♦️🌟 "𝑫𝑰𝑨𝑴𝑶𝑵𝑫 𝑫𝑶𝑮𝑺" 𝑩𝒀 𝑫𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑫 𝑩𝑶𝑾𝑰𝑬 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑮𝑬𝑶𝑹𝑮𝑬 𝑶𝑹𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑳'𝑺 "1984" 🌟♦️

💎𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬!
Hope you are having some pleasant time here with us, and hope you are enjoying all the surprises we have prepared for you on this special occasion.
We all already know the deep professional and spiritual bond between Placebo and their guiding light David Bowie, but what I'm going to talk about in this post today is a further link between our favourite band and the White Duke, exactly through George Orwell's dystopian novel '1984' which maybe not all of us know yet.
✨ Are you ready? So, let's start the journey together! ✨
What I am going to talk about today is David Bowie's record 'Diamond Dogs'! 💥

Photo credit: Diamond Dogs album cover,Jean Baptiste Mondino/ edit by Emanuela

💦𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 '𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐎𝐆𝐒' – 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌💦
Diamond Dogs is the eighth studio album by David Bowie, released on May 24th 1974 through RCA Records. It was recorded it in early 1974 in London and in Netherlands, following the disbanding of Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars. The absence of Mick Ronson led Bowie to play guitar on the record. Musically, it was Bowie's final album in the glam rock genre.
Belgian artist Guy Peellaert painted the controversial cover artwork depicting Bowie as a half-man, half-dog hybrid, based on photos taken by photographer Terry O'Neill.
Conceived during a period of uncertainty over where his career was headed, Diamond Dogs is the result of multiple projects Bowie envisioned at the time. One of these was a musical based on Ziggy Stardust (1972), which he ultimately scrapped, another was 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥'𝐬 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟗 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 '𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒'.
Preceded by the lead single "Rebel Rebel", Diamond Dogs was a commercial success, peaking at number one in the UK and number five in the US.
Bowie biographers consider it one of his best works and, in 2013, NME ranked it one of the greatest albums of all time. Diamond Dogs has been cited as an influence on the punk revolution in the years following its release.

Book cover

💦𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐁𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐄'𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐑𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋'𝐒 "𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒" 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇?
𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌💦
Diamond Dogs contains several references to George Orwell's classic 𝐝𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧* science fiction story '1984' (most notably in the final third of the album, which directly quoted Orwell multiple times: 1984, Big Brother and We Are The Dead), but originally, the relation between Bowie's album and Orwell's novel was supposed to be much closer.
- *𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑂𝑟𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙'𝑠 '1984' 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑜𝑓 '𝑑𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑎' 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑎, 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑒.-
When Bowie started working on the material that would become Diamond Dogs, he initially intended for it to be a musical adaptation of 1984; unfortunately, negotiations between the musician and Orwell's estate eventually fell through, and the estate refused to sell Bowie the rights.
According to an excerpt from "The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s", the Widow Orwell refused the rights on the grounds that she had no intention of allowing '1984' to be turned into a musical.
David Bowie's reaction was not long in coming, and the words he used for the Orwell's widow were quite sharp:
"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒: 𝑀𝑟𝑠 𝑂𝑟𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠, 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑘.
𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟-𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑛𝑜𝑏 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒”. ‘𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑠, 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐?' "’
It really was like that.
Not that Bowie was given singular treatment: so protective was Sonia Orwell of her late husband’s legacy, and so appalled had she been by a 1955 film adaptation, that she had turned down everyone who approached her wishing to translate Nineteen Eighty-Four into another medium.


What form that musical was ultimately meant to take isn’t totally clear. According to Christopher Sandford’s biography 'Bowie: Loving the Alien', the adaptation would've been “a West End musical, with an accompanying album and film.”
But in a Rolling Stone interview with William S. Burroughs from February 1974—just months before the release of Diamond Dogs—Bowie himself mentioned he was “doing Orwell’s '1984' on television.”
Though Sonia Orwell passed away in 1980, Bowie never resurrected his original plans for her husband’s harrowing tale.
But in January 2020, producers at Australia’s New Theatre did stage a 1984 musical that Sonia surely would have disapproved of.

