ROCK AT NIGHT PREMIERE – WEIMAR’s “Arandora Star” – Worldwide release on April 14, 2023
Manchester band WEIMAR continues to release videos for the singles featured in their sizzling cabaret post-punk album Dancing on a Volcano. Our Winter 2023 print issue featured an interview with lead singer Aidan Cross. The band considers the song “Arandora Star” as a prog rock concept piece that draws inspiration from a tragic event that occurred during World War II. Based on fear and prejudice, Italian and German immigrants who had escaped fascism (essentially refugees) were placed in internment camps in the UK, only to be later placed on a ship (named Arandora Star) heading to internment camps in Canada. Both tragically (and ironically), the vessel with the “enemy aliens” was torpedoed by a German U-Boat and sank off the coast of Ireland, killing 805 people out of the 1,500 aboard the ship.
In sepia tones, the video chronicles the story (told through the song’s lyrics) through visual animation, photographs, images of waves, raindrops on glass, and finally, a moving torpedo toward the ship. The video creates a feel of history, nostalgia, and foreboding as the vessel sinks. I kept thinking of other historical ships sinking–Lusitania, Titanic, and even the Edmund Fitzgerald. Photos of people in lifeboats and actual newspaper clippings give a grim perspective. When I think of it, “prisoners” en route to another prison were transported from one hell to another.
A newspaper notes that 100 of 300 Britons, who served as guards and crew members, were missing. The surviving soldiers and seamen “told of panic among the aliens” and “condemned the cowardice of the Germans who fought madly to get in the life boats.” Photos of survivors were on the front page of a newspaper that stated, “Panic-stricken Italians and Germans fought each other in a mad scramble.” Who wouldn’t be fighting for their lives in a sinking ship? The scenario makes me think of slave ships sinking to America. These ships should have never set sail.
The song’s chorus says, “The guns were fired/the blood was shed/the blood on Churchill’s hands” as images of the ship sinking in a fiery inferno. Then, waves and graves in Ireland are shown as the lyrics say, “Enemy nationals against their will/Laid to rest in coastal villages.” But, the bare bone truth of the tragedy lies in the following lyrics:
Now history’s written by those in power
And their tireless media slaves
They’d rather forget the Arandora Star
And the people they sent to their graves
WEIMAR’s music has always been cerebral in lyricism and rich in criticism of culture and society–but in the form of music, making it palatable to the ear and a feast for the brain. In addition, their music and videos educate the masses.
“Arandora Star” reminds us of the plight of refugees, paranoia during the war, and the power of the media to “reframe” history by deflecting blame.
According to Weimar: The video serves as a commemoration of this often-overlooked tragedy of World War II, noting the tragic consequences of human prejudice, the trauma experienced by the survivors, and the heroic actions of the crew members and passengers who gave their lives to save others.
Weimar will be issuing more videos throughout 2023 until the whole album is available to be enjoyed in visual form as “Dancing On A Volcano: The Movie”.
ROCK AT NIGHT EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE
WEIMAR’s “Arandora Star’
Arandora Star
They set sail on Arandora Star
On a floating death trap of doom
Exiled just for their native lands
They were sent to a watery tomb
By a ruler who feared the enemy within
And they set sail on Arandora Star
Seized from their beds in the night
They posed no threat
They came in peace
They’d fled the forces of the Reich
But the powers that be were like-minded
And they set sail on Arandora Star
Bound for prisons afar
The guns were fired
The blood was shed
The blood on Churchill’s hands
The guns were fired
The blood was shed
As they set sail on Arandora Star
Shots rang out in the morning hours
When a red cross could have kept them away
As the ship went down the crew gave their lives
So the prisoners could evacuate
They worked in unison for the saving of lives
But the papers told of pure brute force
Animalistic survival fights
Distorted the truth to blame the victims
Portrayed compassion as spite
For the media feared the enemy within
Which was non-existent
The guns were fired
The blood was shed
The blood on Churchill’s hands
The guns were fired
The blood was shed
The guns were fired
The blood was shed
Bodies washed up on the Irish shore
In impoverished communities
Enemy nationals against their will
Laid to rest in coastal villages
Where they tend the graves of the dead to this day
Now history’s written by those in power
And their tireless media slaves
They’d rather forget the Arandora Star
And the people they sent to their graves
But when prejudice strikes from the powers above
Then let all races fight back as one
The guns were fired
The blood was shed
The blood on Churchill’s hands
The guns were fired
The blood was shed
Lyrics: Aidan Cross
Music: Armstrong/Cross/Edwards/Kloos/Sarsen
SPOTIFY
Dancing On A Volcano’ LP is available everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. It can also be ordered on CD directly from the band.
SOCIAL MEDIA
I grew up in a household full of rock music, studied journalism in college, and then became a scientist.Although my science career has served me well, music has always played a major role in my life. I grew up reading "Creem" magazine; I play several musical instruments as a "hobby";and it seems a camera has always been in my hand. Now, I am combining what I love the most--music and photography--serving as editor of Rock At Night. I travel between the US and UK seeking my dream! My motto: life is short...no regrets. Chyrisse
