I don’t see how trying to distance yourself from a terrorist group is inherently leftist.
it’s an antiwar message that condemns Bloody Sunday and the Black and Tans, while also recognizing that the IRA was not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a stronger leftist message than you might think.
The song was written in direct response to the Warrington bombing. An IRA attack that killed two kids and injured several others, and the various flavours of IRA claiming to be acting on behalf of everyone in Ireland.
“It’s not me, it’s not my family”
There is fuck all about the black and tans, bloody Sunday, or any other shit the plastic paddy’s throw at it.
I suppose that’s why the music video was explicitly shot in Belfast to display the horrors of the conflict and made a point to film British troops?
There are only obscure German words to describe the level of confused anger I am feeling right now.
It was a song specifically written to be neutral to the conflict but instead focus on the human cost of those being caught up.
You are adding extra shit to a song that calls out bringing in extra shit. “It’s not 1916”
you misheard those lyrics bud, it goes “it’s the same old theme, since 1916”. Ultimately though, this community is about how the music is interpreted, not specifically about the artist’s intent. It’s one of the best antiwar songs ever written. It’s impossible to look at the Troubles without acknowledging the harm the Black and Tans caused. Dolores was right to be pissed that the IRA claimed the Warrington bombing was “for Ireland”. That’s how I understand the song.
I feel like you’ve missed the forest for the trees.
You are bringing political division into a song that decries it.
You’re bringing in past events for justification for a song that’s about not using the past to justify actions.
Maybe it’s because I am Northern Irish and it hits differently.