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Just sending this to you five, as it is what I want to send out for Tuesday's Tune, but probably shouldn't.
I may be taking a bit of a risk here. I don't think this song is inappropriate, but my comments below just might be. No offense intended to anyone, but today's foreign policy climate inspires this choice.
Back in the '80s, while America flailed about under the rule of a doddering actor with delusions of grandeur, our English neighbors across the pond were in much more dire straights. Reagan may have been the village idiot made good, but Thatcher was pathological and dangerous. This was the woman who supported criminalization of poverty and rounding up AIDS victims into quarantine camps. The pop culture of Britain is replete with images of young people trying to find their way in a bleak and hostile environment. The punk movement grew out of this, and the post-punk, alt-rock genres continued the cry. If you want one album to encapsulate the Britain of the '80s, it has to be Infected by The The. (No that isn't a typo... the band is called The The) The The is really a solo project by Matt Johnson, who uses a variety of musicians and bands on this album (notably Neneh Cherry and Pop Will Eat Itself). As was the beauty of a lot of 80's pop, it combined new found electronics with dance beats and social commentary that was lost in the boom 90's and the Nexter's simple minded optimism. (Ooohhh... that sounded bitter, now didn't it?)
The song I've chosen is "Sweet Bird of Truth" and with one listen I think you'll understand why I feel it quite appropriate for our 21st century world.
I remember I sent this song out to just five people I knew wouldn't mind my political commentary. Violating the email policy at work to send out music (which was something we sold at the company) was one thing. Violating the political ranting policy would have probably caused folks to come down on me who otherwise enjoyed the weekly e-mail. Funny how that works.
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