Madrid. The ´Military´ Practice of the Rebels. If you tolerate this your children will be next.
Collection: Imperial War Museum Spanish Civil War Poster Collection
Date Creation: 1936-1939
Description: The dead body of a young girl, with numbered labels for identification, against the background of a clouded sky across which aeroplanes fly in formation.
Text: MADRID. THE "MILITARY" PRACTICE OF THE REBELS. 4 - 21. 35. IF YOU TOLERATE THIS YOUR CHILDREN WILL BE NEXT. MINISTERIO DE PROPAGANDA.
The Spanish Civil War has been an inspiration for many artists from the initial uprising until today. Spain was devastated in the 1930s due to right-wing rebels overthrowing the marxist Republic government in a military coup, the conflict ending with the victory of the rebels and the founding of a dictatorship led by the Nationalist General Francisco Franco.
"Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)" (1936) is a painting by Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí. Depicted is a grimacing dismembered figure symbolic of the Spanish state in civil war, alternately grasping upward at itself and holding itself down underfoot. The painting is used to show the struggle of war that can sometimes be both self-fulfilling and self-mutilating at the same time. Dali was openly against war, and used this painting to show it.
Francos early reign was depicted in the 2006 Guillermo del Toro film "Pans Layrinth" which depicted soldiers from the Nationalist regime rooting out Marxist guerillas who hide in the woods.
Franco ruled Spain until his death in 1975.
Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell and Robert Capa all covered the Spanish Civil War and the war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, and for atrocities committed on both sides of the conflict.
Selected literary works inspired by the Spanish Civil War:
- "Behind the Spanish Barricades" by John Langdon-Davies (1936)
- "Homage to Catalonia" by George Orwell (1938)
- "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway (1940)
- "The Living and the Dead" by Patrick White (1941)
- "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning" by Laurie Lee (1969)
- "A Moment of War" by Laurie Lee (1991)
- "Bicycles are for summer" by Fernando Fernán Gómez(1976)
- "Labyrinth of Struggle" by Mauricio Escobar (2006)
- "The Wall, a book and a short story" by Jean-Paul Sartre
- "Winter in Madrid" by C. J. Sansom
Lyrics by The Manic Street Preachers
The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold
'So if I can shoot rabbits
Then I can shoot fascists'
Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder
Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain
Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked La Ramblas
But not with real intent
And on the street tonight an old man plays
With newspaper cuttings of his glory days'
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
The present to be afraid and cold
'So if I can shoot rabbits
Then I can shoot fascists'
Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder
Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain
Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked La Ramblas
But not with real intent
And on the street tonight an old man plays
With newspaper cuttings of his glory days'
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
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Comment by the world of gaye
batty
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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its an incredibly catchy song, i got it in my head today and just had to write a blog about it . . . i wish i worked in a music shop, that would be a cool job
Comment by RubySoho
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Only now they remind me of an ex boyfriend I had when I lived in the US in the late 90s. He was still into GunsnRoses and used to give me so much shit about the Preachers.
Sigh.
But I think there is now a song with a longer title without brackets. Aussie band Johnny Boy with You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve.
Now, that's impressive.
But how good is the tile of their album "This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours"?
'Nuff said.
Comment by the world of gaye
batty
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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i love that johnny boy song title, i havent heard of them, are they an emo band? (sometimes they have incredibly long band, song and album names haha)
was that song a number one single?
it is impressive regardless, it made me smile!
(as does the mere mention of guns and roses lol)
gaye
oh dear, you banned rap? haha
thats like banning christmas for some people!
you know raps gone mainstream when madonnas doing it!
thanks for the comments ladies
Comment by the world of gaye
batty
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Comment by Nathan 1
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Comment by Louie
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i once went to the town where Dali was born, there were dozens of men walkng around that looked freakishly like him, it was very spooky........
Comment by RubySoho
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Don't think the song did that well on the charts, it's a couple years old now. They performed it live on Triple J once and the singer couldn't hit the notes and had to keep starting again. The DJ's still make fun of her to this day. Mean.
Yeah, Guns n Roses. He used to get so angry when I would diss them. Which was all the time, since I used to get a kick out of pissing him off. Isn't it amazing how we can have relationships with people we don't even like, let alone love?
Comment by Morgan Bell
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haha in danger of being brain-washed! lets just hope they use their power for good instead of evil! it is quite ironic that war and death can inspire such beauty in the arts . . . i guess its that human quality of being given lemons and making lemonade (kind of like the quality to hold our fellow man down and squirt a lemon in his eye?)
Louie,
no i never knew them history of that song until i researched this post, the song was just in my head and i wondered about the origins of the propaganda-esque lyrics and title . . . i vaguelt knew about the spanish civil war (world political history is not my strong point) but found it really fascinating to see how much art was related to the war . . . haha a thousand dali-esque duplicates wandering around, sounds surreal (excuse the bad humour lol)
Ruby,
conflict is once again the catalyst for passion!
Comment by Always Eighteen
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I haven't read your other posts yet, but nonetheless I'll be sure to remember this blog!
Comment by Morgan Bell
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im always glad when people are as interested in things as i am . . . you might enjoy some of the following:
"Will the real William Morris please stand up . . . "
"Opium poppy inspires landscape ecstasy . . .
"George Miller to film in Australia again - yeah pigs might fly . . . "
"Heath Ledgers tormented portrait Highly Commended at Archibald Prize . . . "
"OK so im getting obsessed with Tilda Swinton now . . . "
"In defence of Britney Spears . . . "
Comment by Alexander Hine
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I'll have to read The Living and the Dead, White is a good writer.
A. Hine
Comment by Morgan Bell
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thanks so much for the kind words!
patrick white is one of my favourite Australian authors, i enjoyed his novels "A Fringe Of Leaves" and "Voss" and earlier this year i saw melbourne theatre company perform his play "The Season At Sarsparilla" and it was brilliant.
Comment by Cheryl J
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That poster is heartbreaking.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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thanks for the comment!
i was surprised at how confrontational the poster was, it must have been a terrifying period of history . . . the Nationalists were depicted as barbaric and sadistic in "Pans Labyrinth", that film is as terrifying and the poster . . . political power struggles still seem to have heartbreaking results the world over, i read the phrase from the poster has made a comeback on Iraq War posters in recent years