Euroman Goeth
Posted on | January 9, 2012 | No Comments
Recent events in Europe are reminding me of the old songs that celebrated a nascent pan-European identity. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, well before the Euro, the future union was a kind of cosmopolitan dream and a good topic for a song. What actually turned out is aptly described by Ian Buruma in his “Is the European Dream Over?“. He says “democracy does require that citizens have a sense of belonging”.
As a North American I always thought there was some thing that was Europe to which people felt they belonged. Through work I’ve had the opportunity to speak with quite a few Europeans however, and it’s clear Swedes, French, Germans, Austrians, Italians and British are as lodged in their own national culture as anyone else. Was it absurd to expect otherwise?
The most hopeful sign I ever saw was on a home exchange in Ireland. In the house we stayed at, in the room of one of the (many) kids, was a map of the EU, produced not long after Ireland gained entry. That kid was proud his country had officially joined the club, presumably after spending so long on the sidelines. Was he supposed to now be in the world envisioned by Kraftwerk, Ultravox and others?
I was going to embed all the songs in this post but I couldn’t get past the first one (“Station to Station” by Bowie) without the urge to comment and annotate. So I’ll do this over multiple postings for each song.
These are all great songs. Enjoy them as their theme becomes ever more curious and nostalgic.
“Station to Station” — David Bowie
“Trans Europe Express” — Kraftwerk
“New Europeans” — Ultravox
“Do the European” — J.J. Burnel
“Hallellujah Europa” — Jonah Lewie
“Eurovision” — Telex
“Europe After the Rain” — John Foxx
Please send suggestions to add to the list.
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Fluorine plays robotic, loop-based rock and roll. Main influences are Napster and Ableton Live. Secondary influences are krautrock-influenced new wave and krautrock. Contact us at f l u o r i n e [at] p o l v o . c a
