There are some songs that just feel grand and Iron Sky is absolutely one of them.
The songs starts off with a slow and deep string. You almost get the feeling something heavy is lingering which is foreshadowing the message that Paolo will deliver. Some piano chords join in with the drums for percussion.
27 seconds into the song is when Paolo soulfully comes in. With his raspy yet powerful voice, he enunciates his words and paints an image. The image is that of a city that is working FOR something or someone bigger similar to slavery. How people are turning to religion for salvation, but he questions if that is the ultimate source of power.
In the chorus, the painting is that of how people in authority use love and hate to politically charge us against each other. We are urged to overcome fear and get freedom.
After a couple bars of instrumentations and reflection, the painting continues. You get to see how governments can skew reality and truth in their favour and how the masses can quickly gobble it up. We blindly follow those filled with greed, bitterness and hate.
As we return back to the chorus, we find it slightly changed. Passionate as ever but now some brass instruments chime in. Contrary to the first chorus where Paolo was making an observation and addressing us, this time he uses the pronouns ‘we’ to show he is part of us and wants us to unite - “we’ll rise.”
We also get the refrain where he urges us to hold on despite the all-consuming emotions used against us.
On top of that he brilliantly weaves in a powerful excerpt of Charlie Chaplin’s speech from The Great Dictator (1940).
To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair.
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people.
And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men!
Machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Let us use that power.
Let us all unite!
I haven’t watched the film but it is a satirical comedy by Charlie Chaplin. The situation was dire considering he was known for silent pictures. This time he talks and voices his disapproval of the atrocities that was happening in Europe as World War II began.
Throughout Charlie Chaplin’s speech, the guitarist strums along as the excerpt is used to stylise the message Paolo has been painting. The instrumentation builds up as well as Charlie and we conclude that ultimately the power is with the people.
The final painting is that of a nation that is divided by the political class.
We come back to the chorus feeling charged with this newfound knowledge. We can unite and rise over the current lows of our cold society and freedom is nigh.
After following Paolo’s journey through the song, you get the urge to start a revolution.
Many find Charlie Chaplin’s speech in the film to be one of the greatest speeches and I agree with them. It is about the climate in the late 1930s but boy oh boy is it still relevant today. In the end it’s about the love for humanity among all.
Iron Sky adds to that and is relevant in the political landscape in Kenya right now with the recent anti-government protests but also in most parts of the world.
Explore Further
- Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky - live session at Abbey Road.
- Charlie Chaplin’s final speech from The Great Dictator in full
- Mo Adeniran performing Iron Sky on The Voice UK during his Blind Audition - this is how I discovered the song a couple of years back. Spoiler alert: he picked Jennifer Hudson and eventually won the season.
- The Great Dictator trailer - more of a clip than a trailer but I guess it still works and it’s quite metaphorical.
- The Great Dictator’s Wikipedia page