Ivory Tower

Album: A Fever Dream (2017)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song tackles the murder in June 2016 of Labour MP Jo Cox. She was killed by Thomas Mair, a man associated with far-right organisations. Bassist Jeremy Pritchard explained to Q magazine: "That's the moment where I get it out of my system and say, ' If you are like that, f--- you.'"
  • The song also speaks about the hatred posted by people who feel they can say anything as they're anonymous in the online world. Speaking with 7Digital, drummer Michael Spearman said:

    "Ivory Tower is about internet warriors. You know, everyone has an opinion and it's all in caps lock. The internet is a super stressful place to be now. It's just one-upmanship. Like, 'I've got a more extreme opinion on this than you!' It's so tiring."
  • "Ivory Tower" deals deeply with the idea of entitlement. Singer Jonathan Higgs explained to NME:

    "That track was trying to embody the two sides of the divided nation that we have and trying to sort of exaggerate those sides, so it's almost like you are hearing an online argument. It's like people saying you know, 'oh you guys wear black face'. It's almost like listening in on an online conversation and having an online fight.

    It's really a reaction to that whole world of being callous and over the top online. We wanted to replicate it in song."
  • A Tom Vek remix of the song was included on Everything Everything's 2018 EP A Deeper Sea.

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