Intro (feat. Stephen McCauley)

In the liner notes of “Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven”

by Godspeed You Black Emperor,

there is a line which reads

“what does anyone want but to feel a little more free?”

Whatever your political background,

whether you think borders are good or bad,

a border implies a limitation.

A limit on jurisdiction,

a limit on trade,

very often a limit on movement.

In the case of the island of Ireland,

the border is invisible so it has become,

in a sense, psychological.

it has receded in recent years but it is still there.

The debate that has engulfed Europe

And, to a certain extent, has engulfed the entire world,

hinges on the knife-edge of something that is part of everyday life for all of us.

To us,

it is fields and rivers,

hills and trees, roadways,

petrol stations, coffee shops,

businesses, farmland,

houses and families.

That’s reality.

Borders make everything feel narrow.

They make everything feel contracted, conflicted and claustrophobic.

And that’s not what life should be about.

“…because ‘what does anyone want but to feel a little more free?’”