When the world falls apart, some things stay in place.
November 21, 2016 12:24 PM Subscribe
I was the youngest of four in the 80s, so instead of Sesame Street, through the bedroom wall I listened to things like The Cure and The Smiths.
I think this song was on Talking with the Taxman About Poetry, though we also had the film clip on VHS. Which was great, because I could watch Billy's hands to see what he's playing and figure it out for myself. I was way too young to understand the lyrics, but I understood the music. Billy's playing solo except for that clarinet at the end. He's essentially playing a bass part, a treble part and oddly enough, a percussion part. Those muted treble barks are like the snare drum.
Just giving it a listen now, sure there's a tambourine and some bongos sparsely through the song, mostly towards the end. Though to me as a kid the clever part was Billy playing bass, guitar and drums and just one-man-banding it together.
I also learnt There is Power in a Union, another me-and-my-guitar anthem. My brothers really messed up my childhood with their taste in music.
posted by adept256 at 12:47 PM on November 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
I think this song was on Talking with the Taxman About Poetry, though we also had the film clip on VHS. Which was great, because I could watch Billy's hands to see what he's playing and figure it out for myself. I was way too young to understand the lyrics, but I understood the music. Billy's playing solo except for that clarinet at the end. He's essentially playing a bass part, a treble part and oddly enough, a percussion part. Those muted treble barks are like the snare drum.
Just giving it a listen now, sure there's a tambourine and some bongos sparsely through the song, mostly towards the end. Though to me as a kid the clever part was Billy playing bass, guitar and drums and just one-man-banding it together.
I also learnt There is Power in a Union, another me-and-my-guitar anthem. My brothers really messed up my childhood with their taste in music.
posted by adept256 at 12:47 PM on November 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
Agreed. This is fantastic.
It is a complete and self-contained twelve word story, but it begs so many questions about possible pasts and possible futures and possible protagonists. You could rewind from here, or fast forward. You could pull out or zoom in.
The other song of his that does something like this in the first line is This Guitar Says Sorry:
Sandra met Raymond at the Race Relations / Much to the dismay of her family and friends
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:51 PM on November 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
It is a complete and self-contained twelve word story, but it begs so many questions about possible pasts and possible futures and possible protagonists. You could rewind from here, or fast forward. You could pull out or zoom in.
The other song of his that does something like this in the first line is This Guitar Says Sorry:
Sandra met Raymond at the Race Relations / Much to the dismay of her family and friends
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:51 PM on November 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'll always feel like The Saturday Boy was written about me growing up. Thanks for this.
posted by yerfatma at 12:54 PM on November 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by yerfatma at 12:54 PM on November 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
He looks so young in the video. It makes me feel so nostalgic.
(Put another way... I was 16 years when he wrote this song, I'm 46 now but I won't be for long).
posted by chapps at 1:07 PM on November 21, 2016 [23 favorites]
(Put another way... I was 16 years when he wrote this song, I'm 46 now but I won't be for long).
posted by chapps at 1:07 PM on November 21, 2016 [23 favorites]
Norman Whitfield and Barrett StrongInstead of an instrumental middle eight, Bragg gives us an intense middle five list of the Motown song writers,
Are here to make everything right that’s wrong.
Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too
Are here to make it all okay with you.
Thirty years ago, in the Dawn Times before lyrics websites, I spent many an hour puzzling over what the words to that section were. It was probably less than five years ago before it ever occurred to me to Google them.
But yes, the song is near perfect: a sparse narrative that contains multitudes, with a minimalist production that aches with melancholy and despair.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:13 PM on November 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
This song is on his Live at the Barbican album, which I snagged at a flea market for $1.00 this past summer. Surprisingly, he'd signed it. A big Sharpie autograph across the cover.
posted by davebush at 1:15 PM on November 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by davebush at 1:15 PM on November 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
(What monster dumps a CD that they got signed?)
posted by wenestvedt at 1:35 PM on November 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 1:35 PM on November 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
Huh -- just yesterday I played Talking with the Taxman for the first time in ages; it's held up well.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:58 PM on November 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:58 PM on November 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
I have a secret fantasy that the hideous state of geopolitics drives Billy Bragg back to *ahem* basics, and he goes out on tour, just him and his electric guitar, and plays the oldies again.
