Massive Attack Risingson

Where have all those flowers gone
Long time passing
Why you keep me testing, keep me tasking
You keep on asking

I have this song permanently stuck in my head. The lyrics refer partly to "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" by Pete Seeger. The original song was written by Seeger who found inspiration for the song while on his way to a concert. Leafing through his notebook he saw the passage, "Where are the flowers, the girls have plucked them. Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army." These lines were from a Ukrainian folk song referenced in the Mikhail Sholokhov novel And Quiet Flows the Don

According to one blogger "On July 26, 1956, the House of Representatives voted 373 to 9 to cite Pete Seeger and seven others (including playwright Arthur Miller) for contempt, as they failed to cooperate with House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in their attempts to investigate alleged subversives and communists. Pete Seeger testified before the HUAC in 1955.In one of Pete's darkest moments, when his personal freedom, his career, and his safety were in jeopardy, a flash of inspiration ignited this song. "

Massive Attack's antiwar stance is well known and this perhaps partly explains the influence on Risingson. The song itself is dark and tortured and reflects their deep disatisfaction with the music scene they inhabited.

One blogger described the song as follows:

"Massive Attacks best song bar none. The composition is fantastic but the lyrics make the song. 3D and Marshal find themselves at a disgusting club (disgusting meaning empty of feeling). As sarcastically as Lydon, 3D calls all the scensters "good-people," which make him feel like he is not progressing in age, but regressing again with every chant of "Toy-like people make me boy-like."
Brilliant. One of the best social comments made in a long time. And made by one of the best bands of the decade, What a treat. "

Massive Attack - Rising Son
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