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‘Art for art’s sake, money for God’s sake’
Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman repurposed the phrase in 1975 for their single of the same name. It was a satirical take on the idea that art is purely for its own sake with no regard for social, political or moral values. Music, as an art form, is like any other artistic endeavour……it should evoke a response, an opinion, good or bad. Art ( music) which doesn’t elicit a response in any way, shape or form, art which you just walk past or tune out from, is what they are poking fun at. And the corporate entities which support it.
Where is he going with this I sense you all asking? Simply in the direction of one of the most profound lyricists of his generation. Controversial, of course, but that’s my point. Readers and listeners, I give you Stephen William (Billy) Bragg – poet, singer songwriter and political activist. Someone who can garner opinion in everything he does.
His work has a grounding in folk music and that ethos comes through very eloquently in his subject matter. Social conscience and justice to the fore, with the folk genre being used for centuries in a similar vein…..to give a voice to the people. Add in the influence of Simon and Garfunkel and Bob Dylan in his teens, and Elvis Costello, The Jam and The Clash in the late 70s and you start to get an understanding of what made the artist. To my mind, a better exponent of grass roots folk and social commentary than Bob Dylan, evidenced by the invitation of Nora Guthrie to Bragg to set music to the unrecorded work of her father Woody Guthrie. Dylan was mainstream and commercialised by this time.
To celebrate his 40th anniversary in the music business, Bragg released the collection ‘The Roaring 40 (1983 – 2023)’ in various formats. The version I’m talking about here is the triple album boxed set (the green one) which contains 40 of his tracks spanning a career from one man and a guitar to the full monty with a backing band. I think my first recollection of the man was either his performance on the Old Grey Whistle test, of which he did many, or Rock Goes To College? At this point he was ably supported by future BBC Radio 1 DJ and TV presenter Andy Kershaw as tour manager and roadie. My reaction was, ‘this guy has something to say and I like the way he’s saying it’.
The album starts with ‘A New England’ from his debut 1983 album ‘Lifes a Riot with Spy vs Spy’. It was turned into a major single by Kirsty MacColl in January 1985 with an extra verse which Billy always includes when playing live as a tribute to Kirsty. The version on the album is the early recording which is stripped out and visceral, just as it should be. Lyrically it’s astonishing and the first inclination of his skill in writing the anti-love song for which he’s become renowned.
“I was twenty one years when I wrote this song
I’m twenty two now, but I won’t be for long
People ask when will you grow up to be a man
But all the girls I loved at school
are already pushing prams”
The album then flows into ‘The Milkman of Human Kindness’ also from the first album. It’s a beautiful song and the story goes that on hearing John Peel say he was hungry live on radio Billy arrived at the BBC with a Mushroom Biryani. Peel played the track but insisted he’d have played it without the gift of the biryani.
“If you’re lonely, I will call
If you’re poorly, I will send poetry
I love you
I am the milkman of human kindness
I will leave an extra pint”
So two tracks into the album and I’ve already illustrated some of my points. Lyrics can be simple poetry and there is a social / political / moral message to be had.
Jump forward a bit in time and we encounter ‘Help Save The Youth of America’ from his third album, ‘Talking with Taxman About Poetry’. The title comes from a pamphlet published in 1965 entitled, ‘Help Save The Youth of America – Don’t Buy Negro Records’ produced by the Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana. It got him thinking that the youth need saving from a lot more than disgusting, offensive segregation-ism. They need saving from the political need for war and dictatorship. Now we really see how well thought out and timeless his lyrics can be. Written in 1986 it reverberates to this very minute in an extremely worrying way…
“And the fate of the great United States
Is entwined in the fate of us all
And the incident at Tschernobyl proves
The world we live in is very small
And the cities of Europe have burned before
And they may yet burn again
And if they do I hope you understand
That Washington will burn with them”
I could write about every single track and I know I’ve still missed out some wonderful things. This piece could literally run into pages and pages. One last track I do need to discuss is oddly omitted from the retrospective. For those who have already concluded Billy to be a lefty of no interest, then I’d point you in the direction of the apolitical song ‘Ideology’ from ‘Talking with the Tax Man’. Another track written in 1986 that remains as relevant as it was then…
“When one voice rules the nation
Just because they’re top of the pile
Doesn’t mean their vision is the clearest
The voices of the people
Are falling on deaf ears
Our politicians all become careerists
They must declare their interests
But not their company cars
Is there more to a seat in parliament
Than sitting on your arse
And the best of all this bad bunch
Is shouting to be heard
Above the sound of ideologies clashing …..
God bless the civil service
The nations saving grace
While we expect democracy
They’re laughing in our face
And although our cries get louder
The laughter gets louder still
Above the sound of ideologies clashing”
Billy has revisited this and gently revised / added lyrics over the years, most recently in tribute to the frontline workers during lockdown in 2020.
I’m going to stop here and urge you, if you don’t know his music, or if you don’t think you’ll like it, STOP, think and give it a listen. It will resonate with you, make you think and make you want to talk about and share his work.
Billy Bragg’s career is peppered with poetic and prophetic gems…..political songs, love songs all of which show a strong moral compass. It’s not always warm and cuddly, but neither is the world we live in. I’ll leave you with a lighter aspect from ‘Greetings to the new Brunette’
“Sometimes when we’re as close as this
It’s like we’re in a dream
How can you lie there and think of England
When you don’t even know who’s in the team”
If you decide you don’t want to listen, then I urge you to read. His book, ‘A lover Sings’, is the most remarkable book of poetry which he also happens to sing, for those who like to be challenged and made to think.
Iain, April 2025
