I’m angrier than a person who likes the song but hates the music video. So it is with this week’s pick. The song? Go West, by Pet Shop Boys, from 1993. The video is very dated, and yes, that is the Russian national anthem that you hear.
Even though the video is dated, I guess it was good for its era. The graphics are somewhat impressive if you keep in mind that the video was made in 1993. By today’s standards, of course, it sucks.It’s no wonder that the song uses Russia’s national anthem, given all of the Russian propaganda that’s in the video. Even though the anthem of a country whose leader is just chomping at the bit to nuke us and start World War III, the video is still impressive. The visuals are impressive.
The song itself can be interpreted many different ways. One way is that they’re saying to go west, away from Russia, which two years prior to the song was the Soviet Union. Anyone can interpret it the way that they please.
Depending on who you ask, it could also mean the end of communism in the USSR, now Russia. Of course, it was Russia at the time this song was written and released, so I don’t know what was going through the mind of the person who made the anthem so prominent.
Of course, to “go west” wouldn’t just mean coming to the United States. It could also mean going to the United Kingdom or Canada, away from Russia. It could be literal. It could be ironic. I guess it’s all in the mind of the person listening.
I think it’s kind of scary to use the Russian national anthem, no matter how catchy it may be to some. We are living in a constant state of fear as to whether or not Putin is going to make good on his threats and launch his country’s nuclear arsenal. If they launch, then we launch, and in about an hour, World War III will be over.
How the anthem that represents a country that will, one day, wipe us off the map, became a dance hit, I’ll never know, but what the hell. It’s still this week’s pick!