A Song to Ruin

A Song to Ruin
Studio album by Million Dead
Released	September 1, 2003
Recorded	Mighty Atom Studios, Swansea, Wales
Genre	Punk, Alternative
Length	44:37
Label	Xtra Mile Recordings/Integrity Records
Producer	Joe Gibb and Million Dead
Million Dead chronology
A Song to Ruin (2003) Harmony No Harmony (2005)

A Song to Ruin is Million Dead's debut full length album, released in 2003 through Xtra Mile Recordings/Integrity Records.

Track listing

• All words and music by Million Dead

1. "Pornography for Cowards" – 2:01
2. "Breaking the Back" – 3:12
3. "I Am the Party" – 2:56
4. "Charlie and the Propaganda Myth Machine" – 3:25
5. "A Song to Ruin" – 5:47
6. "Smiling at Strangers on Trains" – 2:55
7. "MacGyver" – 3:28
8. "Relentless" – 4:03
9. "The Kids Are Going to Love It" – 2:47
10. "The Rise and Fall" – 14:03

Personnel

• Frank Turner - Vocals
• Ben Dawson - Drums
• Cameron Dean - Guitar
• Julia Ruzicka - Bass
• Joe Gibb - Production, mastering
• Alwyn Davies - Engineering
• Andrew Charnik - Engineering
• Kees Van Der Wiele - Photography

Miscellanea

• "Breaking The Back" briefly mentions Alan Turing, the British computer scientist who is considered to be the father of modern computer science.
• "I Am The Party" gives lyrical nods to Bolsheviks (socialists who began a revolution in Russia in 1917, led by Vladimir Lenin), the notion of secret police (often used for political repression), Apparatchiks, George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the non-violent Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989. The song also makes a reference to the Hungarian revolution of 1956, "budapest kicks of fifty-six".
• "Charlie And The Propaganda Myth Machine" is an obvious play on the title of the 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (written by Roald Dahl), and goes on to mention Willy Wonka (a character from the book) and The BFG (another of Dahl's literary creations) in the lyrics. The song also hints at George Cadbury (developer of the Cadbury chocolate firm), Walt Disney, GMTV (a television company part owned by Disney), Orwell's vision of the future (again), the idea of Neoliberalism, Władysław Gomułka (a Polish Communist leader), McDonald's, and the author Enid Blyton.
• "Smiling At Strangers On Trains" nods at Mike Leigh, an award winning British film and theatre director.
• "Macgyver"'s lyrics are largely based on an ironic situation of seemingly-invincible American television character MacGyver being injured in an attack and depending on a life support system. The lyrics wittily reference MacGyver's ability to solve serious problems with everyday objects such as "biros and blue-tack". Isaac Newton is also given a brief mention in the song.
• "The Kids Are Going To Love It" discusses the Sociocultural system, consumerism, asceticism, ethicalism, and the feeling that many humans waste potential (instead opting for a drudging "work-weekend-work" repetition - a "subconscious Ruby Ridge").
• "The Rise And Fall" gives lyrical mentions to the ancient Greek city-state of Byzantium, the Trojan warrior Aeneas, Constantinople (the capital of the Byzantine Empire renamed to Istanbul in 1923), steppes, Caliphates, the metaphorical idea of creating "a Rubicon" and Remus (one of the two mythical founders of Rome).

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