Guernica / Mad World
Is this what is in store for us?
Hi all,
Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “Guernica (Tribute to Picasso)”, by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. If you’d like to hear the song before you read about it, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article.
The level of the article is TOEFL (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1, but be aware that the vocabulary it a bit challenging! For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below. You might want to review the vocabulary list before you read the article and the lyrics.
Historical background to Guernica
(483 words)
Guernica is a small town in the north of Spain. At 7:45 p.m. on April 26, 1937, it was bombed by German air forces that were supporting General Franco in Spain’s civil war. There were no factories in the town. It was not a special place in terms of the war. There were no barracks full of soldiers there. It was an easy target for practicing the bombing of a civilian population with new tactics and weapons.
The first planes dropped heavy 1,000 lb. bombs which made the people run for shelter. Then other planes came to machine-gun the people who were running to escape. Even a herd of sheep was slaughtered. Then bombing again with incendiary bombs, and then the machine guns. The houses were destroyed, all of the churches except one were hit, the town was on fire, and over 1,500 civilians had been killed.
Pablo Picasso was living in Paris at the time. He had been commissioned by the Republican government to create a mural for the Paris Exhibition in the summer of 1937. In his revulsion of the attack, Picasso painted what would become his most famous paining, Guernica. He used black, white, and gray in his monochromatic (using only one color) representation of the horror.
The song Guernica uses the musical style from Mad World, performed by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, released in 2003. The original 1982 song was by the British group, Tears for Fears.
The Song
This version describes the painting in the lyrics:
Paint the canvas with figures and faces
Black and grey shapes fill the spaces
On commission for the Exposition ‘37 Spanish Pavillion, oh
Read the paper, see the horror story
Civil war in your home country
Use your art to show your rage and sorrow
What will become of tomorrow?
.
Incendiary bombing on the town on market day
Nazi mercenaries and Italian fascists play
Nationalists triumph while Republicans are slain
Called Operation Rügen, ordered by General Franco
Painted by Picasso
.
Woman grieving ‘oer (over) her dying infant
Shed the light on our indifference, oh
Like sombre newsprint it’s monochromatic
Tongues like daggers, scenes of panic
Stoic bull looks on, a horse is slaughtered
Modern soldier with stigmata
Flower of hope springs from a broken sword
Is this what we have in store?
.
And it’s really quite prophetic
Do we blame technology?
And the evil eye electric
Shows our flawed humanity
And we find it still disturbing - this brutal exposé
It’s hauntingly unnerving
It’s the same story today Guernica
Picasso refused to turn over the painting to the the government of Franco. It wasn’t until both he and Franco had died that an agreement was reached to send the painting to Spain.
I have seen the original painting in the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art in Madrid. It is something that cannot be adequately described with words. It is astounding, disturbing, and deeply moving.
Question
To “be in store” means “coming in the future” or “about to happen”. What is in store for you this year?
Vocabulary
civilian 非戦闘員
tactics 戦術
1,000 lb. 1,000ポンド (454キロ)
slaughter 虐殺
incendiary 焼夷弾
commission 委託
mural 壁画
revulsion 嫌悪感
rage 激怒
sorrow 悲しみ
mercenaries 傭兵
triumph 勝利
slain 殺された
indifference 無関心
daggers 短剣
bull 牡牛
stigmata 聖痕
prophetic 予言的な
flaw 欠陥
disturbing 不穏な
brutal 残忍な
exposé すっぱ抜き
haunting 忘れられない
unnerving 不安になる
astounding 驚くべき
Source
Southworth, H. R. (1977). Guernica! guernica!: A study of journalism, diplomacy, propaganda, and history. University of California Press.
Other songs from/about the Spanish Civil War:
Tatuaje: What is not said is as important as what is. https://louisehaynes.substack.com/p/tatuaje-what-is-not-said-is-as-important
Joven Guardia (The Young Guard) https://louisehaynes.substack.com/p/joven-guardia-the-young-guard
Anda Jaleo Jaleo https://louisehaynes.substack.com/p/anda-jaleo-jaleo
Viva la Quinta Brigada https://louisehaynes.substack.com/p/viva-la-quinta-brigada-christy-moore
Across the Ocean Wide https://louisehaynes.substack.com/p/across-the-ocean-wide
Dear Louise,
You've seen the original painting? That's great.
I didn't know that to “be in store” means “about to happen.” Thank you.
The part "Shed the light on our indifference" makes me think. True. Indifference is not good, but with so many problems in need of attention at home, at work, in my country or in the world, what problems should I seriously pay attention to and take some action myself. That has been a difficult question for me.
Mitsuru