Pop Songs and the Spanish Civil War

Like many of my postings on pop music, this is going to sound a bit obscure, but there are many thoughts I have carried around with me often over a number of years as with the one about out-of-date technology in songs. I forget about them for ages then I hear a particular song on the radio and it sparks off the memory. Anyway, I suppose this is what this blog is about, casting out all those fragments of thoughts, little issues that I get momentarily het up about. I must have a lot of them because this is my 195th posting since last May. Of course new things come up all the time, shorter-term annoyance like all the house moving and the holiday and so on, but this blog has been wonderful at clearing out all the debris of stuff floating in my mind with benefit in terms of being able to get on with writing fiction and such like.

Now this one goes back to the 1970s. In 1976 ABBA then at the height of their success released 'Fernando' which reached number 1 in 12 countries, including the UK. A version with different lyrics (in Swedish) had been released by band member Anni-Frid Lyngstad in 1975. It was a romantic song whereas the re-written one was more about veterans from a conflict reminiscing about the events. The composers Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson claim it did not refer to any specific conflict or time period. The thing that annoyed me and continues to do so whenever it is dug out is that people say it is about the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and in particular the International Brigades (foreigner volunteers who fought for the Spanish Republic). I observe, though, that the Wikipedia entry on the song is more accurate and it is actually about the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) which as they note began in November 1910 when Francisco Madero led revolutionaries from Texas in the USA across its border with Mexico, the Rio Grande river as in the song the lyric goes 'that fateful night we crossed the Rio Grande'. Maybe it is the fact that to European audiences the Mexican Revolution is not an event in history that people are taught about or generally have even heard of.

Possibly this element was played down a bit for American audiences as the USA (where the song reached number 13) was never really happy having a revolutionary government on its southern border. The party that ran Mexico 1929-1946 was the National Revolutionary Party and it then became the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI); the concept of institutional and revolutionary seems contradictory. The PRI remained in power until 2000. Thus, avoiding reference to this element of history and instead focusing on the better known Spanish Civil War might have made it more acceptable in some circumstances. It also may have had something to do with the timing of the release of the single because in November 1975 General Francisco Franco, who had been dictator of Spain since 1939, died.

Out of all of this, though, it is intriguing that I can think of no other number 1 song in the Western world which had the theme of revolutionary conflict at its core and to some degree it was out of step with the more romantic songs that were the staple of ABBA's output, but I guess it successfully substituted nostalgia for romance, or maybe it mixed them. One aspect which is appealing is that it is sung by a woman and there is an implicit suggestion that the singer and this Fernando sacrificed a chance of romance and a normal life in the cause of revolution which is a common theme in romantic fiction. The reference to them 'losing' in the song might be seen to suggest that possibly they were not on the winning side of the revolution, though the revolutionaries did win so, maybe, in fact, the loss is about the loss to their lives in terms of 'normality' and what seems to be a love unrequited due to the focus on revolution.

In contrast to the rather mis-attributed background of 'Fernando' is 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' released by the Manic Street Preachers in 1998. This came from the album 'This is My Truth Tell Me Yours'; the title itself quotes Aneuran Bevan the Welsh Labour politician. The Manic Street Preachers clearly were in a political phase and one of long titles, 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' is recorded as the longest single title without brackets. The title comes from a Spanish Republic poster of the war and lines such as 'If I can shoot rabbits/then I can shoot Fascists' comes from 'Miners Against Fascism: Wales and the Spanish Civil War' by Dr. Hywel Francis (1984) also a Labour MP. The song went straight to number 1 in the UK but was less successful elsewhere. The single cover used a photograph of International Brigade soldiers from the war.

Nicky Wire (aka Nick Jones) who wrote the lyrics also stated that he was influenced by the song 'Spanish Bombs' released as a track on the album 'London Calling' by The Clash in 1979. The Clash were a similarly left-wing leaning pop group who were pretty successful in the UK charts despite the political focus of many of their songs. The UK seems able to tolerate one such group at a time and I imagine they still sell well to students looking for something different to the highly commercialised, sanitised, even music of the charts of these days. The song interesting contrasts the terrorism of ETA, the Basque separatist movement active in the 1970s and 1980s with the fight for freedom of the Republicans in the 1930s. It also slips in a reference to Ireland, possibly seeking to similarly contrast with the IRA of the past with the Provisional IRA of the 1970s and their violence. The song by referencing red and black flags also speaks about the Anarchists who made up part of the Republican side along side Socialists and Communists. Of course anarchism had had a burst of popularity during the punk era of the late 1970s (notably 'Anarchy in the U.K.' released by the Sex Pistols in November 1976) It is fascinating that you can buy 'Spanish Bombs' as a ringtone, though without the lyrics it means little and to some extent has been overtaken by events in Spain and Ireland.

