| The Pogues – Thousands Are Sailing Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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...how it's been overcome?? I can't *think* of a song whose lyrics drive my imagination, politically, more so than this one. The first thing is that it pushes you to consider the continuities between the experiences of *most* disenfranchised groups coming to the States (or, to be fair, Canada), not just Irish Americans. And it's fucking bitter - "we came looking for a better life, we were promised tolerance, an equal shake and potential prosperity, and instead met with the cold reality of immigration loteries, continuing obscurity and poverty. But dammit, we still have our culture!!" I'm sorry, but what's wonderful about this song is that it *isn't* yet another unthinking, let's forget our history, balls-on-the-table "I'm Irish and proud!" statement. It's been the same thing in Canada since Trudeau introduced multiculturalism in the 1970s: you can bring your pretty dresses, exotic food, and here whisky, but leave the politics at "home"! Multiculturalism is this - giving lip service to "tolerating" difference, but at the end of the day, leaving power squarely with white middle class Canadians - the only problem being that, at a moment of crisis, that "tolerance" can be withdrawn in favour of bigotry and violence in the blink of an eye. |
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| The Tragically Hip – Bobcaygeon Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Here's what I heard: the song is based on a story, true-to-life, about an RCMP officer who quit his job after being obliged to patrol a punk concert hosted by some Canuck white supremacy network that had been granted a permit for the show by the city. The point of police presence was to provide protection *for* the group and their fans against protesters who had announced plans for a counter-rally to oppose fascism. What happened afterwards is pretty faithfully depicted in the video. The heads getting knocked about are those of anti-fascism protesters in the hollow name of liberal dem & free speech - ah, no, sorry - "Peace, order & good governance." The kicker is that, in addition to having to face personal questions about why he became a cop in the first place (would that there were a few more thousands like him), the guy was also seeing an Asian-Canadian at the time. For me, this song brings is one of the most concise indictments of contradictions plaguing (Canadian) liberal democracy in Canadian tunage. And it's pretty. | |
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