Ill-founded Attacks
I've been listening to, and enjoying, Ian Brown's new album The World Is Yours. The reviews have generally been positive (he has a lot of goodwill in the bank for calling an album King Monkey, I think - that, and some residual Stone Roses love from older listeners), but I've detected a rather unfair sniggering at his "political" lyrics, as if perhaps it's uncool to be singing about Iraq and street kids and the environment. Now, I'm not saying Illegal Attacks is poetry ("So what the fuck is this UK/Gunnin' with this US of A/In Iraq and Iran and in Afghanistan ... bring the soldiers back etc."), but at least the bloke's having a go at addressing the world around him, which you can't say for most "indie" or "rock" bands these days. In a post-Coldplay world, where everbody "cares" but nobody's putting it into lyrics, I salute Ian Brown for trying a bit harder.
Also, who's to argue with this sentiment from Street Children: "Wish I had a home with ten million rooms/I'd open up the doors and let the street children through/Wish that I could scoop up all those children in my arms/Give them all they needed to protect them all from harm"? What a pity the social conscience in mainstream rock has become such a laughing matter.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 1:48 PM
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8 Comments:
Uhhh, this is irony, right?
He's a top chap is Ian. When my bro was working as a runner he offered to make him a cup of tea, Ian told my brother to take a load off and he made him a cuppa instead.
I saw The Stone Roses at The Crypt in Deptford before they were signed don't you know. Oh yes, me and The Roses go weigh bac.
You mean he doesn't make up his lyrics to rhyme with the last word of the previous sentence like the rest of us? I thought it was just coincidence.
There was a brilliant piece in the Guardian a few weeks back where Ian Brown put the world to rights over a cup of coffee - including his foreign and domestic policy plans (melt down the space shuttle, put starter homes in the grounds of Balmoral, etc). Link here:
http:/www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/
music/story/0,,2168249,00.html
Mick Jones' new band Carbon/Silicone also have a track about the Irag and Afghanistan adventure on their album out this week.
"Oilwell" also has a rather splendid tune as well.
Maybe protest pop is on the way back in ?
I was never really keen on the Roses let alone Ian Brown's solo stuff. He seems to be a decent bloke these days and a passionate one too, but he was never much of a singer or a lyricist. I don't know whether I prefer him singing about how he's not a dog, he's a dolphin, or about children dyin' and politicians lyin' (probably). Truth be told neither affects me much.
Part of the problem with writing political songs is that you're setting yourself up as someone who knows what you're talking about. It takes real skill to do it without looking like some self-elected preacher or prophet. Oddly it's more effective when it's more detached and dispassionate.
Most of the criticism I've seen of this album has focussed on the quality of the music and the lyrics, and I think that's fair enough. More worrying was the response on Round Table, where at least two guests seemed to think that mixing pop and politics is never a good idea. I wouldn't knock Ian Brown for trying, because he's doing what an artist should do. The trouble is he's not very good.
I read one interview a few years ago where Ian Brown said 'all Nazis were homosexuals'... which sort of suggests that back when he was smoking lots of herb it was wiser he didn't get too political.
Mind you, that was in the NME, the king of misquotes.
The album is briliant - I can't stop listening to it.
Sometimes his lyrics can be heavy handed, but the strings sound incredible.
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