Read part one of the interview, Billy gives unions something to Bragg about.
-power-in-a-union/Bragg-Lyrics.jpg.aspx?width=400&height=586) Sophie Harris brandishes her copy of ‘There is Power in a Union’, signed by Billy Bragg himself. Photos: Mark Phillips |
ALTHOUGH Billy Bragg is proud to wear his politics on his sleeve, it does frustrate the writer of such honest love songs as ‘Valentine’s Day is Over’ and ‘The Milkman of Human Kindness’ that he is pigeonholed as a political songwriter first.
And he is fully aware of the limits of agitprop music.
“Does music have a role in society? Yeah, well, it can’t change the world, if you want to change the world, there’s a very simple way to do it, you’ve got to organise. Singer-songwriters can’t do it, ultimately it’s down to the audience really to organise.
“Even with
Occupy, who I’ve got a lot of admiration for trying to find a new way of articulating the reality of the hyper-capitalism we have, how divisive it is, they still have to organise.
“That hasn’t changed. Everything else may have changed, but people getting organised hasn’t changed.”
Another thing that hasn’t changed, says Bragg, is the relevance of
Woody Guthrie’s music.
“He’s got a song of his called, ‘I ain’t got no home in this world any more’, which I perform.
“It’s about people losing their homes to the banks, it’s about families being broken up because they have to travel to find work. It’s about people not getting proper healthcare.
“It could’ve been written any time in the last five years. In fact, it’s over 70 years old, but don’t tell me it ain’t relevant.”
As he finishes his last morsel of his croissant and contemplates the dregs of his coffee, Bragg reflects on the long journey he has travelled from naïve busker to global political activist.
And he remains optimistic about the future, which he sees in grassroots movements like Occupy joining together and adopting tactics from organised labour.
“I think 25 years ago I had to dance to the tune of a Marxist rhetoric that I wasn’t very comfortable with when I wanted to talk about these issues.
“And I’ve never really had time for people who tell me we can’t do anything about anything until we first overthrow capitalism. I haven’t really go time for that.
“I want these families here to have a decent Christmas, you know. I haven’t got time to wait around until we storm the Winter Palace again.
“So now we live in a post-ideological world, it’s harder to focus these ideas perhaps, but I think more people are involved in things like Occupy, and through the internet, more people are involved and engaged in the debate, young people as well.
-power-in-a-union/Billy-sepia.jpg.aspx?width=200&height=249)
“If you want to change the world, there’s a very simple way
to do it, you’ve got to organise,” says Bragg.
“So I’m more encouraged now than I was back then. Because when we were fighting Thatcher, capitalism was rampant and it was just not a lot you could do to contain it. Now it’s on its fucking arse.
“Now is the opportunity for us to say, look, we can lift this together, but only organised labour can really do the lifting here. You’ve got to work with us, make them understand that.
“Because they’re as ideological as any Marxist, our opponents in capitalism.
“And the version of capitalism they’re using at the moment is broken, severely broken, it needs to be looked at again and worked out how to have a sustainable economy where people have long-term prospects, decent wages, profits are shared and that’s what I’m hoping the Occupy movement will start to articulate.
“Meanwhile, there’s organised labour to put the word out.”
As the interview concludes, Bragg is approached by a woman in fluoro holding a pen and a piece of paper.
The night before Sophie Harris, an educator with the NUW, had sung Bragg’s song ‘There Is Power In A Union’ at a union function and she now wants him to sign the lyric sheet. Bragg obliges.
Afterwards, Harris is gushing with excitement.
“The whole thing of seeing Billy Bragg perform at a union event, and singing ‘Power in A Union’ with a group fellow unionists for such an important social cause, all of it. It’s amazing,” she says.
“What a humble man. It says that he’s a true socialist because it’s not about him, it’s about working people achieving justice, and everyone has a role to play in that and do something and he’s come here today to support the event and do his bit.”
This Working Life is a forum for news, analysis and commentary about rights at work and related issues. The opinions presented in This Working Life are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent policies or views of the ACTU.