The Clash between Politics and Music: Joe Strummer's Songs in Thatcher England

Résumé du document

Today it only sounds like stating the obvious to say that the importance of popular music as a means of building one's identity has indubitably been shaping the so-called counter-culture of the second half of the twentieth century. Indeed, in this consumerist society, classical music has always "belonged" to the wealthy, leading upper class; and is different from traditional music which is endemic to a particular area and culture, whereas the term pop can be applied to music coming from any part of the world. Popular music has proved to be the main field in which artists can express their opposition to and denial of all possible establishments. Hence the well-known objection usually uttered, often with reason, by those willing to run pop music down: how and why do pop musicians try to discredit and replace or even destroy an economical and ideological system upon which they depend, as well financially as for their artistic credibility? In other words, would popular music exist without the socio-ideological reality it's been tackling for so many years?

Extraits

[...] Indeed, the words of songs like "Clampdown" or "This is England" sound like a manifesto against the economical, political and ideological aspects of Thatcherism. This fierce opposition wasn't a selfish anger against the harsh measures taken by the Thatcher government; neither was it a momentary protest bound to change along with the political shifts of the later years. The source of this general dissent is, as has been seen, the underlying approach to life implied by Thatcherism or any capitalist system in which people are no longer apprehended as individuals but in terms of producers and consumers. [...]

[...] Whatever it is, the target of Joe Strummer's criticism is still Thatcherism, through the utterance of its many revolting social consequences in the four verses of “This is England”. As for the chorus, it is not about the results of half a decade of Thatcherism, but about the Iron Lady's government itself and its brutality: This is England We can chain you to the rail This is England We can kill you in a jail Here the word “England” obviously refers to the Thatcher government, which blurs the boundary between the country and its representatives, showing thus how deep Britain had gone into mindless capitalism and how entangled it was in the troubles resulting from it. [...]

[...] In "Clampdown", Joe Strummer depicts a society whose rule is about the same as the jungle's, as is Thatcherism's rule: success for one means failure for another, not only in the economical field but in all the circles of man's activity. The reality shown is, once again, a violent one, and contrasts completely with the pet values of Thatcherite doctrine. This is especially true about morality, a ubiquitous notion in Margaret Thatcher's speech whose recurrence only seems a hypocritical attempt to temper the brutal reality of the Iron Lady's dominion. [...]

[...] So the songs of The Clash dealt with the repressive policy of Margaret Thatcher's government as well as with its economic brutality, which is natural for a band with socialist sympathy. These two aspects of Thatcherism are its results when applied in society, but their origin is the Thatcherite ideology itself, which was the main target of The Clash criticism. The values advocated by the Thatcher regime are reactionary ones, as is to be expected from a conservative government. Nevertheless, in this particular case, there seem to be many contradictions between this ideological content, in which morality appears as the key notion, and the tough, often merciless reality of Thatcherism. [...]

[...] The song, not composed by The Clash but by reggae musician Eddy Grant, tells the story of a man involved in a shooting and running away from the police. When listening to The Clash's version, one tend to forget the whole shooting affair: the song turns into the story of a man being harassed by the policemen, having to keep running further away in order to safeguard his freedom. The song can thus be seen as a metaphor of all the outcasts from Thatcherism, who must remain vigilant to avoid being crushed by the system. [...]