Just before the dreaded day of the EU referendum, London band Spector released the track ‘Born in the EU’, a three minute love letter to Europe revealing how the band believes it should be a collection of “countries not defined by their differences and their flags, but by their unity, shared history and constantly migrating/mixing populations”.
‘Born in the EU’ was actually written back in 2013 when frontman Fred MacPherson and old guitarist Chris Burman decided to write a “kind of love letter” to one another, sharing the love they’d gathered for Europe whilst touring. MacPherson says that they weren’t sure they were going to release the unfinished song, yet found that this was the perfect time.
The track itself features a pretty dreamy melody paired with MacPherson’s unique vocals. The lyrics “Tonight we’re driving on the right into the great unknown” add to the almost fantasy-like tune, mystifying Europe and its great wonders. Lyrically, the song has a strong romantic sense running through and reflects the many thoughts of those who voted remain.
As a country, we are in a quite unstable state, as not only are we about to begin the process of becoming completely independent from a strong and connected union, but this referendum has caused divisions between communities due to the xenophobic nature of many British citizens. I, as well as many others, would agree with MacPherson in that being part of Europe “allowed us to take pride in being part of something larger, more cultural, unknown and adventurous”, however, a mere 2% has taken that away from us.
