from the LP Cold War Night Life, Yul Records, 1982I’m no blind patriot, as any of you who read this blog regularly can easily surmise, but I am a lover of FREEDOM man---the freedom to live as you want, say what you think & believe what you choose while respecting others’ right to that same freedom. It was 20 years ago today that the Berlin Wall began to crumble, an event which set in motion the end of Communist leadership in Europe, and a few years later, led to the collapse of the Soviet Union itself. I remember being glued to the television set, watching Tom Brokaw’s coverage on NBC and feeling so happy for all those East Berliners that could now walk freely across into the West without fear of being killed; it was such a stark contrast to see that one side of the wall (west) was completely covered in beautiful graffiti pieces and murals, while the other side of the wall (east) was totally blank. The French Canadian trio Rational Youth were an above-average coldwave act that released this gleaming album in the early ‘80s, at a time when the Cold War was at its most frigid, and the very idea of dancing on the Berlin Wall would have been, in practice, suicide. Astoundingly enough, that is exactly what wound up taking place on this night, back in 1989: thousands of revelers from each side of the fence, dancing hand in hand atop that most hated structure, an act so metaphorical in nature & yet so vivid and real in action that footage of the event still makes my eyes water a bit. People gotta be free…