Is it wrong to use the history of such conflicts to sell records? Well, they do not sell millions, they are not commercially there week after week. The motives of ABBA probably differed greatly from Manic Street Preachers and The Clash who did take a political angle on things. Their songs also contain real messages for today when there are lots of dictatorships and oppression going on no different to the Fascist Nationalist takeover of Spain 1936-9. People still die for what they believe in, notably at the moment in Tibet, but so many of us in the West just sit comfortably at home or walking around the shops with no concept of such sacrifice or that if we are complacent our freedoms will be snuffed out just as easily.

For reference:

'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' by Manic Street Preachers (1996)
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

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

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 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
Will be next

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

'Spanish Bombs' by The Clash (1979)
Spanish songs in Andalucia,
the shooting sites in the days of ’39.
Oh, please leave, the VENTANA open.
Federico Lorca is dead and gone:
bullet holes in the cemetery walls,
the black cars of the Guardia Civil.

Spanish bombs on the Costa Rica -
I’m flying on in a DC-10 tonight.
Spanish bombs; yo te quiero infinito.
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón.
Spanish bombs; yo te quiero infinito.
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón.

Spanish weeks in my disco casino;
the freedom fighters died upon the hill.
They sang the red flag,
they wore the black one -
but after they died,
it was Mockingbird Hill.

Back home, the buses went up in flashes,
the Irish tomb was drenched in blood.
Spanish bombs shatter the hotels.
My señorita’s rose was nipped in the bud.

Spanish bombs; yo te quiero infinito.
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón.
Spanish bombs; yo te quiero infinito.
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón.

The hillsides ring with 'free the people' -
or can I hear the echo from the days of ’39
with trenches full of poets,
the ragged army, fixing bayonets to fight the other line?

Spanish bombs rock the province;
I’m hearing music from another time.
Spanish bombs on the Costa Brava;
I’m flying in on a DC-10 tonight.

Spanish bombs; yo te quiero infinito.
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón.
Spanish bombs; yo te quiero infinito.
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón,
oh mi corazón,
oh mi corazón.

Spanish songs in Andalucia:
mandolina, oh mi corazón.
Spanish songs in Granada,
oh mi corazón,
oh mi corazón,
oh mi corazón,
oh mi corazón.


'Fernando' by ABBA (1976)
Can you hear the drums Fernando?
I remember long ago another starry night like this
In the firelight Fernando
You were humming to yourself and softly strumming your guitar
I could hear the distant drums
And sounds of bugle calls were coming from afar
They were closer now Fernando
Every hour every minute seemed to last eternally
I was so afraid Fernando
We were young and full of life and none of us prepared to die
And I'm not ashamed to say
The roar of guns and cannons almost made me cry

There was something in the air that night
The stars were bright, Fernando
They were shining there for you and me
For liberty, Fernando
Though I never thought that we could lose
There's no regret
If I had to do the same again
I would, my friend, Fernando

Now we're old and grey Fernando
And since many years I havent seen a rifle in your hand
Can you hear the drums Fernando?
Do you still recall the fateful night we crossed the Rio Grande?
I can see it in your eyes
How proud you were to fight for freedom in this land

There was something in the air that night
The stars were bright, Fernando
They were shining there for you and me
For liberty, Fernando
Though I never thought that we could lose
There's no regret
If I had to do the same again
I would, my friend, Fernando

There was something in the air that night
The stars were bright, Fernando
They were shining there for you and me
For liberty, Fernando
Though I never thought that we could lose
There's no regret
If I had to do the same again
I would, my friend, Fernando
Yes, if I had to do the same again
I would, my friend, Fernando...


P.P. 30/03/2009 - Over the weekend I read with a mixture of amusement and alarm that 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' has been put on a BNP (British National Party - a Fascist political party) website by a supporter of the party. The party removed it pretty quickly, partly because they were violating copyright. They dismissed it saying 'you can interpret the lyrics anyway you want', but it is clear that their supporter simply read the title and was trying to use it as a scare tactic about what these racists see as the consequences of immigration. However, the use of this song simply reinforces how ignorant BNP supporters are. Of course, most BNP supporters probably think 'Fascism' is a republic in Central Asia and will be campaigning to stop the immigration of Fascists into the UK. As we know with the case of General Galtieri, former dictator of Chile, the UK actually welcomes Fascists with horrific records.