Thirty Blogs of Night:

Political songs... that's what I'm talking about today, and selecting my favourites. Since the start of pop music, there's always been a political dimension no matter how much some people might like to deny it. I've always been interested in politics, one of my earliest memories of the outside world is the Miner's Strike in the '80s and I went on to study A Level Politics and do a degree in the blessed stuff at Edge Hill. Though I follow it less these days, I'm tired of all these repeats, and of governments who seem to scrabble for more and more control of their people (be that in the form of ID cards, or cutting back the state to the point where it's pretty much impotent as long as it only effects the people in the ground rather than the fat cats and Baronets).  Also, I was sort of hoping we'd moved past the Left/Right split to something that at least felt fresh (one of my favourite writers, Charles Stross has express similar sentiments, though his focus is on the international scene).

Here are five songs about politics I like, and for once I'm going to post them without comment, or judgement. I think they stand up for themselves. The only thing I'll note is that most of them aren't videos, and one is a song from a satirical show on Radio 4.

New Model Army: Brave New World

Kirsty MacColl: New England

Mitch Benn: I'm Proud of the BBC

The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing: Mutiny in the Common Soldiery

Grace Petrie: MP Song

BONUS

Here are two more songs because... well I couldn't resist adding them.

Grace Petrie: Farewell to Welfare

Billy Bailey: Unisex Chip Shop

And that's your lot... until next time.