“Do you know what love is? I’ll tell you: it is whatever you can still betray.”

-John le Carré

Philby was, as human nature tends to be, a riddle of contradictions: a product of the British Establishment who felt like an outsider; a committed Communist who did not associate with the working classes; a loving family man whose political work always and ruthlessly came first.

His story highlights the fault lines in British society and which endure to this day in our politics, culture and class system; it is more compelling than any spy novel because it was true, odd as that word may sound here.

The narrative of his defection is generally told from a ruling class perspective: that he was a traitor who sold out his friends.  But how easy it is to judge, dismiss and so miss the story.

In this song, I wanted to imagine the human story, suggest the motivations and affections which lay beyond the politics and propaganda.  My starting point was the hypothesis that anyone who betrays the British Establishment can’t be all bad.

We’re all loyal to something, just not necessarily that which expects or demands it. And maybe not for all our lives.

bx