Album cover

💦𝐎𝐑𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐘𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐒 '𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒' 𝐀𝐍𝐃 '𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑' 𝐁𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐁𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐄:💦

💥𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒💥
‘1984’ was written as the title track for David Bowie’s proposed theatrical version of George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
During a day’s filming at the Marquee on 20 October 1973, Bowie introduced ‘1984’ with the words: “𝑊𝑒’𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ‘1984’. 𝑊𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟.”
The song pays worthy homage to the book. Despite his glam plumage, Bowie could do dreary nihilism with the best of them. “1984” maintains the novel’s oppressive weight, honing in on Orwell’s depiction of thought control, specifically the state-issued propaganda which makes intellectual amputees of its citizens.
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑢𝑚
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟
Bowie cries over eerie, high-strung strings.
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑦
𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒
𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑤’𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
𝐵𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑗𝑎𝑤
𝑜𝑓 1984

Photo credit: Terry ONeill

💥𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑💥
The link between David Bowie and George Orwell is also represented by the song 'Big Brother', the penultimate song on Diamond Dogs.
It takes up the 'Big Brother' of the Orwellian novel, a very popular dictator who constantly observes the actions of men and keeps them under control. Actually, Orwell never specifies whether he is a human being or simply a symbol, but in the collective imagination he represents a constant presence that always monitors. It is a figure that is very much quoted in television, in the world of cinema, etc.
The lyrics of ‘Big Brother’ reflect the moment in Orwell’s book when its protagonist Winston Smith’s brainwashing was complete, and he became fully supplicant towards the state.


𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑢𝑠, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢
𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝐵𝑖𝑔 𝐵𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟

𝐻𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑎 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑦𝑙𝑢𝑚
𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑦ℎ𝑒𝑚
𝐻𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑙
𝑊𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛.

‘Big Brother’ also contains two drug references:
𝐷𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠
𝑂𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠
and the confessional
𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝐼’𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑜𝑠𝑒
𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛
Bowie had been using cocaine since the tail end of the Ziggy Stardust tour, and at the start of 1974 was descending into an increasingly severe habit.
“𝑀𝑦 𝑑𝑟𝑢𝑔 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑝𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑍𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑦 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑜𝑔𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙. 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑦. 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒, 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝐼 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡.”
(David Bowie, Mojo, July 2002)

Photo credit: Aperture

💎Dear Soulmates, since we found out more about the amazing David Bowie's Diamond Dogs, how it came about and the references to George Orwell's novel '1984', let's enjoy together two live performances of the two songs I just told you about:
𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞 - 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒/𝐃𝐨𝐝𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 (𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 / 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝) 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟎 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰:
👉https://bit.ly/39lcnnC

𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞 - 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 (𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧, 𝟔/𝟔/𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟕):
👉https://bit.ly/38IiqT9


Take care of each other, on this amazing International Placebo Day

Post by Emanuela

♦️𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌♦️

🔹(𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐈𝐍 “𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐃”)🔹


“... 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛. 𝐼𝑇 𝑊𝐴𝑆 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑆𝐸𝐶𝑂𝑁𝐷 𝑂𝐹 𝑀𝐴𝑌. 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠. ...“
(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“).

Photo credit: Scarlet Page, Jean Baptiste Mondino (3), edit by me

As most of you know the Placebo song “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥“ 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 in its lyrics. But also Placebo mentor David Bowie's album “Diamond Dogs“ is heavily influenced by “1984“. You can read more about it in Emanuela's post later today. Now let's have have a closer look at the references to the novel in the lyrics of „The bitter end“ and reveal all the hidden meanings in the text.


🎬 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐃 (𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐎𝐀𝐋 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎)
🎵 https://cutt.ly/7GILpfr 🎵


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.


📝 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆:
👉 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!

Photo credit: Screenshot from TBE video, stills from the movie, book cover / edit by Silke

📜 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗡𝗗
𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙
𝙄𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙯𝙤𝙣𝙚
➡ 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).


𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚
➡ Julia follows Winston home twice. The second time he almost kills her, because he thinks she is a spy of the Thought Police.


𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙨
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙖𝙮
➡ 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).


𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙮
➡ 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.


𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙
𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙
➡ “The bitter end“ means the last time Julia and Winston meet after the tortures had killed their feelings for one another.


𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙬𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙚
➡ 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.


𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚


𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙨
𝘼𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮
➡ 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.


𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙮
➡ 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).


𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙
𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙


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

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗡 𝟮𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗔𝗬

PLACEBO "The Bitter End" Lisbon 2017 ⭐⭐𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐘 ⭐⭐-
- 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭... 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐭?

Dear friends, I also want to welcome you to my post on this important Placebo day and I hope you all have a good time, because I definitely do!

We all already know that this holiday was set by the fans themselves based on the lyrics of one of Placebo's most famous songs -
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝".

Why are these lyrics so popular? What led Brian to writing this song?
𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐀 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

And my goal was to search in detail the archive of all Placebo concerts and find the exact dates when the fans were lucky enough to experience the song "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝" 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐲.

And to make your information complete, let's also see why writer George Orwell wrote this dystopian novel, and what Brian said about the origin of this song. And for fun, I'll give you a few reviews of how music critics received this great rock work.

 In writing the lyrics to The Bitter End, Brian was inspired by 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥'𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥, "𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒," which fits perfectly into the time and society we live in.
Thematically, „1984“ centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society. Orwell, a democratic socialist himself, modelled the authoritarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated.
“1984” ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒. 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑖𝑔 𝐵𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 101, 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝐷𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑝ℎ𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠.𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ "-𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘" (𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘) 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙. “𝑁𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐸𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑦-𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑟” ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎, 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜, 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎, 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎.

⭐🔸Quite simply - this book must have influenced the soul of every reader, including Brian.🔸⭐

And is it clearer to you now? Throughout its existence in rock music, Placebo proclaims freedom of speech and any religion in society and the right to the uniqueness of every person on earth.
In any case, Brian elevated his lyrics about the ending relationship in this song above all others precisely by using such a prized and perfect dystopian work of an English writer.

Placebo live in Lisbon on May 2nd 2017, screenshot

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑬𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔, 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔:

📌 BBC.uk.co: "The Bitter End" is "a good pop tune", having "just the right amount of dark, gothic atmosphere to please their fans and enough radio friendly guitars to please the new generation of indie kids."
📌 The Times: the song "ramped up the energy level to devastating effect."
📌 Rock Sound: the track's "kick ass romp" reinforces "their status as purveyors of pure indie pop in the vein of The Smiths."
📌 NME: "The Bitter End" "sees Placebo powering along with a relentless U2- chasing-after-The Cure melody that's as infectious as 24."
📌 Summarising Placebo's 2004 singles collection, Once More With Feeling, BBC.uk.co's Nottingham music reviewer Jaime Gill stated that "each song stems from a songwriter so instinctive and precise that when he writes a song called "The Bitter End", that's exactly what it sounds like."

⭐Orwell's 1984 novel was an inspiration for many other rock artists as well - Black Sabbath, Dead Kennedys, John Lennon, David Bowie, Eurythmics, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Muse, Marilyn Manson, Coldplay to name a few ...⭐

 Placebo live in Lisbon on May 2nd 2017, screenshot.

⭐🔸 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠?🔸⭐

📌"It was written and recorded very quickly. As we had spent a lot of time playing with the technology and synths, we wanted to do something lively, exuberant, punk. The idea had started from two guitar chords found by Stefan and bang! Two days later, it was finished."
(𝐿𝑒𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑁°382, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ-𝐴𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑙 2003)

"It's about a relationship. Two people fighting, they both want to be the stronger one. A classic Fuck-you song."
(𝐷𝑁𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑥, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 2003)

"'The bitter end' was written and recorded in two days, when we were finishing the album. “The bitter end“ is about couples who are breaking up, the anger that take hold of them at this time, the desire that arises from this injury."
(𝑀6 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 2004)

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝” is one of the fans all-time favourites and became an inherent part of most Placebo shows. Up to now it was performed 679 times which makes it the third most often played song at live concerts after “𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐞” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 “𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐊”.

Placebo live in Lisbon on May 2nd 2017, screenshot.

⭐ And at the end of this festive moment today - here's the promised concert.

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝑫𝒂𝒚?

This has happened only twice in the history of the band:
For the first time, in Nantes, France in 2003, but no videos can be found on YT from that day.
𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲.
In addition to the shared amazing video of the song „The Bitter End“, there are a few other beautiful videos from this exceptional performance, so that we can really enjoy this evening properly.