Wearing badges is not enough.
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:06 PM on November 21, 2016 [7 favorites]
Wearing badges is not enough.
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:06 PM on November 21, 2016 [7 favorites]
Kafkaesque,, while few artists like to be seen as damn jukeboxes playing just the old hits, with Billy Bragg you’re more likely to get a show where he plays many of his ‘80s songs than a lot of artists would give you. Personally I like what he’s still writing and it’s not just a nostalgia trip to see him, so it’s a real missed opportunity to hope that he’s stuck in a timewarp when seeing him live. (Personally I sometimes wish he’d shut up a bit and play more, he can go on a bit live.)
There’s great footage of BB when he was very young, with his guitar powered by a car battery in a backpack, singing songs of revolution in a shopping centre.
posted by wilful at 3:50 PM on November 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
There’s great footage of BB when he was very young, with his guitar powered by a car battery in a backpack, singing songs of revolution in a shopping centre.
posted by wilful at 3:50 PM on November 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
I saw Billy at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago, just him and his guitar, when I was in college and it completely reversed the political direction I had been headed in. I blame Billy and his singularly brilliant songwriting ability for making me into a diehard (and currently incredibly disillusioned) lefty. Yet I wouldn't change a thing. Levi Stubbs' Tears is one of the best of his best.
posted by vverse23 at 3:59 PM on November 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by vverse23 at 3:59 PM on November 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
I've seen Billy Bragg busking, and yes it was awesome, and he had no qualms about playing his old hits, and everyone else's too.
My sister and I listened to my mum's LP of Motown Chartbusters Volume 3 (with that cover, oh my) almost constantly, and now I know why Levi Stubb's Tears resonates so much.
posted by Helga-woo at 4:31 PM on November 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
My sister and I listened to my mum's LP of Motown Chartbusters Volume 3 (with that cover, oh my) almost constantly, and now I know why Levi Stubb's Tears resonates so much.
posted by Helga-woo at 4:31 PM on November 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
Really, that whole album...
The Warmest Room is another one of those songs, in this case playful and lovely, but filled with details that call upon the listener to fill in a rich, rich story.
I love that he still plays the oldies live, usually with the lyrics twisted to make it more relevant to the times. I love that he writes tenderly and personally as well as anthemic and political. Coming to know him over many albums, many live shows, documentaries, etc, I get the clear sense that the political and the personal are tightly interwoven for him, that love and compassion and justice are concepts we must apply to societal questions as well as the individuals we interact with around us. He's a huge talent, with strong opinions, but humble and so so full of heart.
He is literally the opposite person of donaldfuckingtrump.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 4:35 PM on November 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
The Warmest Room is another one of those songs, in this case playful and lovely, but filled with details that call upon the listener to fill in a rich, rich story.
I love that he still plays the oldies live, usually with the lyrics twisted to make it more relevant to the times. I love that he writes tenderly and personally as well as anthemic and political. Coming to know him over many albums, many live shows, documentaries, etc, I get the clear sense that the political and the personal are tightly interwoven for him, that love and compassion and justice are concepts we must apply to societal questions as well as the individuals we interact with around us. He's a huge talent, with strong opinions, but humble and so so full of heart.
He is literally the opposite person of donaldfuckingtrump.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 4:35 PM on November 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
Levi Stubb's Tears always struck me as sadly, starkly beautiful. I picked up the single (EP really) when it came out and recall putting it on while by myself in the house and just being floored by it. I didn't get the references at the time, of course, but that hardly mattered.
posted by sfred at 5:24 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sfred at 5:24 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's impossible for me to pick a favourite Billy Bragg song, but this is right at the top of my list. I have a personal pantheon of songwriters -- Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, John K. Samson, Billy Bragg -- whose songs are like perfect, tiny stories and who create three-minute worlds I want to go back to over and over again. I've seen Billy Bragg live a handful of times and he is a delight!
posted by atropos at 5:52 PM on November 21, 2016
posted by atropos at 5:52 PM on November 21, 2016
I love that he still plays the oldies live, usually with the lyrics twisted to make it more relevant to the times.
