Guernica

Watch me at war really up
You wanna hurt me stop the row
We both are stitched up now
We're hard with fear hard speak up

You wanna hurt me stop the row
We both are stitched up now
We're whores sit down
We're whores that's us

He wanted us, he swore and all we've got
You wanna hurt me stop the row
We both are stitched up now
We're hard with fear hard speak up

You wanna hurt me stop the row
We both are stitched up now
We're whores sit down
We're whores that's us

Simple lives yeah we don't have
We pack up in truth it seems this
Peacemakers has arms that hold fear
See gargoyles can you see the wonder ?
Yes I fear the carbine
What does never wrong mean ?
That's right

Every one of us he swore so hurry up
You wanna hurt me stop the row
We both are stitched up now
We're hard with fear hard speak up
You wanna hurt me stop the row
The both of us are stitched up now
We're whores sit down
We're whores

That must mean sinful eyes that maim of fear
It's the look that stings I fear boy
Being distrusting I trust no one

They've been back down for nothing
It was never shared it's ours
We will know those names who follow

Lyrics by:
Squire / Brown

Music by:
Squire / Brown

Written:
1989

Personnel:
John Squire (guitar)
Ian Brown (vocals)
Gary Mounfield (bass)
Alan Wren (drums)

Produced by:
John Leckie

Available on:
Made Of Stone single (as b-side) (4.22)
What The World Is Waiting For / Fool's Gold / She Bangs The Drums (12" mix) / Elephant Stone (12" mix) / Guernica / Going Down (November 1989, Alfa-Silvertone, 18B2-103, Japanese CD)

First live performance:
Never performed live

Details:

"We go to Manchester airport in the summer," Ian Brown told the Maker in March, "and watch the planes land and take off. Your eardrums feel like they're shredding with the volume of the engines. And the fire coming out the back. It's an awesome sight, 30 feet from a plane. We want to get that sound onto record - bits of 'Guernica' sound like planes, but it's just 'Made Of Stone' backwards with forward vocals. I'd love to have done it as an A-side."
(Melody Maker Supplement, June 1990)

Guernica is one of the most powerful tracks in the Roses' cannon. The title relates to Pablo Picasso's (1881 - 1973) 1937 mural, portraying the destruction of this Basque capital in the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939), a war that brought together three of the most powerful leaders of the twentieth century (Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco). Guernica was the first city to suffer a saturation bombardment by the air forces that Hitler sent to help Franco's Nationalists. The air raid destroyed the city, killing an estimated 1600 people and injuring many more. The attack took place on 26th April 1937 and the whole town was on fire for three days; the most symbolic part of the city, the holy tree of Guernica, survived the attack. It was the first aerial bombardment in history in which a civilian population was attacked with the apparent intent of producing total destruction. The painting's importance transcended its historical source, becoming a universal symbol of all atrocities and consequences of war. Guernica's power lies in its mixture of epic and realistic elements. Painted in Picasso's signature Cubist style and replete with characters that recur in his work (such as the Minotaur, Spanish bulls, and women in the throes of pain and suffering), this entirely black-and-white painting has the stark immediacy of a newspaper article. The work is infused with narrative symbolism, yet despite the weighty iconography, the artist's decision to strip his canvas of colour provided his abstract forms and mythic symbolism with the appearance of journalistic credibility. Just as Picasso's masterpiece cuts up images, Squire and Brown cut up lyrics and music to create an abstract work, evoking images of war and pain. Jackson Pollock - himself a major influence on Squire - was obsessed by the painting, with its influence obvious within certain sections of his own work (for example, Male and Female from 1942).

In Issue 10 of Aesthetica Magazine (July - September 2005), Squire listed Picasso's Guernica as being among his favourite works. The influence of Picasso is evident in Squire's artwork from his solo career. See a work entitled 'Man With a Bloody Nose' from 2005.

What's your favourite piece of artwork or photography ?
Number 1A by Jackson Pollock. It's like a window into another world, a revolutionary technique, a painting that seems to have created itself, even the artist's own hand prints are clearly visible. Also, I like Guernica and Rembrandt's self-portrait 1659.

The interest in this period of history may have stemmed from The Clash's (a significant John Squire influence) 'Spanish Bombs', from their 1979 LP 'London Calling'. Many locations and people associated with the Spanish Civil War are referenced in this song by The Clash:

Spanish songs in Andalucia
The shooting sites in the days of '39
Oh, please, leave the ventana open
Fedrico Lorca is dead and gone

The Clash, Spanish Bombs (1979)

Andalucia was one of the first regions of Spain to be taken over by the Nationalists in 1936. Federico García Lorca, a Republican poet and dramatist from Andalucia, was killed during the rebellion. The Guardia Civil (or "Civil Guard") is a military police force under the control of both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense of Spain. The narrator of the song revisits Spain after the war (hence, "I'm Flyin' in on a DC-10 Tonight"; DC-10s were not around in the 1930's). Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers was inspired by this Clash song (and various other works) to pen 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next', from the band's 1998 album, 'This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours'. Wire captures the idealism of volunteers from around the world who joined the International Brigade fighting Franco's fascist insurrection against the Spanish Republic. The lyric "If I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists" is taken from a Welsh farmer who went to Spain to sign up with the Republican fighter. This was originally quoted in the book, 'Miners Against Fascism', by Hywel Francis. The song takes its name from a Republican poster of the time, showing a photomontage of a young girl killed by Nationalist bombs, underneath a sky of bombers. It was distributed in the fall of 1936, when the Spanish capital was in immediate peril from four columns of fascist troops, and overhead bombers rained death down on working class neighborhoods. The young girl lies dead with a numbered tag attached to her dress, while in the backdrop are arrayed some twenty bombers in angled serial rows, like a patterned tapestry of death sewn into the heavens. George Orwell's first-hand account of the conflict, 'Homage to Catalonia' was another significant influence on Wire on the subject. The Manic Street Preachers later wrote a track, entitled 'My Guernica', which can be found on their 2001 album, 'Know Your Enemy'. British band The Durutti Column were named after the most famous column of anarchist fighters during the Spanish Civil War, Durruti Column (the variation in spelling was intentional). Led by Buenaventura Durruti from mid-1936 until his death on 20th November of that year, the Column was instrumental in holding Madrid for the Republic in the face of the falangist uprising. The Column was eventually, like the rest of the anarchist and socialist units, incorporated into the general army of the Republic.

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