June 6 is a momentous day for freedom, not just because of the Allied invasion at Normandy, but because George Orwell's 1984 was published the same day five years later. Orwell has long been a hero of mine, in spite of his lifelong claim to be a socialist. Even though he espoused a path that is, as history shows us, is incompatible with individual human freedom, Orwell had a great eye for catching out the hypocrisy of government and other powerful interests that used inhuman means in the name of achieving humane ends.
This David Bowie track was inspired by the novel and intended as a part of a larger project based on the novel that never came together, instead surfacing on the excellent 1974 album Diamond Dogs.
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