explanations of the songs and how they fit 1984

1.       Every Breath You Take – The Police

“Every breath you take and every move you make; every bond you break ; every step you take, I’ll be watching you; every single day and every word you say; every game you play; every night you stay, I’ll be watching you”

-This song basically explains what the telescreens are used for. The citizens of Oceania have no privacy and the telescreens are used to make sure that the citizens do not commit a crime against the party. The party also sets up microphones throughout Oceania so that the party would be able to here if citizen were talking about anything that the party wouldn’t agree with.

2.       Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 – Pink Floyd

“We don't need no education; We don't need no thought control; No dark sarcasm in the classroom; Teachers leave them kids alone; Hey teacher leave them kids alone ; All in all it's just another brick in the wall; All in all you're just another brick in the wall”

-The party erases anything that has happened in the past, whereas most children have graduation requirements that they have to pass a certain number of history courses to graduate. The party works to control everything that people of Oceania do and thinking anything that the party doesn’t agree with is considered a “thoughtcrime”.  The party also works to make every person exactly as they would like them to be so in reference to bricks they could build a perfect society.

3.       Pigs in the Wing  Part 2 – Pink Floyd/Roger Waters

“If you didn't care what happened to me, and I didn't care for you, we would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain, occasionally glancing up through the rain wondering which of the buggers to blame and watching for pigs on the wing.

-This relates to Julia and Winston. They care for each other even though their affair started out as just rebelling against the party they soon fell in love. They don’t “zig zag” their way through the boredom and the pain, being what the party forces people to do they do everything they can to avoid conforming to the party. But in the end they find each other to blame/betray for the reasons that they rebel against the party: the party being “the buggers”.

4.       Talk Shows on Mute – Incubus

“Still and transfixed, the electric sheep are dreaming of your face. Enjoy you from the chemical, Comfort of America. Come one, come all, into nineteen-eighty-four

Yeah, three, two, one; lights, camera, transaction; Quick, your time is almost up. Make all forget that they're the moth; edging in towards the flame, burn into obscurity.”

-Julia and Wintson never know how much time they actually have together and while they are “spending time together” in Mr. Charrington’s shop they are being watched by the telescreens behind the photo of the church (hence the lights camera transaction part). The flame into obscurity is the party’s way of thinking that Julia and Winston are soon forced into.

5.     We are the Dead – David Bowie

“Always breaking in the new boys, deceive your next of kin; For you're dancing where the dogs decay, defecating ecstasy, you're just an ally of the leecher locator for the virgin King, but I love you in your fuck-me pumps and your nimble dress that trails
Oh, dress yourself, my urchin one, for I hear them on the rails because of all we've seen, because of all we've said: We are the dead”

-The party always finds the citizens who are rebellious and the party will not kill anyone until they love big brother. The ministry of love is the place where “dogs decay, defecating ecstasy”. Julia and Winston become “allies of the leecher” when they tell O’Brien that they want to be part of the brotherhood. Winston does not care that Julia wears the overalls that the party forces her to he still finds her attractive. And the party knows exactly what they’ve done and said because the room above the junk shop has a telescreens hidden behind the picture of St. Clemens Church.

6.       Spies – Coldplay

“Down here where I cannot see so clear. I said, what do I know? Show me the right way to go; and the spies came out of the water, but you're feeling so bad cos you know, but the spies hide out in every corner, but you can't touch them though, cos they're all spies, they're all spies. I awake to see that no one is free, we're all fugitives”

-When Winston is in the ministry of love he cannot think straight because he cannot see the outside world so he loses all track of time. When Julia and Winston get caught they were completely thrown off guard because they thought they were somewhere safe with someone safe, Mr. Charrington, helping them out. The children of many are part of the Junior Spies league and you never know when one will report you. In the end everyone will surrender and be a fugitive of the party.

7.       California Uber Alles – Dead Kennedys

“Carter Power will soon go away; I will be Fuhrer one day; I will command all of you; Your kids will meditate in school, Your kids will meditate in school!”

“Now it is 1984, knock-knock at your front door, It's the suede/denim secret police, They have come for your uncool niece “

-George Orwell relates this book to what would have happened if people like Hitler would have been able to keep the power they had once observed and how the control they held would mediate their lives. The police that are at your door are the thought police and they have not only come for your “uncool niece” but for anyone who commits a crime against the party. The reason they come to your door is because they know where you live due to the party being in such control over every citizen of Oceania.