Jumpsuit, Jumpsuit Cover Me
So my friends American Independence Day is today, a day that is celebrated each year with all the pomp and splendour for a proud nation. However, dig a little deeper and ask yourselves, what does independence mean to you? What are you escaping, and what do you yearn to be free of? We don’t all want the same thing, we are all individuals, and we have different struggles and different outlooks. Sometimes though are lives become so excruciatingly complicated that we feel alone and with nowhere to turn. Let’s go back to Independence Day 2006 and relive a moment in the history of music that I find is a brave step into the industry by a young band. My friends, I speak of the subject of domestic violence, yes it has been talked about, yes there are agencies set up to help and of course many songs written about it, but for me the debut single from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is one I go back to time and again.
Such an eloquently written piece from a band who threw themselves in at the deep end by tackling a subject that still remains unspoken in our society. Many people, across all genders, cultures and religions have their own issues, but under the one umbrella it is a tale of bullying and oppression. It is entrapment and a venomous existence that only benefits the bully. The victim remains powerless and frightened, with little hope of things getting better. Here Ronnie Winter and crew took hold of this topic and sliced it clean open for us all to see the inside. Using personal experience as a guide, they have produced a song and a video that doesn’t approach with caution, the imagery shows how things can progress in a volatile relationship and I feel offers a hand to hold for people who are trapped in such a dark, frightful and bewildering place. Dogs D’Amour wrote the lyric ‘some things are so awful and hard to explain’ from their song ‘Goddess From the Gutter’ and I think that ties in very well to the whole subject of domestic violence. There is still much work to do to eradicate this nastiness that has taken hold, there is too much hate my friends. For me music has always been a saviour and I salute this band of brothers for having the foresight, the conscience and brevity to create this gem.
‘Face Down’ is a formidable debut, a landmark single for an issue that is still somewhat taboo to this day.
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – Face Down 15th anniversary.
For further help please contact the Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline which is run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247.
For women helpline@womensaid.org.uk
For men info@mensadviceline.org.uk
For LGBT+ help@galop.org.uk