🎶 "Jesus Son"
https://bit.ly/3t98JS6
🎶 "Special Needs"
https://bit.ly/3xExsB9
🎶 "Too Many Friends"
https://bit.ly/3e6wt4Y
🎶 "Twenty Years"
https://bit.ly/2RdnGFB
🎶 "Without You I'm Nothing"
https://bit.ly/3xExIjB
🎶 "Slave To The Wage"
https://bit.ly/3t97wdw
🎶 "Song To Say Goodbye" and "The Bitter End"
https://bit.ly/3vztZC0
🎶 "Teenage Angst" and "Nancy Boy"
https://bit.ly/3e4rfqp
🎶 "Running Up That Hill" and for Placebo a bit unusual ending of the concert
https://bit.ly/3vqjoJI

Post by Marti

♦️𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌♦️

🔹(𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐈𝐍 “𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐃”)🔹


“... 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛. 𝐼𝑇 𝑊𝐴𝑆 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑆𝐸𝐶𝑂𝑁𝐷 𝑂𝐹 𝑀𝐴𝑌. 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠. ...“
(George Orwell, “1984“)

Photo credit: Book cover, Screenshots from the movie, screenshot from the music clip, edit by Silke

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 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 “1984“ (also known as “Nineteen Eighty-Four“).
If you want to know more about what exactly happened on the 2nd of May and where this lead to please continue reading this post.

As most of you know the Placebo song “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥“ 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 in its lyrics. Now we will have a closer look at them and reveal all the hidden meanings in the text.
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.

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆:
👉 https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/summary/

Photo credit: Scarlet Page

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!

📜 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗡𝗗
𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙
𝙄𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙯𝙤𝙣𝙚
➡ 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).

𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚
➡ Julia follows Winston home twice. The second time he almost kills her, because he thinks she is a spy of the Thought Police.

𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙨
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙖𝙮
➡ 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).

𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙮
➡ 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.

𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙
𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙
➡ “The bitter end“ means the last time Julia and Winston meet after the tortures had killed their feelings for one another.

𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙬𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙚
➡ 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.

𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙨
𝘼𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮
➡ 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.

𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙮
➡ 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).

𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙
𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙

Screenshot from the official video

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).

Post by Silke

Placebo songs inspired by books

Some of Placebo's songs are inspired by books as you may know. Today we'll have a closer look on three of these books and authors that Brian has revealed as source for his lyrics in interviews.

"I'VE STOLEN BOOK TITLES FOR MY SONGS"

Photo credits: Silver Rocket, Scarlet Page, unknown (3)

Firstly let's talk about “Lady of the flowers” from Placebo's self-titled 1996 debut album. The inspiration for this song came from the book “Notre dame des fleurs” (Our lady of the flowers) by French writer Jean Genet. It was his debut novel and first published in 1943. The book is largely autobiographical, it tells the story of draq queen Divine and was a quite scandalous release due to its content. Jean-Paul Sartre even called it "the epic of masturbation". Genet also performed a transvaluation of values in this novel, making betrayal the highest moral value and murder an act of virtue and sexual appeal. Death and ecstasy accompany the acts of every character. 

Jean Genet worked on the story while he was in prison. The first version of “Lady of the flowers” was written on brown paper that was given to the inmates with the intention that they would make bags of it. A prison guard discovered Genet's “unauthorized” use of the paper and confiscated the manuscript which then was burned. But this setback couldn't stop Genet and so he wrote it all over again and took the pages with him when he was finally set free from prison.

PLACEBO - LADY OF THE FLOWERS

https://bit.ly/2VietLd

Plot
Divine lives in an attic room which she shares with various lovers, the most important of them is a pimp called Darling Daintyfoot. One day Darling brings home a young hoodlum and murderer, dubbed Our Lady of the Flowers. Our Lady is eventually arrested and executed.

