Pink Floyd - Animals

 Why start here? This blog was originally meant as a way for me to write about the books I have most recently read — and what I learn from them — so why start with a music record? Especially this one, which I first heard when I was 17 years old — in 2003, 23 years ago. Because this record is interconnected with a specific theme — the Russian October Revolution and its aftermath — that pervades many of the books I have recently read: Breve História Europeia by Raquel Varela and Os Subterrâneos da Liberdade by Jorge Amado (one might argue the same applies to the book I am currently reading, La colmena by Camilo José Cela (the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War), Martin Luther King: An Autobiography by Clayborne Carson (the US civil rights movement and its aftermath), and, derived from this, Ezra Klein's Why We're Polarized).

So what does Animals have to do with the October Revolution? It is a record based on George Orwell's book Animal Farm, which was meant as a metaphor for Stalin's USSR. The record has five songs:

1. Pigs on the wind part 1

2. Dogs

3. Pigs (three different ones)

4. Sheep

5. Pigs on the wind part 2

I have always interpreted them as representing the bureaucratic leadership (pigs), the enforcers (dogs), and the people (sheep). I was never a big fan of Waters' take on sheep, unless you twist it as the way the pigs see the rest of the animal community. Certainly, the bureaucratic leadership regarded people as little more than numbers on their huge spreadsheets, meant to lead to collectivization and industrialization, with their five-year (= 2 + 2) plans.

As a teacher, and therefore part of the workforce, I certainly should see myself as one of the sheep. On the other hand, as a coercer of minds and producer of knowledge, I also feel akin to the dogs, which was always my favorite song on this record. So I would see myself as falling between the gaps of those two categories.

There is no question that there is no Animal Farm without dogs — just as there is no police state without a police force to enforce it. But you might also say that there are no dogs without a farm to terrorize and keep in order. The dogs are both the first victims and the constructors of an absolute state — as I undoubtedly see the USSR during Stalin's leadership.

So why do I see myself as a dog? I have bosses, a contract, a salary, a landlord, bills to pay — and my income comes from my work. Let us dive into the lyrics

Who was told what to do by the man?

Having my own teachers, my own learning path set off for me

Who was broken by trained personnel?

That soon marked me as one of their own, with special needs and special offers

Who was fitted with collar and chain?

and ended up being made into one of them

Who was given a pat on the back?

My PhD title and my teacher roll, separate from my students - the alienation from civil society, starts here

Who was breaking away from the pack? (Breaking away from the pack)

And now, toothless, they let me go - dying of cancer at home, looking, looking for pigs on the wind.