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Fugitive: Love Song for 9/11 Terrorists
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 6:20 am
by Deschanel
I liked this track..
but now I want to vomit.
It's a love song, romanticising Mohammed Atta.
It's a tribute to the romantic bravery of the 9/11 hijackers.
Never mind the men, women, and infants aboard those planes, their pain and terror when they knew their fates.
This is what "Fuigitive" is about?
Romanticizing murderers, who slit pilots' throats, to traumatize the world and my city, NYC.
I'm shaken. I am blown away that Neil Tennant wrote such a song, no matter how badly he hates Bush. There's millions of us who do as well. And November elections are coming..
Martin Amis wrote a story for the New Yorker magazine, "The Last Day of Muhammed Atta".
It's fairly scorching in its characterizations. On the contrary, "Fugitive" is an ecstatic meditation, highly sympathetic, to the presumably high ideals of thise murderers.
Apparently Neil is too above it all when he romanticizes what it takes to slit a man's throat and crash the planes into buildings.
If PSB and Neil Tennant wants to characterize, and romanticize, the 9/11 hijackers as heroes, it's his right to do so.
But I am utterly shaken and nauseated that PSB thought they should do so.
I'm extremely disgusted, but perhaps that was the pointless f*** point.
Martin Amis beat you to it Neil. Fusk!~ I liked the song but it makes me sick to hear it now.
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 6:40 am
by Very
is it true?
Re: Fugitive: Love Song for 9/11 Terrorists
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 6:53 am
by Eldritch
Deschanel wrote:
It's a love song, romanticising Mohammed Atta.
It's a tribute to the romantic bravery of the 9/11 hijackers.
.
Just 24 hours ago you were in denial about the song being about terrorists at all, but now you have gone for the ultraliteral interpretation. Nowhere in the song it is said to be about Atta or 9/11. I think it's an ambiguous song that can be taken in two ways: either as straightforward song about love or friendship or as a song about the camradeship the terrorists feel for each other.
Personally I think it's a brave and a challenging song about a very difficult subject. The point of art is to provide us with another viewpoint – and sometimes that means humanizing things that we consider inhuman. Instead of romantizing killers, Fugitive lets us into the delusion of these people and shows us how it's possible for them to do what we rightly consider utterly barbaric and monstrous.
As for Martin Amis, he's my fave author of all time, but he's at his worst when he's tackling Big World Events from a hectoring moralistic viewpoint (Einstein's Monsters for instance). I haven't read his Atta story yet, since I have decided to wait for House Of Meetings, the short story collection out in September, but I have read the Hussein stroy in it (Palace Of The End) and that was really weak.
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 7:11 am
by rabagast
Totally agree with Eldritch.
The lyrics to this song are amongst the most ambitious and daring Neil has ever written
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 8:08 am
by BlueSwan
I agree even more with Eldritch than rabagast.

Fantastic lyrics, fantastic song.
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 8:44 am
by Butters
It is neither a tribute to terrorists, nor is Neil mocking them. It is written from their perspective. Like the Swedish journalist Bernt Hermele, who's elderly mother was killled by a suicide bomber. He made a documentary film, travelling to Israel/Palestine to meet with the family of the suicide bomber. They had both lost a loved one.
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 10:01 am
by rabagast
Deschanel, I recommend a reading of Geowayne's (as always) remarable analysis of this track:
http://www.geowayne.com/master.html?htt ... m#fugitive
Re: Fugitive: Love Song for 9/11 Terrorists
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 10:19 am
by joncool5
Deschanel wrote:I liked this track..
but now I want to vomit.
It's a love song, romanticising Mohammed Atta.
It's a tribute to the romantic bravery of the 9/11 hijackers.
Never mind the men, women, and infants aboard those planes, their pain and terror when they knew their fates.
This is what "Fuigitive" is about?
Romanticizing murderers, who slit pilots' throats, to traumatize the world and my city, NYC.
I'm shaken. I am blown away that Neil Tennant wrote such a song, no matter how badly he hates Bush. There's millions of us who do as well. And November elections are coming..
Martin Amis wrote a story for the New Yorker magazine, "The Last Day of Muhammed Atta".
It's fairly scorching in its characterizations. On the contrary, "Fugitive" is an ecstatic meditation, highly sympathetic, to the presumably high ideals of thise murderers.
Apparently Neil is too above it all when he romanticizes what it takes to slit a man's throat and crash the planes into buildings.
If PSB and Neil Tennant wants to characterize, and romanticize, the 9/11 hijackers as heroes, it's his right to do so.
But I am utterly shaken and nauseated that PSB thought they should do so.
I'm extremely disgusted, but perhaps that was the pointless f***ing point.
Martin Amis beat you to it Neil. Fusk!~ I liked the song but it makes me sick to hear it now.
Typical American straight down the middle response to such an issue. Try looking outside the box for once. Terrorists are scum but just because PSB choose to explore the topic doesn't mean they endorse terrorism. After all, we had terrorist attacks in London last summer and Neil and Chris chose to mention the events on the official site.
Re: Fugitive: Love Song for 9/11 Terrorists
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 10:38 am
by GalataPSB
*edit
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 10:39 am
by GalataPSB
Fantastic song...
I agree with BlueSwan

Re: Fugitive: Love Song for 9/11 Terrorists
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 10:52 am
by Dreamcatcher2003
Deschanel wrote:I liked this track..
but now I want to vomit.
It's a love song, romanticising Mohammed Atta.
It's a tribute to the romantic bravery of the 9/11 hijackers.
Never mind the men, women, and infants aboard those planes, their pain and terror when they knew their fates.
This is what "Fuigitive" is about?
Romanticizing murderers, who slit pilots' throats, to traumatize the world and my city, NYC.
I'm shaken. I am blown away that Neil Tennant wrote such a song, no matter how badly he hates Bush. There's millions of us who do as well. And November elections are coming..
Martin Amis wrote a story for the New Yorker magazine, "The Last Day of Muhammed Atta".
It's fairly scorching in its characterizations. On the contrary, "Fugitive" is an ecstatic meditation, highly sympathetic, to the presumably high ideals of thise murderers.
Apparently Neil is too above it all when he romanticizes what it takes to slit a man's throat and crash the planes into buildings.
If PSB and Neil Tennant wants to characterize, and romanticize, the 9/11 hijackers as heroes, it's his right to do so.
But I am utterly shaken and nauseated that PSB thought they should do so.
I'm extremely disgusted, but perhaps that was the pointless f***ing point.
Martin Amis beat you to it Neil. Fusk!~ I liked the song but it makes me sick to hear it now.
Pure paranoid delirium from someone who is failing to to cope with the shocking, albeit woeful, consequences of 9/11 events...
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 11:08 am
by Jareth
Anyone have the lyrics please?
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 11:09 am
by GalataPSB
Now is the time of our lives
but it won't last long
we're strong
and in spite of the fight
you sing this song
It's always a new day in heaven
there's always a new way to heaven
You, my brother
I'm really gonna miss you
You, my brother
You're going to take me with you
You, my brother
Where do we stand
in this land
we're invisible now
clean and prepared
to be led into visible
I know that it won't be that long
until the hour
free and released
from the world
it feels like power
You, my brother
I'm really gonna miss you
You, my brother
You're going to take me with you
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 11:10 am
by Jareth
Thanks.
I wonder if they didn't include it on the main album because they thought it would be too controversial. Can't wait to hear it.
Posted: Fri 12 May 2006, 11:21 am
by BlueSwan
Indeed. I agree very much with his viewpoint.