BRIAN ON “LADY OF THE FLOWERS”
"When I sing 'Lady of the flowers' people think I'm talking about a woman when actually it's about a transvestite."(P.A.T., 1996)


Placebo's 2003 success single “The bitter end” is inspired by the book “Ninteen Eighty-Four”, later often published as “1984”. It's a famous dystopian novel by English author George Orwell which perfectly fits in the time and society we're living in right now. The book was first published in 1949 as Orwell's ninth and final release. It was first planned to be published under the title “The last man in Europe”. Then “1984” crossed Orwell's mind, allegedly because it was an inversion of 1948, the year in which the novel was written.
“1984” had a great cultural impact and also an enormous effect on the English language.Among many others the concepts of  Big Brother, Room 101, Thoughtcrime, Doublethink and Newspeak have become common phrases.The practice of ending words with "-speak" (such as mediaspeak) is drawn from the novel. “Nineteen Eighty-Four” has been adapted for the cinema, radio, television and theatre as well as for other art media, such as ballet and opera.

PLACEBO - THE BITTER END

http://bit.ly/2YsP0yn 

Plot
The story takes place in an imagined future in the year 1984 when most parts of the world has fallen victim to perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and propaganda. Oceania, a totalitarian superstate where the protagonist Winston Smith lives in, is ruled by The Party who employ the Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking. The leader of The Party is Big Brother (hence the saying “Big Brother is watching you”), who is maybe a real person but could also be a fiction invented by The Party. Winston secretly hates The Party and dreams of rebellion. He begins a forbidden relationship with Julia, but both of them get captured and imprisoned. Winston is tortured and forced to "cure" himself of his "insanity" (which means their relationship), the same happens to Julia. Finally he is taken to Room 101 which contains each prisoner's worst fear. Confronted with this Winston betrays Julia. He is now re-educated and being released. One day Winston meets Julia again and both reveal betraying the other and having no feelings for each other any more. The novel ends with Winston accepting his full conversion and reflecting that he loves Big Brother.

There are a lot of references to “1984“ in the lyrics of “The bitter end“. You can read everything about them here https://bit.ly/2Yvrd2W

BRIAN ON “THE BITTER END”
“Two people trying to come out of a relationship with the least scars. Very fuck you.“
(Rock Sound, April 2003)


Last but not least let's have a closer look on “A million little pieces” from the album “Loud like love”. This song was inspired by a same-titled book written by American author James Frey. It was originally released as a memoir but had to be marketed as a semi-fictional novel later because of accusations of litarary forgery (it emerged that many of the events described in the book never really happened). "A million little pieces" tells the story of a alcoholic alcoholic and drug addict and how he copes with rehabilitation in a twelve steps-orientated treatment center.
A notable feature of the book is its lack of quotation marks to indicate direct quotes or dialogues. Instead of them a new line starts each time someone speaks. The fact that the author uses this same method to indicate his internal thoughts gives the book a unique but sometimes confusing writing style, which intention is maybe to reflect the nature of the main character's experience in the treatment center. 

There's also a movie based on the book. You can read more about it here https://bit.ly/2CFulkx

PLACEBO - A MILLION LITTLE PIECES
https://bit.ly/2Nq1G59

Plot
James is a 23 years old alcoholic and a crack addict who wakes up on a flight to Chicago with injuries and no idea of how he ended up on the plane. His parents pick him up at the airport to take him to a rehabilitation clinic. As he checks in he is forced to quit his substance abuse, a transition that later probably saves his life. The treatment is an agonizing process for him. The book follows James through this painful experiences that lead up to his eventual release from the center. He meets many interesting people in the clinic, with whom he forms relationships and who play an important role in his life both during and after his time in the clinic. These people include a mafia boss who plays a vital role in his recovery (subject of Frey's subsequent book My Friend Leonard), and a female drug addict with whom he falls in love despite strict rules forbidding contact between men and women at the clinic. James finally recovers and never relapses.

BRIAN ON “A MILLION LITTLE PIECES”
“This song is about desperation and hopelessness. I have stolen the title from from the memoirs of the American author James Frey. He describes his experience with addiction and the following rehabilitation. This song is about feeling totally lost and astray. They want to end the situation but it's not easy. I recommend everyone to read the book and play our music behind it.”
(Krone, 2013)


There are many other Placebo songs with references to books. Uncle Tom in “Blue American” for example refers to “Uncles Tom's Cabin” by American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe. This anti-slavery novel was published in 1852, but still has a relevance nowadays as the recent events and the protests all over the world clearly show.
Photo credits: Scarlet Page, Silver Rocket, unknown (3), covers of the books / edit by me

Post by Silke