"The trial" lyrics
1951. His fascination with computers had a complementary aspect. He was particularly self-conscious of things that other people accepted without thinking. Thinking and doing, the logical and the physical. It was the problem of his theory and the problem of his life.
Can you think what I feel?
Can you feel what I think?
Can we sleep together as lovers?
Can we think and feel the same thing?
As he walked along Oxford Road, Manchester, he caught the eye of a young man. Arnold Murray was nineteen, currently unemployed and very hard up. Alan invited him to lunch, explained that he worked on the electronic brain and asked him to come to his home at the weekend. They did not have much in common to talk about, but found links. Alan talked about astronomy, played a tune on the violin and let Arnold have a try. "Can you think what I feel? Can you feel what I think?" he said with terrific emphasis at one point. Alan made it clear that he wanted them to sleep together, as lovers. And this they did.
Can you think what I feel?
Can you feel what I think?
Can we sleep together as lovers?
Can we think and feel the same thing?
Everything had changed. The Manchester bells were ringing for the death of King George VI. The new Queen Elizabeth flew back from Kenya; and it was on that very evening that the detectives paid a call. It had not taken them long to detect Alan Turing's crime. The case was heard on the 31st of March, 1952.
Regina versus Turing
Alan Mathison Turing
Being a male person, was party
To the commission of an act
Of gross indecency
With Arnold Murray, a male person
The verdict quivered between the old and the new dispensations, and came down for the new, the scientific alternative to prison. He was placed on probation, with the condition that he submit for treatment by a duly qualified medical practitioner at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. It was chemical castration. Never far below the surface lay the highly traditional equation between sodomy, heresy and treachery. A government minister said, "A homosexual is now automatically considered a security risk." Alan wrote, "Turing believes machines think. Turing lies with men. Therefore machines do not think."
Can you think what I feel?
Can you feel what I think?
Can we sleep together as lovers?
Can we think and feel the same thing?
As he walked along Oxford Road, Manchester, he caught the eye of a young man. Arnold Murray was nineteen, currently unemployed and very hard up. Alan invited him to lunch, explained that he worked on the electronic brain and asked him to come to his home at the weekend. They did not have much in common to talk about, but found links. Alan talked about astronomy, played a tune on the violin and let Arnold have a try. "Can you think what I feel? Can you feel what I think?" he said with terrific emphasis at one point. Alan made it clear that he wanted them to sleep together, as lovers. And this they did.
Can you think what I feel?
Can you feel what I think?
Can we sleep together as lovers?
Can we think and feel the same thing?
Everything had changed. The Manchester bells were ringing for the death of King George VI. The new Queen Elizabeth flew back from Kenya; and it was on that very evening that the detectives paid a call. It had not taken them long to detect Alan Turing's crime. The case was heard on the 31st of March, 1952.
Regina versus Turing
Alan Mathison Turing
Being a male person, was party
To the commission of an act
Of gross indecency
With Arnold Murray, a male person
The verdict quivered between the old and the new dispensations, and came down for the new, the scientific alternative to prison. He was placed on probation, with the condition that he submit for treatment by a duly qualified medical practitioner at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. It was chemical castration. Never far below the surface lay the highly traditional equation between sodomy, heresy and treachery. A government minister said, "A homosexual is now automatically considered a security risk." Alan wrote, "Turing believes machines think. Turing lies with men. Therefore machines do not think."
Writer(s): Christopher Lowe, Neil Francis Tennant, Andrew Hodges
