Neverland
Corruption, manipulation, and control. These are the pillars upon which most dystopian futures are built. Yet, disturbingly, they no longer feel confined to fiction. In Neverland, the latest release from the German band Para Lia, this disquieting overlap between speculative dystopia and our everyday reality is brought into sharp focus.
With lyrics that could easily accompany the stark, satirical animations of Steve Cutts, Para Lia doesn’t shy away from confronting the uncomfortable truth; we are slaves to a system that deliberately blurs the lines between control and freedom. Perpetually working, endlessly connected, we’ve lost touch with the tangible world around us. Not because we master technical skills from the leaders, but because we fail to notice enough details. The song suggests a silent, systemic sedative has been administered, leaving us numb to injustice, propaganda, and the moral decay at the top.
Nepotism, ignorance, and lies are the new virtues of leadership, carefully repackaged and sold to the public through slick media narratives. And yet, we sleep. We scroll. We nod along. Neverland is Para Lia’s wake-up call, a dark but necessary reminder that the world we live in might be closer to dystopia than we’re willing to admit.