BRAGGING WITH BILLY
For a homely socialist who—literally— couldn’t get arrested in New York a few years ago, self-described spokesperson-for-a-generation Billy Bragg has done alright for himself. “My mum’ll be getting the third gold record by Christmas, I should imagine.”
BRAGGING WITH BILLY
by
Ira Robbins
For a homely socialist who—literally— couldn’t get arrested in New York a few years ago, self-described spokespersonfor-a-generation Billy Bragg has done alright for himself. “My mum’ll be getting the third gold record by Christmas, I should imagine.” An artless but effective singer/stringbanger with an extraordinary songwriting gift, Bragg is living proof that politics has a viable, valuable place in pop music, and vice versa.
“Just because I dress like this doesn’t mean I’m a communist.” With few exceptions—only Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan and Bob Marley readily come to mind— protest singers have generally proven incapable of simultaneous commitment to both social conscience and social lives. To his credit, the cheerful 28-year-old is as articulate and serious praising organized labor as he is chronicling failed romance. “Life is not all politics. If pop music were only political it’d be incredibly dull and humorless. Likewise, life isn’t all shagging girls, driving cars fast and getting pissed. It’s a mixture of all those things, and my job”—as he refers to music—“is to reflect them.”