burn baby burn...
Just watched the video to Moby's "Make Love, Fuck War" (here) and have to say I was reminded of the pretend advert at the end of The Day Today episode "War!", which had clips of Gulf War 1 to tunes like "Hands up, baby, hands up" and "Burn, baby, burn"...
...Which got me thinking about great antiwar songs. Fluxblog or Tofuhut (sorry - can't remember which, and there's even a chance it was someone else entirely - sorry if that's the case) posted a little gem a while ago.
It's a motown sounding thing, not a genre associated with political protest songs, which would be fantastic if covered by a britney, kylie or Xtina. It's not going to happen (Britney makes her vapidity embarrassingly clear in Fahrenheit 9/11, and in fairness it would be professional suicide at a time when to speak out against political expediency is equated with treason), but a boy can dream...
Freda Payne: Bring the Boys Home (buy)
The next song is the only Crass record I ever bought. Don't get me wrong - I loved Crass, those glorious fold out covers, densely packed with typewritten rants and Gee Vaucher's fantastic collages (eat your heart out, b3tans - this was a paper and scissors job), and of course they got their stuff out cheaply - the single was a "Pay no more than 45p" job - remember them?, but their music? nah...at the time I could happily listen to Throbbing Gristle or Genesis, the Virgin Prunes or The Scorpions but although I loved the idea of Crass, loved that they were there, I never really liked them.
I bought this single in a determined effort to rectify that, and the B-Side (Big A Little A) was great, funny and punky and subversive. I only played the A side once and it upset me so deeply I never played it again. It's horrible and sad, and that's the way a song about war ought to be...
CRASS: Nagasaki Nightmare (buy)
And then there's this - derided at the time, but it's a song which manages to sum up the essential truths in a pop chorus. It's a song that should be the anthem of our time. Altogether now "War, war is stupid, and people are stupid..."
Boy George: The War Song (buy)
...Which got me thinking about great antiwar songs. Fluxblog or Tofuhut (sorry - can't remember which, and there's even a chance it was someone else entirely - sorry if that's the case) posted a little gem a while ago.
It's a motown sounding thing, not a genre associated with political protest songs, which would be fantastic if covered by a britney, kylie or Xtina. It's not going to happen (Britney makes her vapidity embarrassingly clear in Fahrenheit 9/11, and in fairness it would be professional suicide at a time when to speak out against political expediency is equated with treason), but a boy can dream...
Freda Payne: Bring the Boys Home (buy)
The next song is the only Crass record I ever bought. Don't get me wrong - I loved Crass, those glorious fold out covers, densely packed with typewritten rants and Gee Vaucher's fantastic collages (eat your heart out, b3tans - this was a paper and scissors job), and of course they got their stuff out cheaply - the single was a "Pay no more than 45p" job - remember them?, but their music? nah...at the time I could happily listen to Throbbing Gristle or Genesis, the Virgin Prunes or The Scorpions but although I loved the idea of Crass, loved that they were there, I never really liked them.
I bought this single in a determined effort to rectify that, and the B-Side (Big A Little A) was great, funny and punky and subversive. I only played the A side once and it upset me so deeply I never played it again. It's horrible and sad, and that's the way a song about war ought to be...
CRASS: Nagasaki Nightmare (buy)
And then there's this - derided at the time, but it's a song which manages to sum up the essential truths in a pop chorus. It's a song that should be the anthem of our time. Altogether now "War, war is stupid, and people are stupid..."
Boy George: The War Song (buy)
2 Comments:
Ahh! CrAss.
I was going to do a piece on them on monday, but you beat me to it.. and Nagasaki Nightmare is their best in my oppinion...
This band had a very strong influence on me an 11 year old way back when.
also a lot of the songs are still relevant today... take Smash The Mack for instance,a song about American war mongers probably even more relevant 20 odd years later.
Cheers.
I must chip in and state that Shaved Women's gotta be a contender for best Crass track.
screamming bay bees screamming bay bees
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