It was such a pleasure to see Guided By Voices (for me, it was in the ninties). The endless melodies and passion were amazing.
Fitting for the times we are in. Especially noteworthy with the "Pigs" era we are in. Hard to look at the front row of the inauguration, and not immediately think about this album or Orwell. This album IMO has aged better than most of their work. A scathing concept album that is more relevant today than it was then by a longshot.
Yeah. I agree with you. The seventies, when this came out, were comparatively benign. Governments and the public still had some basic control over economic systems, but that has been slipping away for decades now. The old robber barrons of the late 1800's and early 20th century were ruthless, but they retained some connection with the Christian culture they grew up in. They made a lot of money and cracked a lot of heads, but religious guilt at least led some of them to fund charities, build libraries and make a token contribution to the greater good. Today's tech bros and billionaire class have even more money, but most of them are tethered to nothing. These man babies are ruining the planet in real time and too many people are cheering them on like it's a movie. Are we going to do something about it?
I think the subtle but brilliant thing Waters does is bookend this grim reminder with essentially what is a simple love song that is saying how what makes it all worth living is spending time with the people you care for and eventually maybe you’ll see a “pig on the wing”. Which I take it mean that you gotta still stop and realize what matters and still have some hope that there can be change. I think that’s what he’s talking about with the Pig on the Wing thing. Maybe im wrong and Waters had a different take but it’s kind of how I view it and why I’ve been able to compartmentalize since the election. Spending more time with my kid and Wife just seems more important now than ever because the world is more fcked than ever.
