Today we feature one song by Paolo Nutini, “Iron Sky”. The song is inspired by, and features an extract of the speech given by Charlie Chaplin at the end of “The Great Dictator”.
First, watch the video of Chaplin’s speech in “The Great Dictator”. In the movie, Chaplin plays a Jewish barber who looks just like the dictator. The dictator ends up being mistaken for the barber, and is arrested, while the barber is mistaken for the dictator.
At the end of the film, the barber makes this speech, and frees the countries that the real dictator had conquered.
Chaplin was investigated by the FBI in 1942. J. Edgar Hoover was suspicious of Chaplin’s political leanings, and tried to generate negative publicity about Chaplin using a smear campaign. The FBI named him in four indictments related to a paternity case, including an alleged violation of the Mann Act, which prohibited the transportation of women across state boundaries for sexual purposes.
In 1952, The US Attorney General revoked Chaplin’s entry permit into the US. Twenty years later, Chaplin received an honorary award from the Motion Picture Academy, and he returned to the US for the first time to receive the award. At the Academy Awards gala, he was given a 12 minute standing ovation, the longest in the Academy’s history.
Here is the speech that some would call a prophecy:
Now to the song by Nutini, who is a Scot. Some think the song is designed to inspire the Scots to vote “Yes” on the independence referendum, but apparently, Nutini never revealed his preference about the vote. The part of the Chaplin speech Nutini uses, says: “You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful. Let us use this power.” The song’s lyrics are superimposed in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQzZk69P69E
