"The Beautiful Occupation" is the second single from Scottish alternative rock band Travis' fourth studio album, 12 Memories. The single was released in the UK on 15 December 2003 and peaked at #48 on the UK singles chart. An acoustic version of "The Beautiful Occupation" is included on the 2003 compilation album Hope released by the War Child charity. [1]
Theme
The Beautiful Occupation was written by singer Fran Healy as a protest in response to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[2] The band played the song live at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards and were joined onstage by naked protestors carrying anti-war placards towards the end of the performance. [3] In a 2021 interview with the NME, Healy revealed that Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien praised Travis for their anti-war position: 'I remember in 2005, Radiohead’s Ed [O’Brien, guitarist] taking me aside and going, ‘I want to say thanks because you were the only band saying anything’, which meant a lot from the band who did ‘Hail to the Thief’”.[4]
