The World's Police
Recorded in 1979, this song has a wide interpretation, being on surface level about the forces of law and order, but in fact developing to show the use of authority as not merely oppressive but apocalyptic. By extension, the same authoritarian forces lead from boots to non-lethal weapons, to machine guns, bombs and ultimately nuclear holocaust.
The song seems to have reached its coda when the verses drop out, and in one of the most unexpected developments of any Leon song, the post-apocalypse world is almost celebrated as one of perfect calm and peace. But Leon spins it around again; he's looking from the perspective of the authorities where peace is synonymous with order, and the theme of the song is launched anew.
As recorded, "The World's Police" features Leon backed by Firoz Shapur on brass and piano, guest guitarist (and LP producer) Martin Carthy unhappily sitting out the session.
The song seems to have reached its coda when the verses drop out, and in one of the most unexpected developments of any Leon song, the post-apocalypse world is almost celebrated as one of perfect calm and peace. But Leon spins it around again; he's looking from the perspective of the authorities where peace is synonymous with order, and the theme of the song is launched anew.
As recorded, "The World's Police" features Leon backed by Firoz Shapur on brass and piano, guest guitarist (and LP producer) Martin Carthy unhappily sitting out the session.
"There were arguments, I seem to remember, when we recorded this cheerful little number for If I Knew Who the Enemy Was. Martin Carthy thought that I'd over-arranged it. But there's no arguing over Fiz Shapur's fine octave leap on the French horn shortly before the end of the world." - LR (sleevenotes to Guess What They're Selling at the Happiness Counter, 1992)
“Musically, and in content and form, this is about as remote from the folk idiom as it’s possible to be. I’m not sure how I arrived at a melody which required a chord sequence of Edim/Fm/Cm/C sharp minor/G sharp/E. Not, for sure, from strumming the guitar. Could I then have made my first acquaintance with the Brecht-Eisler songs? This wasn’t, in my mind, a song just about the militarisation of society and the suppression of popular uprisings. It was intended to be broader than that – to depict a society based on an ideology of control, order, obedience, repression, domination of nature, deterrence, leading ultimately to the death of the planet.” - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p27-28)
“Musically, and in content and form, this is about as remote from the folk idiom as it’s possible to be. I’m not sure how I arrived at a melody which required a chord sequence of Edim/Fm/Cm/C sharp minor/G sharp/E. Not, for sure, from strumming the guitar. Could I then have made my first acquaintance with the Brecht-Eisler songs? This wasn’t, in my mind, a song just about the militarisation of society and the suppression of popular uprisings. It was intended to be broader than that – to depict a society based on an ideology of control, order, obedience, repression, domination of nature, deterrence, leading ultimately to the death of the planet.” - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p27-28)
Recordings
Version 1 (1979)
- If I Knew Who The Enemy Was
- Songs For Peace Various artists compilation, released in Germany
- Guess What They're Selling at the Happiness Counter
- The World Turned Upside Down