i saw that look


quotes:

• new ears for new music, new eyes for what has so far remained distant. a new conscience for truths that have so far remained mute. this is a quote from frederich nietzche, though i can't remember where from.
• freedom is the man that will turn the world upside down. 17th century english digger gerrard winstanley in his book the true levellers standard.
• they who don't dance, who don't believe in this word, will grow little, just about a foot high, and stay that way. this comes from an american indian chief in the 1860's complaining about white incomprehension of his religious rituals. pretty ace, we thought.
• in the inward parts... - psalm 51.

references etc.:
there are a lot of lyrical references here. 'to live or to die free' was lifted from french screamo band alcatraz - mourir ou vivre libre? the line 'cities of gold' (and the tune it's sung to) comes from mid-1980's children's TV show of the same name. the diatribe in the middle of the song is a pretty rose-tinted view of the events of June 18th, 1999, in London. the long sample in the middle of the song comes from fight club. the sample at the end is another one from the stoned age. the first vocal part on the verse was sampled and run through a keyboard to get the switching on and off effect. we never played this song live.
the photograph in the background is a jet stream across a clear blue summer sky.

lyrics:
frank: we'll shake with the fear and hate of centuries... so there we were, these two great hostile camps, the crackle of radio static between us as communication fails and the struggle changes from being state versus people to being creativity versus stagnation. and would you believe - could you imagine the spark in the air that made us all feel a hundred metres tall? on our side we're dancing to that incessant beat, a thousand hearts as one, twirling in the morning sunshine under a shower of streamers and broken glass. the wall we dash ourselves on is blank perspex, scratched with desperate fingernails, and as that drummer raises his sticks for one last number i realize i haven't seen a single pair of naked eyes along the whole damn line. but then i catch it, that glance of phyrric victory, because you know the day is ours in the end. so stop trying to hide yourself, because i've seen that look in your eyes. we've only got just one chance to make this mark, so we'd better make sure it's the best one.
ben: the morning doesn't hold the same fascination as it once did in my naivety, because the ceiling above my bedroom belies the real situation: the crushing of the human spirit. the greatest crime i can conceive is the relegation of hearts and minds to the answering of the impending question: to live or to die free? there's a force inside of me, some kind of burning fever, that makes me feel alive and beautiful; the creation inherent in destruction, the pulse of dissent, the heartbeat of an ancient struggle. there's a sickness in the air a final yearning clamour - let's lynch the heros of distraction and feel the fire course through our veins down to our fingertips and thus destroy your cities of gold.

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