Billy Bragg
I've had songs written during the Falklands war, and during the first Gulf war I got letters from soldiers saying they were listening to these songs, like Island of no return.
But, in the end, even a song that's as politically bland as Blowin in the Wind, you probably wouldn't get up and sing that now, whereas some of Bob Dylan's love songs that were contemporary with that, like say Girl from the North Country, you can still get up an play now.
An isolationist America is no bloody use to anyone.
All the great political music was made at the height of political confrontations.
Being spokesman for a generation is the worst job I ever had.
By the time I was 19, punk had occurred. It had a completely different cultural dynamic to it which rejected everything and started again from the year zero.
Even with politics, stuff comes around again. Woody Guthrie would recognize America today.
I came into this whole business by going to see Rock Against Racism gigs with the Clash.
I try and write honestly about what I see around me now.
I was in a little punk band and we put out a few punk records that weren't very political, at all.
I'm still batting away on my politics for the Labour Party. I'm much further to the left of them than I used to be, but that's because they've moved, not me.
In that sense, I became politicized because the people in the coal mining villages who were involved in the struggle knew why they were there. But they couldn't understand why some pop star from London would want to be there.
It's not a very popular subject amongst my audience, who are by nature more internationalist, but I don't choose what to write about, I don't choose my subjects, they kind of choose me.
Most of the people that I went to school with - I went to secondary school - we were educated to go and work in the line at Ford's, and if we were lucky, technical skilled labor. I sort of rejected that, and thought I wanted to do something else.
My theory is this; I'm not a political songwriter. I'm an honest songwriter.
My upbringing was very straightforward suburban working class upbringing.
So, in some ways, the political songs tend to be a bit more like reportage, whereas the love songs tend to be like novels, you can pick them up off the shelf and go into them any time.
That taught me one lesson which is that you're naive to believe that bands can change the world. Bands are very naive to think that just if their audience thinks that they can change the world, that they can. That was quite a lesson for my career, really.
The most important thing for anyone, I think, is to be engaged, whether you're an artist or a journalist is to be engaged in the process at some level.
There are quite a few honest songwriters out there writing about relationships and their own personality traits. But for some reason, once they step out of the bedroom, their honesty doesn't seem to come with them.
We read our own political content into The Clash, and they accepted it.
I enjoyed so much working with the guys from Wilco, and riffing off of them, and having someone come up to me with ideas, because normally in the studio it's me who has to come up with all the ideas.
I'm trying to make a case for those people who don't have a sense of belonging that they should have, that there is something really worthwhile in having a sense of belonging, and recasting and looking at our modern history.
Were it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers.
All musicians start out with ideals but hanging on to them in the face of media scrutiny takes real integrity. Tougher still is to live up to the ideals of your dedicated fans.
Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all.Collection: Privilege
At some point in your life you have to engage with the fact that you are part of a society. Yeah the individual is the most important facet in society but unless every individual is the recipient of free health care, free education decent affordable housing and a proper pension then only the rich and powerful will be individuals and the rest of us will be exploited by them.Collection: Powerful
War what is it good for? It's good for business.Collection: Inspirational
You can experience a download, but you can't download an experience.Collection: Downloads
Start your own revolution, cut out the middleman In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune But this is reality so give me some room So join the struggle while you may The Revolution is just a t-shirt awayCollection: Struggle
Today, rather than talk in terms of ideology or ideas like socialism, I think more important issues to discuss are things like compassion and accountability.Collection: Thinking
A virtue never tested is no virtue at all.Collection: Virtue
If you've got a blacklist, I want to be on it.Collection: Want
Peace, bread, work, and freedom is the best we can achieve.Collection: Politics
If there is a single trait in our character that has historically set us apart from other nations, it is our determination to limit the authority of those who rule over us.Collection: Determination
Don't saddle me with your ideals, and spare me all your guilt. For a poet with all the answers, has never yet been built.Collection: Poetry
Britain is a great country. We can more or less say what we like, and we can walk down the street without anyone trying to kill us. I know it's tough for some people, but generally we live in a caring society. We live in a great country, but we're no longer a great power. Part of the problem with some elements of the European debate is that they hanker for the days when we were a great power. Those days are gone, and they went a long time ago.Collection: Country
If you thought the army was here protecting people like yourself, I've some news for you, we're here to defend wealth.Collection: Army
I don't mind being labeled as a political songwriter. I've chosen to do that. What really annoys me is being dismissed as a political songwriter. That really pains me, because life isn't all about love; it's not all about politics, either. It's a beautiful mixture of events that absolutely baffle you, and you think, "Why can't I do something about that?", whether those events are in your bedroom, or out there in the wide world. In our daily lives we engage with them at different times, and I'm trying to write about the whole human experience, or my perspective on it anyway.Collection: Beautiful
[A]s long as you're comfortable it feels like freedom.Collection: Long
What corporations fear most are consumers who ask questions. Naomi Klein offers us the arguments with which to take on the superbrands.Collection: Corporations
Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is / I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses.Collection: Mixing
Our neighbors shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in the fountains To express their national pride.Collection: Pride
Never trust anyone who has no doubts. And I'm not talking about scepticism either: scepticism can be a healthy thing. You can have an argument with someone who's a sceptic. When I say 'cynic', I mean someone who has given up, and they want you to give up too, so it makes them feel better about themselves.Collection: Giving Up
The evil lot who did that thing on September 11 did it because they wanted to create a war between America and Islam. And by invading Iraq, we gave them what they hoped for.Collection: War
A nation with their freezers full are dancing in their seats, while outside another nation is sleeping in the streets.Collection: Sleep
If I can entertain people and get them to open up a little bit, then they're much more conducive to any ideas I might have, whether they're about relationships or politics. The most interesting songs, I think, are the ones where the two overlap.Collection: Song
A patriot is someone who cares what happens in their country.Collection: Country
I'm celebrating my love for you with a pint of beer and a new tattooCollection: Tattoo
What happened on September 11 wasn't the first act of war, it was the most unspeakable act of murder and terrorism. But it was construed by a very small group of people - there is no army out there in the dark waiting to take over America. It's like being stung by a bee and going out and smashing up a beehive, and thinking you've solved the problem. There are more beehives out there; more bees will come. But they're bees. They're not grizzly bears.Collection: War