It's hard to believe this is now 25 years old - not just from the point of view of how much time has passed but how relevant Matt Johnson's commentary on global politics and religion remains today.
'Sweet Bird Of Truth' is a brooding, desperate plea for absolution from a GI in action over the Gulf Of Arabia as "all the planet's little wars start joining hands".
Released as a single from the equally brooding and political 'Infected' album, this version stretches the menace out to eight minutes with pilot-to-control dialogue (requesting authorisation to use Napalm) and dubbed out sections highlighting the clanking, relentless moodiness.
Download The The - Sweet Bird Of Truth (12" Mix) (Epic, mp3 download, 1987) (Divshare)
@rossofcourse
ReplyDeleteLike many righteous groovemonsters, this record was cursed from the moment it left the studio.
It was pulled twice, after each release, due to events in the news clashing and the record company having no balls at all. Something to do with the American military shooting down civilian airliners for fun over the gulf at about the same time, the scamps.
The initial release TRUTH 1 in 1986 got yanked almost immediately and became one of those stupidly priced 12"s very quickly in record shops. The re-release in 87 TENSE T2 was supposed to be a repressing; having the original catalogue number crossed through on the runout grooves of the master and the new one etched in beside it - and indeed many do. However initial supplies were simply re-labelled, unshipped copies of the first pressing with the new cat no. only on the label & sleeve, but the original one still unmolested in the runout.