Alanis Morissette has her first new studio album out in 8 years. It is called Such Pretty Forks in the Road. Here is Reasons I Drink from the new album
Two for the price of one. The original certainly is a great piece of rock and roll by The Boss. Even though they are a bunch of bin dippers (note the reference to the dole ), the second track isn't bad at all, in fact I quite like it .....
So I'm sure everyone here knows Friday I'm in Love by the Clash, which is a good song, however I discovered a great cover of it recently. I'm not usually a fan of the low-tempo acoustic versions of popular songs often sung by women (though I did like Ellie Goulding's cover of Your Song) however, I honestly think this version is... beautiful. Especially the middle bit ("Dressed up to the eyes..")
I am not sure what the indigenous Americans make of Pete Seeger's claim. There really is a very strong argument that we should purge our culture of songs that have their roots in colonialist expansion.
Native Americans see Woody Guthrie as an ally: https://theconversation.com/the-misguided-attacks-on-this-land-is-your-land-121169
Thanks for that. I haven't read that until now. So some native Americans see him as an ally. I am still uneasy about how it is perceived. A powerful song like this can mean many things to many people. FFS even republicans sing it without realising what it is really about.
I think that there has been an interesting debate regarding the pulling of the words at this year's Proms. Censorship of music is potentially dangerous and a whole swathe of different styles of music could be banned where the lyrics are far more offensive than "Land of Hope and Glory." This could cover most Rap artists where violence if glorified, the raging sexism in Country Blues or the not-too-subtle reference to drug use in a lot of jazz titles. There are also just as many artists whose work could be argued to be barred because of the alleged unsavory actions of the musicians whether we are talking about Michael Jackson, Gisualdo, Benjamin Britten or Camille Saint-Saens. I am not in favour of censorship. However, I think that the intention to withdrawn the singing of the words has some validity. "Land of Hope & Glory" stemmed from the political crisis in the early 1700s when there was a feud between (I think) George I and his son. I forget which prince it was although I know he was the once legend has it was killed whilst playing cricket and was never crowned king. The lyrics are a coded reference to the politics of nearly 300 years ago and, if correctly understood, do not really have any association with "British Imperialism" which was still in it's infancy at the time. The words have taken on a different meaning during the 1800s with the consequence that they unfortunately have unpleasant overtones. There was a comment earlier this week as to why we were having a debate about this when the matter was something which could have been addressed 20 years ago. I totally agree. It has not only become an anthem for nationalism but one which is about exclusivity. I have long since found the nationalism of "Last Night of the Proms" to be a little bit corny and embarrassing. I agree with Boris that the English are uncomfortable with "nationalism" but I think he is totally incorrect to suggest that this is problematic. Flipping the coin over, it is fascinating that no one has levied the same accusations at the Scots or taken Scotland to task for seeking a more insidious national identity. I think the examples of nationalism in Scotland and England both to be problematic yet can appreciate the irony of those waving the Union Jack at the Proms when 55% of those of the people in Scotland would prefer that the saltire does not form part of this flag. It will be interesting if this debate about censoring music continues in 100 years time when John Lennon's "Imagine" has become the national anthem !!
Speaking of covers Kim Wilde did a cover of this song when I saw her supporting the Quo a few years back
