Quando si parla di Billy Bragg le parole contano più della musica. Ed il contenuto dei temi di questo lavoro lo si intuisce già dalla copertina, da quella metà di bandiera inglese, quella bianca con la croce rossa. “ England Half English” é un concetto coniato per la prima volta da Colin Mc Innes (autore fra gli altri del romanzo “Absolute Beginners”) per descrivere l’Inghilterra degli anni ’50, che stava diventando sempre più multirazziale e ricca culturalmente. E questa è l’identità inglese che Bragg rivendica, senza lasciare che il termine di “englishness” venga rubato da poveri idioti nazionalisti. Ma Bragg, attivista di Red Wedge e il più politicizzato cantautore inglese, con le sue origini folk, riesce ad affrontare anche i temi del malessere di oggi:” I grew up in a company town/And I worked real hard/‘'til that company closed down/They gave my job to another man/On half my wages in some foreign land/And when I asked how could this be/Any good for our economy?/I was told nobody cares/So long as they make money when they sell their shares”. Fa venire I brividi, 10, 15 anni fa parlava delle battaglie sindacali sotto la Thatcher, oggi racconta di quegli stessi lavoratori che hanno perso il posto a causa della globalizzazione, che arricchisce la classe dirigente ed impoverisce i lavoratori, senza che gli immigrati aggrediti dalle destre in cerca di facili voti sfruttando il malessere, c'entrino qualcosa. E ne parla in maniera semplice, diretta ed efficace. “The ballot box is no guarantee that we achieve democracy/Our leaders claim their victory when only half the people have spoken/We have no job security in this global economy/Our borders closed to refugees but our markets forced open”, da “NPWA”. In “Some Days I See The Point” veniamo colpiti anche musicalmente dalla calma serenità della canzone, rassegnata, “Never saw a meaningful tv advert, I don’t think shopping is a metaphor for life/Don’t waste my time at the gym in the morning, try to keep trim by living my life”.E poi c’è anche la canzone d’amore, come quelle che lui sa scrivere, ci ricordiamo “Greetings To The New Brunette” dall’album “Talking With The Taxman About Poetry”. Qui la canzone si chiama “Another Kind Of Judy”: “I was 35 going on 17/I was missing in action on the local scene/But she turned out to be another kind of Judy” con “…another kind of Judy” sottolineato ad ogni strofa da un irresistibile riff di chitarra. Bellissima canzone. A dirla tutta però il Bragg che preferiamo era il puro folk singer di “Life’s A Riot” quando solo con la sua chitarra cantava di essere il “ Milkman Of Human Kindness”, col suo accento di working class dell’Essex che qui notiamo curiosamente solo in “Some Days…” quando pronuncia ‘waves’, ‘ waaaivs’ . In questo disco ci sono invece tanti strumenti, forse troppi, anche se si apprezza la durezza arrabbiata del rullante che taglia l’aria. Proprio fastidiosi invece alcuni fiati “ragga” ma forse era nel concept. Forse abbiamo citato troppi testi, ma solo le parole di Billy Bragg possono descrivere Billy Bragg, ultimo left-wing-folk-singer. “There is power in a Union” da “Talking with the Taxman…”-1986. E Bragg è ancora qui più attuale che mai.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 St. Monday (03:03)
Monday and the afternoon is bearing down on me
I m watching the clock and the clock is watching me
Don t have to be cool but you know I am
Don t have to be here but you know that
I m a hard worker but I ain t working on a Monday
I m a hard worker but I ain t working on a Monday
A hard working fellow but I ain't working on a Monday
St. Monday s still the weekend to me
Two dozen enquiries are on hold for me
My shift supervisor is staring hard at me
Nobody can say what the matter is
I m trying to recharge my batteries
I m a hard worker but I ain t working on a Monday
I m a hard worker but I ain t working on a Monday
A hard working fellow but I ain't working on a Monday
St. Monday s still the weekend to me
Somewhere out on the road, I just wanna be free
I don't wanna do as I m told
Don t wanna work 4, 5, 6 days and turnaround
Want to get high on life but first I got to get me back home
Nobody can say what the matter is
I m trying to recharge my batteries
05 NPWA (05:31)
I grew up in a company town
And I worked real hard ‘'til that company closed down
They gave my job to another man
On half my wages in some foreign land
And when I asked how could this be
Any good for our economy?
I was told nobody cares
So long as they make money when they sell their shares
Can you hear us? Are you listening?
No power without accountability!
I lost my job, my car and my house
When ten thousand miles away some guy clicked on a mouse
He didn’t know me, we never spoke,
He didn’t ask my opinion or canvass for my vote
I guess its true, nobody cares
'Til those petrol bombs come spinning through the air
Gotta find a way to hold them to account
Before they find a away to snuff our voices out
Can you hear us? Are you listening?
No power without accountability!
The ballot box is no guarantee that we achieve democracy
Our leaders claim their victory when only half the people have spoken
We have no job security in this global economy,
Our borders closed to refugees but our markets forced open
The World Bank says to Mexico,
We’ll cut you off if you don’t keep your taxes low
But they have no right to wield that sword
‘Cos they take their orders from the chairman of the board
IMF, WTO,
I hear these words just every place I go
Who are these people? Who elected them?
And how do I replace them with some of my friends?
Can you hear us? Are you listening?
No power without accountability!
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