Recommended by Andrew Turner: one of the classic protest songs:
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verse 6: “Oh, it’s time for every man to be awake.”
never more true than now but less chance of it because of:
1) narcoleptic populace due to incessant bullshit TV and celebrity worship
2) A dumbed down, economically illiterate BBC
3) An equally illiterate press 90% neo-liberal
4) Still no effective opposition to dominant discourse
5) A popular music industry that feeds the wealth delusion and hardly likely to produce ‘protest songs.’
In short: we don’t have the artistic and creative means for real protest that were freely available in 1929. The Neo-lib agenda has appropriated the lot.
Hi Simon,
Excellent choice. No doubt you’ve heard Ry Cooder’s version. If not then highly recommended.
I thought about that version
But went for this one
Admit I had not listened to Ry Cooder in ages….
Ry still terrific.
All-time favourite lyric line (especially relevant today for too many people) from his album ‘Into the Purple Valley’ the song “How Can You Keep Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)” – ‘the mortgage settled down amongst us, and worked the hardest of us all’.
Ry Cooder’s version of this song is superb and highly recommended.
Cooder has a great repertoire of songs telling stories about how ordinary people suffer at the hands of vested interests.
His album ‘Chavez Ravine’ tells the story of a community purposely uprooted by greedy property developers. Not only is the story compelling but the music is simply wonderful, and is used as a backdrop to describe the rich cultural diversity of this community under threat.
Check out Ry Cooder’s album My Name is Buddy – he’s still writing political stuff
Then listen to Iris Dement’s Wasteland of the Free – best and angriest song against I’ve heard in years. US orientated but still applies here. Live version below – dodgy handheld video but strong performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhgb9hYjX3g
Robin
Up now
Thanks!