He even did that on Letterman.
That's right, fuck you Oliver North.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:55 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
He even did that on Letterman.
That's right, fuck you Oliver North.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:55 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
atropos: If you haven't yet added John Darnielle to that list, you should.
posted by maryr at 9:21 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by maryr at 9:21 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
^^^agreed. Also John Prine.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:31 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:31 PM on November 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
^^^^^^Yes to all^^^
And thank you for posting this and reminding me that this song is always waiting to be heard again, and that this song still makes me cry a little. Billy does that, then sends you off to the rally!
posted by pt68 at 10:14 PM on November 21, 2016
And thank you for posting this and reminding me that this song is always waiting to be heard again, and that this song still makes me cry a little. Billy does that, then sends you off to the rally!
posted by pt68 at 10:14 PM on November 21, 2016
Levi Stubbs' Tears was my first Billy Bragg song. I was 17 or 18 and it just reached out of the TV and squeezed my heart and mind and understanding. It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair.
posted by andraste at 12:10 AM on November 22, 2016
posted by andraste at 12:10 AM on November 22, 2016
Weird. One thing leads to another. That song popped up in my mind a few days ago. Desire was assuaged thanks to YT.
Yes, it still does it: makes me stop doing whatever I'm doing to listen to those words set amid that choppy guitar work. And that trumpet at the end.
Now this essay. Published in The Spectator, of all places. The world really is turning upside down.
Great song. Great essay. Thanks.
posted by Mister Bijou at 1:23 AM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes, it still does it: makes me stop doing whatever I'm doing to listen to those words set amid that choppy guitar work. And that trumpet at the end.
Now this essay. Published in The Spectator, of all places. The world really is turning upside down.
Great song. Great essay. Thanks.
posted by Mister Bijou at 1:23 AM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
The brother of the bloke who introduced me to Bragg introduced me to Metafilter. Good family.
posted by stanf at 3:28 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by stanf at 3:28 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've loved this song for years and years and years. Thank you for this post.
And I've long wondered whether the chords between the end of the first verse and the chorus were taken from a Motown song or not. I've racked my brains, and the closest match I can think of is The Spinners' It's A Shame. But I'm sure that there is a better match.
I seem to recall owning an EP that had Levi Stubbs' Tears, Think Again, Walk Away Renee, and Between The Wars on it, but the AllMusic site doesn't list it.
I have a secret fantasy that the hideous state of geopolitics drives Billy Bragg back to *ahem* basics, and he goes out on tour, just him and his electric guitar, and plays the oldies again.
This fall, he was touring with Joe Henry in support of their album, and the two of them each took a turn playing some of their own material solo, without a backing band.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 6:08 AM on November 23, 2016
And I've long wondered whether the chords between the end of the first verse and the chorus were taken from a Motown song or not. I've racked my brains, and the closest match I can think of is The Spinners' It's A Shame. But I'm sure that there is a better match.
I seem to recall owning an EP that had Levi Stubbs' Tears, Think Again, Walk Away Renee, and Between The Wars on it, but the AllMusic site doesn't list it.
I have a secret fantasy that the hideous state of geopolitics drives Billy Bragg back to *ahem* basics, and he goes out on tour, just him and his electric guitar, and plays the oldies again.
This fall, he was touring with Joe Henry in support of their album, and the two of them each took a turn playing some of their own material solo, without a backing band.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 6:08 AM on November 23, 2016
"Levi Stubbs' Tears" is the stronger song by far, but I've always been kind of intrigued by its relation to another Bragg-penned domestic-violence-centered song, Valentine's Day is Over (which I've generally preferred in other people's cover versions.)
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:06 AM on November 23, 2016
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:06 AM on November 23, 2016
I have a secret fantasy that the hideous state of geopolitics drives Billy Bragg back to *ahem* basics, and he goes out on tour, just him and his electric guitar, and plays the oldies again.What about Wiggy? Surely that bus strike is over by now.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:08 AM on November 23, 2016
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I wouldn't have done as well as this.
posted by allthinky at 12:35 PM on November 21, 2016 [5 favorites]