The sixth track on Clutching at Straws continues the story of Torch and his struggle with self doubt and alcoholism.
“White Russian” deals with the rise of neo-Nazism and violence in Europe during the 1980s and the alarm it triggers in the protagonist. It was inspired by an encounter Fish had with...
[Intro]
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
[Verse 1]
They boarded up the synagogues
Uzis on a street corner
You can't take a photograph
Of uzis on a street corner
The DJ resigned today
They wouldn't let him have his say
Surface scratched where the needles play
Uzis on a street corner
[Refrain]
Where do we go from here?
[Verse 2]
Terror in the Rue de St. Denis
Murder on the periphery
Someone else in someone else's pocket
Christ knows I don't know how to stop it
Lay poppies at the cenotaph
The cynics can't afford to laugh
I heard in on the telegraph
There's Uzis on a street corner
[Refrain]
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
[Bridge]
The more I see, the more I hear, the more I find fewer answers
I close my mind, I shout it out but you know it's getting harder
To calm down, to reason out, to come to terms with what it's all about
I'm uptight, can't sleep at night, I can't pretend everything's alright
My ideals, my sanity, they seem to be deserting me
But to stand up and fight I know we have six million reasons
[Verse 3]
They're burning down the synagogues
Uzis on a street corner
The heralds of the holocaust
Uzis on a street corner
The silence never louder than now
How quickly we forgot our vows
This resurrection we can't allow
Uzis on a street corner
[Refrain]
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here?
[Verse 4]
We buy fresh bagels from the corner store
Where swastikas are spat from aerosols
I sit in the bar sipping iced White Russian
Trying to score but nobody's pushing
And everyone looks at everyone's faces
Searching for signs and praying for traces
Of a conscience in residence
Are we sitting on a barbed wire fence
Racing the clouds home
Racing the clouds home
[Outro]
We place our faith in human rights
In the paper wars that tie the red tape tight
I know that I would rather be out of this conspiracy
In the gulags and internment camps frozen faces in nameless ranks
I know that they would rather be standing here beside me
Racing the clouds home
Racing the clouds home
You can shut your eyes, you can hide it away
It's gonna come back another day
Racing the clouds home
Are we racing the clouds home?
Racing the clouds home
White Russian was written by Ian Mosley & Peter Trewavas & Steve Rothery & Mark Kelly & Fish (Rock).
White Russian was produced by Chris Kimsey.
Marillion released White Russian on Mon Jun 22 1987.
In an interview with Debbie Voller for No 1 Magazine on 30 May 1987, Fish said:
This is a heavy, soul-searching song that touches on politics and deals with the Jewish problem in Austria. Torch is observing all these things that attack his conscience and make him feel he should act and face up to r...