Billy Bragg On Pregnancy and Politics
Billy Bragg always has his eye on making the world better, one topic at a time.
The Story:
Billy Bragg has plenty of stories to tell. Tales of his love/hate relationship with his homeland of England, anecdotes about taking up the flag to fight for the underdog and the oppressed, tragedies of breaking hearts or English beauties. Billy Bragg predominantly spins his lyrical yarns with a guitar, an amp and a cause. Never one to shy away from a political cause he feels strongly about, Bragg has been making music since the mid-80s.Like the great storytellers from the States (namely this column's namesake), writing songs of political oppression or of star-crossed lovers has always been Billy Bragg's M.O. However, Bragg maintains a minimalistic style all his own, never seeking to shed his roots, his beliefs, or his Cockney accent.
Before going into his story, it's important to share how the title of this article was born. My first, albeit brief, exposure to Billy Bragg came through my love for Wilco. After taking numerous spins through 1998's Mermaid Avenue, Vol 1 - Bragg's collaboration with Wilco singing Woody Guthrie-penned "lost" songs - I found that I wanted to hear more from Bragg. Fate intervened when I mentioned to a work colleague that I had been listening to a lot of Mermaid Avenue at the time.
He revealed to me that he was a big Bragg fan and had to share with me a two-disc mix that helped him truly get into this Springsteen of the U.K. If I remember correctly, his brother made it for him and he passed it along to me. One of the two CD-Rs was titled "Pregnancy" and the other was called "Politics." Straight to the point, he urged me to listen to each, as the former was full of heartbreaking songs of love, expectations, passion and the feelings each emotion brings. The latter, he warned, would be aggressively political, yet strangely in an inoffensive way. I turned out loving almost every song on these discs, especially the stripped down classic Back To Basics.
Rather than a story about one album, focusing on Bragg's consistent and passionate messages about either "politics" or "pregnancy" is the best way to approach it all. It's a strong canon lyrically, although I will admit the music of many songs sound the same. In that sense, Bragg's music is rather cerebral...more like listening to a really entertaining and catchy block on NPR. You have to pay attention, you just might learn something.
Our Take On The Artist's Take:
This was written by Brian Rolapp, who first introduced me to Billy Bragg. First (and not important at all), I made the Politics and Preganancy for my sister for Christmas a few years ago. She loved it and I was pretty proud of the mix. Now, back to the task at hand. I first heard Billy Bragg when I stole my older brother's Back to Basics cassette when I was 13, and as you alluded to above, that album best exemplifies who he is (really "back to basics")and it hooked me forever. His unique, heavily accented voice combined with nothing but his amp and electric guitar was unlike anything you could hear in 1985, the time of hair bands and Debarge. It was raw and he was completely exposed, something you can really get a sense of at his shows.But most of all it was the lyrics for me. Sure they meant something politically, but it was more than that. The songs had meter, cadence, imagery and wordplay like poetry. Not exactly the type of music found on the Top Gun soundtrack that was popular that summer. And I guess that is what makes his music so good, and worthy of this column's namesake. The fact that I disagree with most of his politics and view of the world, yet can still be mesmerized by his music says something. He would probably take issue with this concept: the fact that someone could love his music and (at times) hate his politics. Bragg most likely views them as the same thing, too intertwined to be separated.
One other thing I look at is how his music progressed over his career. In the Back to Basics days it was raw and more angry at the world. As he aged, settled down with a family and lived out all of the comforts that the establishment now afforded him — the same establishment he lashed out against. Kind of, but not really at all, like me.
