Simon is mainly responsible for this song, which was inspired by a boss who would announce a new era every time something went wrong. The lyrics struck a chord with me when he sent them to me, as I was reading George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying, in which the protagonist slowly learns to reconcile his socialist values with his own emotional problems.
I also had a housemate at the time who would get up at 5am to go and join strikers out of "solidarity", and while many of her views seemed to make sense, her dogmatic sense of what was right and wrong was a fascinating source of inspiration for the song.
After the album came out, I decided to have a go at remixing it, for a version which would ultimately appear on our remix EP Remission. The aim was to find a sound similar to Recoil, although I'm not sure that was entirely successful. But I was quite pleased with the remix anyway.
Strange are the twists of fortune
That hold me here against my will
When you spoke of revolution
All you had were ragged ideals
Words of fine intent
Falling on deaf ears
Every sunset that you pledged
Has turned into another false dawn
All the promises you made
Have turned into another false dawn
We analyse the same surroundings
Our world views lying poles apart
You announce the coming of an era
Well you’re an optimist at heart
Words of good intent
Planting seeds of doubt
Every sunset that you pledged
Has turned into another false dawn
All the promises you made
Have turned into another false dawn
Worlds apart we stand
You’re never going to win
Every sunset that you pledged
Has turned into another false dawn
All the promises you made
Have turned into another false dawn
Till you learn there’s no defence
All you have, another false dawn
You’ve got to get here your own way
Then you’ll find another false dawn
(R. Martin / S. Martin)
