Paolo Nutini - Iron sky
topic: dictatorship, democracy, freedom, religion, (drugs - with the short film)
suitable for students aged over 16 - 18 as the song tackles sensitive issues
note: the song is longish, you may only have time to listen to it once
about:
This six-minute song finds Nutini urging politicians to turn modern fears "into freedom." He explained to The Sun: "The more I watch politicians in action, it just makes me angry. I watch certain politicians get asked questions that need answers and may just prance around with a big laugh and smile on my face. Politicians have an arrogance. I just do not understand. I've seen more constructive debate since high school." "People get disillusioned and voting has little value to some people," he added. "That's sad."
The song features a sample from Charlie Chaplin's speech in his Hitler–lampooning 1940s film, The Great Dictator ("You are not machines! You are not cattle!").
A live performance of this song at London's Abbey Road studios saw an enthusiastic Adele tweet: "This is one of the best things I've ever seen in my life, hands down."
Paolo Nutini (from The Independent): "The world throws up new meanings for that one every day, but it's mainly that man-versus-machine thing. You know: you go into WH Smith these days and they steer you to the electronic checkout. I always think: 'Why so calm?' Don't you realize that thing that doesn't have a family to feed is going to have your job?"
Discussion questions:
What does freedom mean to you? How would you define freedom?
How do you interpret the following image: this iron sky that is fast becoming our minds.
What is the singer singing about here: mass confusion spoon-fed to the blind ?
Could you link the idea of tyranny to this song?
Is the singer optimistic or pessimistic?
The song contains an extract from The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin's famous film. You can watch the whole speech here and work on it's vocabulary. (or why don't you have a look at my video worksheet?)
You can also have a look at the video clip of the song. It's a powerful and shocking one, so please consider whether you want to show it in class.
