Dominion/Mother Russia by The Sisters of Mercy - Songfacts https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-sisters-of-mercy/dominion-mother-r...

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Dominion/Mother Russia
by The Sisters of Mercy

A l b u m : Floodland (1987)
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Written by Sisters of Mercy lead singer

Andrew Eldritch, this apocalyptic track was
inspired by Percy Bysshe Shelley's 1818
sonnet Ozymandias. Eldritch told MTV: "The
song is about erecting monuments in
outrageous places to one's own personal
power and then crumbling away."

The 7-minute album version was remixed

and released as "Dominion" in the UK.

The "Mother Russia" segment was influenced by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, in
which an explosion at the Ukrainian nuclear facility sent dangerous levels of
radioactive particles into the atmosphere, endangering the [former] western USSR
and Europe.

Eldritch told The Melody Maker in 1987: "I made the mistake of getting caught in

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central Europe when Chernobyl started sprinkling it's residue over the land. It's
sort of a carry on (and 'Carry On') from 'Black Planet' - part of my hate/hate
relationship with America. I just had this idea of all them huddled in their mobile
homes while Mother Russia rained down on them. They deserve it. I suppose the
song is really about the prostitution of Europe by the Americans."

The music video depicts a tale of intrigue with Eldritch passing information to bass
player Patricia Morrison. But what does it all mean? "It means absolutely nothing,"
director David Hogan laughed. "Just the impression of a story."

It was Eldritch's idea to shoot the clip in Petra, Jordan – not the safest idea
considering Iran and Iraq were warring on the Gaza Strip. Hogan told Songfacts in
a 2015 interview: "We were told by the State Department that they never
recommend Americans going over there at the time because it's a war and
because of all the stuff going on in Israel. So we said, 'Okay, well, tough titty,
we're going.'" Luckily, the location manager was friends with the king's brother.
"So they hooked us up with the king, and they said, Well, if they're coming, we're
going to supply them with bodyguards. So I had an armed bodyguard with me
with a machine gun at his side the entire time following me everywhere, even into
the bathroom."

He added: "And the helicopter shot, we didn't have a helicopter budgeted, and I
said, 'Man, it would be great to get a helicopter shot of this place.' And the
location manager said, 'Well, I'll call the king's brother.' He called the king, and he
sent a gigantic helicopter for us, just landed in the middle of Petra, and I thought
oh, this is cool."

Steven Spielberg used the music video to scout the location for Indiana Jones and
the Last Crusade (1989).

More songs from The Sisters of Mercy

More songs with videos directed by David Hogan

More songs inspired by poems

More songs about events in the news

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