Red Flag (song)
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Red Flag is the second single released from the Canadian punk rock music group Billy Talent's second album, Billy Talent II. The single was released on September 11, 2006 in the United Kingdom[1].
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[edit] Song Information
Red Flag was originally released in 2005 as a part of the soundtracks of a number of Electronic Arts video games, including NHL 06, Burnout Revenge, Burnout Legends, and SSX On Tour. As well, a leaked demo of the song made its way across the internet. The album version is different than the earlier release, with the bridge and refrain being changed.
The red flag has been used through history as an international symbol for the "blood of angry workers." Bolshevist Russia and the Soviet Union flew a red flag from the October Revolution in 1917 until its demise in 1991, and the People's Republic of China currently flies a red flag with stars as it has since the victory of the communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
The song is very politically charged, and suggests that future generations are going to have to live with the mistakes that current politicians are making. Another interpretation of the song states that the work is a criticism of the bourgeois' alleged power grab in both the Soviet Union and China after the deaths of Stalin and Mao, respectively[citation needed].
[edit] Track listing
UK 5" Single
- Red Flag (Album Version)
- Red Flag (Live At MTV Campus Invasion Germany)
UK 7" Single
- Red Flag (Album Version)
- Where Is The Line? (Demo Version)
US Single
- Red Flag (Album Version)
- Red Flag (Live At MTV Campus Invasion Germany)
- Red Flag (Live At The Horseshoe Tavern)
- Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?)
[edit] Music video
The music video for this song, directed by Floria Sigismondi – known for her work with artists such as the White Stripes, Muse and Björk[2] – began shooting on 21 July 2006, and first began playing in the United Kingdom, on August 20, 2006 (on Scuzz), and debuted in Canada on MuchMusic the following day.
The video begins with a group of school children initially trapped in a school, screaming "we want out!". Finally, they break through the handcuffed doors, and proceed to run around the school and surrounding area, covering various buildings and items – including a traffic light, a barbeque, a boat, a car, and gas pumps – with red flags. As they run through the town, more people join in. Finally, they arrive at city hall where the members of Billy Talent are performing, and which has been covered with red flags. The majority of children begin to mosh to the song, while others continue to run around, covering things with red flags. One of the children throws history books into the crowd, destroying them. The video ends with the children standing under a red sky, with pages of the books falling behind them, all wearing World War II-era gas masks.
[edit] References
| Billy Talent |
| Benjamin Kowalewicz | Ian D'Sa | Jonathan Gallant | Aaron Solowoniuk |
| Discography |
|---|
| EPs: Demoluca | Dudebox | Try Honesty EP |
| Studio Albums: Watoosh! | Billy Talent | Billy Talent II |
| Live Albums: Live From The UK Sept./2006 |
| Singles |
| "Try Honesty" | "The Ex" | "River Below" | "Nothing to Lose" | "Devil in a Midnight Mass" | "Red Flag" | "Fallen Leaves" | "Surrender" | "This Suffering" |
| Videography |
| Scandalous Travelers |
| Label(s) |
| Atlantic Records | Warner Music Canada |
