Billy Bragg – William Bloke

The first song, ‘From Red To Blue’, I was in that New Labour sort of thing and already Billy was challenging it, wasn’t he? I remember really relating to that album at the time. Billy wrote that song ‘Northern Industrial Town’, I was thinking about that when I watched Belfast the other day. The standout song for me, something I quoted at a friend’s funeral, is the song ‘Upfield’. When he sings about a socialism of the heart. There are better Billy Bragg albums, or songs like ‘Tank Park Salute’. Oh! That’s Billy at his best. I was trying to think, what makes me think of moments in my life? And this album does that. I can remember where I was. I was in our first house, in Herne Hill SE24. Labour was just going into government. I’d just got a job in the government. And here’s Billy, casting doubt on it all!