“... ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐'๐ ๐ ๐๐๐. ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ด๐ ๐๐ป๐ธ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐๐๐ท ๐๐น ๐๐ด๐. ๐น๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐คโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ โ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ . ...“
(George Orwell, “1984“)
These lines are the literary origin of what we celebrate today. The beginning of “International Placebo Day“ dates back to 8th of June 1949, the release date of George Orwell's “1984“ (also known as “Nineteen Eighty-Four“).
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| Photo credit: Scarlet Page, Jean Baptiste Mondino (3), edit by me |
๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ (๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐)
๐ต https://cutt.ly/7GILpfr ๐ต
When you think of the song, can you name some of those references? (Obviously “The 2nd of May“ is out of competition.) Quite difficult, isn't it?
Except you know the storyline of “1984“. This is necessary to find and understand the clues in the lyrics. Those of you who aren't familiar with it can click the link below and read the summary. It leads to a page where you cannot only find a plot overview, but also summaries and analyses of every chapter, a list and description of the characters, quotes, key facts and much more. To understand the references in “The bitter end“ you only need to read the plot overview.
Or, if you're not a fan of reading, just watch the movie.
๐ ๐ฆ๐๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐:
๐ https://bit.ly/3uMFLvs
Ok, soulmates, now that the basic work is done it's time to get serious. Important questions will be anwered. ;-)
Where or what is the “comfort zone“?
Who's “running out of alibis“ and why?
And what happened on that “fateful day“?
Let's get started and discover those secrets!
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| Photo credit: Screenshot from TBE video, stills from the movie, book cover / edit by Silke |
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐'๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฏ๐๐
๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฃ๐
➡ In “1984“ most people are kept sedated with alcohol, lottery and pornography (feeling so anesthetized) but they are also brainwashed and so used to it, that they are satisfied with this state (the comfort zone).
๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐
๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ข๐
➡ Julia follows Winston home twice. The second time he almost kills her, because he thinks she is a spy of the Thought Police.
๐๐'๐ง๐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐จ
๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ฎ
➡ It's the day Julia and Winston have their first secret date.They fall in love with each other and have sex for the first time. Relationships or sex between Party Members are strictly forbidden by Big Brother. Winston and Julia are aware from the start (from the 2nd of May) that they will be captured and that there's no justification for their love affair (they are running out of alibis).
๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ช๐ข๐ข๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐
๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง'๐จ ๐๐๐ฎ
➡ This refers to the final chapter where Winston and Julia accidentally meet one last time on a cold day in March. “Summer time“ stands for the affair they had the year before.
๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐
๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐
➡ “The bitter end“ means the last time Julia and Winston meet after the tortures had killed their feelings for one another.
๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฏ๐๐
๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐
➡ No one dares to be individual or different from the rest in “1984“ (they all “take synchronized steps“).
“Every broken bone“ is a reference to the tortures both Julia and Winston go through at the Ministry of Love before they betray each other.
๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐
๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ข๐
๐๐ค๐ช ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ก๐ช๐ก๐ก๐๐๐๐๐จ
๐ผ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช'๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ
➡ A lullaby titled “Oranges and Lemons“ is a frequently used motif throughout the novel until the point where Julia and Winston are captured by the Thought Police.
๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐
๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ช๐ก ๐๐๐ฎ
➡ The fateful day is 2nd of May again. From that moment on Julia and Winston know that they will be killed or their spirits will be broken by the Party (it's killing time).
๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐
๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐
Some of you may wonder why the text stops here. Here's a quote by Brian that helps to understand:
“... That does happen at the very end of "The bitter end" as well. The backing vocal that comes in at the very, very end which starts out with a line that says "every time we're intersected/it feels love like suicide" and then the last line is "to miss your eyes and lips" and in between I don't know what I am saying“ (The Sentimentalist 2003).
Dear soulmates, some of you may remember this post about the references between “The bitter end“ and “1984“ from last year's Special. We decided to share it once more because Placebo Anyway has a lot more followers now and we did not want to withhold the interesting information from them.
Post by Silke
