Music for the economy of 2015: How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?

Posted on November 23 2015

Recommended by Andrew Turner: one of the classic protest songs:

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7 Responses

Simon says:

November 23 2015 at 11:23 am

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.
- David says:
  
  November 23 2015 at 12:39 pm
  
  Hi Simon,
  
  Excellent choice. No doubt you’ve heard Ry Cooder’s version. If not then highly recommended.
  - Richard Murphy says:
    
    November 23 2015 at 3:35 pm
    
    I thought about that version
    
    But went for this one
    
    Admit I had not listened to Ry Cooder in ages….
  - David says:
    
    November 23 2015 at 5:06 pm
    
    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’.
  - Pilgrim Slight Return says:
    
    November 24 2015 at 6:35 pm
    
    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.
Robin Stafford says:

November 24 2015 at 10:18 am

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
- Richard Murphy says:
  
  November 26 2015 at 1:11 pm
  
  Up now
  
  Thanks!