Eileen
from Live Forever by Dog Trumpet
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about
This song came together after I read Anna Funder’s book Wifedom which details the story of the relationship between George Orwell and his wife Eileen O’Shaughnessy who was hugely influential in the writing of Orwell’s most famous books Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Though the couple travelled to Barcelona as volunteers fighting against Franco’s fascists in the Spanish Civil War, Orwell’s book on the subject never mentions Eileen by name, only as ‘my wife’. Eileen risked her life and barely made it safely out of Spain. The lyrics of the song work as little windows into this episode and other aspects of their story and relationship in general.
lyrics
She’s preLy funny and she’s preLy smart
You never heard her complain
They got married had an animal farm
He never men7oned her name
She wrote a poem in the year before
They got together in London
The End of the Century 1984
He never men7oned her name
Fall into a memory hole where nothing ever lasts
I can see the future there colliding with the past
She was the first to read and then to type the ideas
That he’d think up or then she might
Put the salient words in his ear
Fall into a memory hole where nothing ever lasts
I can see the future there colliding with the past
He never men7oned her name
Read me like an open book
I’m caught between the lines
I can see your shadow looming over mine
Down and out in Paris London too
Out on the road to Wigan Pier
We’re all equal and that’s the truth
But how equal that’s not clear
Fall into a memory hole where nothing ever lasts
I can see the future there colliding with the past
They fought a war in Catalonia
He wrote a book to explain
It all ends up in disillusionment
He never men7oned her name
He never men7oned her name
Eileen O’Shaughnessy
You never heard her complain
They got married had an animal farm
He never men7oned her name
She wrote a poem in the year before
They got together in London
The End of the Century 1984
He never men7oned her name
Fall into a memory hole where nothing ever lasts
I can see the future there colliding with the past
She was the first to read and then to type the ideas
That he’d think up or then she might
Put the salient words in his ear
Fall into a memory hole where nothing ever lasts
I can see the future there colliding with the past
He never men7oned her name
Read me like an open book
I’m caught between the lines
I can see your shadow looming over mine
Down and out in Paris London too
Out on the road to Wigan Pier
We’re all equal and that’s the truth
But how equal that’s not clear
Fall into a memory hole where nothing ever lasts
I can see the future there colliding with the past
They fought a war in Catalonia
He wrote a book to explain
It all ends up in disillusionment
He never men7oned her name
He never men7oned her name
Eileen O’Shaughnessy
credits
from Live Forever,
track released July 11, 2025
Peter O'Doherty
Peter O'Doherty
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Dog Trumpet Sydney, Australia
Spearheaded by brothers Peter O'Doherty and Reg Mombassa, Dog Trumpet.Have nine critically acclaimed albums: Two Heads, One Brain, Suitcase, Dog Trumpet, Antisocial Tendencies, River of Flowers, double album Medicated Spirits,Great South Road in 2020 and new album Shadowland CD and Vinyl available @ www.dogtrumpet.net New album Live Forever out now ! ... more
discography
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Nov 2025
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Aug 2025
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Jun 2025
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Mar 2025