The Grandeur of Ghosts is the name of a poem by Sigfried Sassoon, one of World War One (WWI) poets. As WWI continue, Siegfried start to see it as conflict prolonged by those in power who had no regard for everyone else, soldiers or civilians. A reality that has been repeated before and since.My country, Portugal, was a dictatorship from 1928 to April 25 1974. This year 50 years of democracy are celebrated. During the dictatorship Portugal was engaged in a Colonial war from 1961 to 1974. Many young men, my dad included were sent to it. Many men, my dad included, would leave the war and go to exile, only being allowed to return a few years after the end of the dictatorship.The songs and poems on this programme are from various countries, in different languages, addressing different wars or connected to the coup d’etat that ended Estado Novo, the Portuguese dictatorship.E Depois do Adeus that had won Festival da Canção in 1974 had no censurable lyrics and was the first signal for the troops to know it was ok to star move towards Lisboa and depose the regimen. It was played at 22:25 hours on April 24 on Emissores Associados de Lisboa. Grândola Vila Morena, the second signal, greenlighting the go ahead was played at 00:20 hours on Rádio Renascença. Red carnations are the symbol of 25 de Abril commonly called A Revolução dos Cravos (The Carnations Revolution).
Tracklist:
01 – Johnny Mandel – Suicide is Painless (from M.A.S.H.)
02 – Credence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son
03 – Cranberries – Zombie
04 – Golpe de Estado – Rev 25
05 – JP Simões – Mudam-se os Tempos Mudaram-se as Vontades feat. Ruca Rebordão, Nuno Ferreira, Márcio Pinto, Pedro Pinto
(José Mario Branco song)
06 – Mick Harvey – Vietnam
07 – José Afonso – Grândola Vila Morena
08 – Vivian Kubrick – Ruins (Full Metal Jacket soundtrack)
09 – New Order – Love Vigilantes
10 – Jimi Hendrix – Machine Gun (live at the Filmore East,1st night, 31.12.1969)
11 – Jacques Brel – La colombe
12 – Siegfried Sassoon – Suicide in the Trenches read by Stephen Graham
13 – Paulo de Carvalho – E Depois do Adeus
14 – The Libertines – Shiver
15 – Federico Garcia Lorca – Balada de la gran guerra by Joan Mora
16 – Amália Rodrigues – Zé Soldado, Soldadinho
17 – R.E.M. – Orange Crush
18- Elvis Costello – Shipbuilding
19 – Tom Waits – Day After Tomorrow
20 – Manic Street Preachers – Suicide is Painless, Theme for M.A.S.H.
The Grandeur of Ghosts by Siegfried Sassoon
When I have heard small talk about great men
I light my two candles; climb to bed; then
Consider what was said; and put aside
What Such-a-one remarked, and Someone-else replied.
They have spoken lightly of my deathless friends,
(Lamps for my gloom, hands guiding where I stumble,)
Quoting, for shallow conversational ends,
What Shelley shrilled, what Blake once wildly muttered…
How can they use such names and be not humble ?
I have sat silent; angry at what they uttered.
The dead bequeathed them life; the dead have said
What these can only memorise and mumble.
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