‘It’s got to be a social commentary. Rock ‘n’ roll always is.’
Adam Thompson is a History and Politics student at Newcastle University.
Without knowing anything:
As soon as I heard this I thought ‘wow, ACDC have mellowed out’. And then it was in Italian. This has such an Anglo-American vibe to it, it reminded me of ‘Ride On’ – can you tell I’m an ACDC fan – even down to the guitar solo. It has to be a social commentary. Rock ‘n’ roll always is. I thought the ‘pa pa pa pa’ might be the sound of gun shots… Italy in the 1970’s was in the middle of the Years of Lead which left the country in serious political trouble. There were terrorist attacks from left and right wing political parties and the country was in a disastrous way. I’m thinking the song might be a reaction to that? In the same way that God Save the Queen was a reaction to the treatment of working class people in England.
After being informed:
I told you, it’s always a social commentary. And it being Argentinian has almost the same effect… To be honest every country seemed to be in turmoil during the 70/80s, but this song is understandably a reaction to the unrest in Argentina. This being on their first album tells me that their message was political from the start… Which is so interesting, maybe that’s why it’s only got 1 million views? Maybe people felt uncomfortable accepting the situation which they were in. The sound of the music is so Anglo-American also, that perhaps the Argentinian people felt it wasn’t speaking their voice in their language? I don’t know, I’m just brainstorming, but it’s interesting how I have never heard of Pappo’s Blues and I really like the sound as an young, 21st century Englishman but it didn’t resonate with the Argentinian 20th century people.