All musicians start out with ideals but hanging on to them in the face of media scrutiny takes real integrity. Tougher still is to live up to the ideals of your dedicated fans.
BILLY BRAGGYou can have an argument with someone who’s a sceptic. When I say ‘cynic’, I mean someone who has given up, and they want you to give up too, so it makes them feel better about themselves.
More Billy Bragg Quotes
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We’ve heard so much about the American dream: well, Trump is the American nightmare made flesh.
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The most important thing for anyone, I think, is to be engaged, whether you’re an artist or a journalist is to be engaged in the process at some level.
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If you thought the army was here protecting people like yourself, I’ve some news for you, we’re here to defend wealth.
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If we accuse Trump of being a liar, he won’t just say ‘I never said that’ or just ignore it and go on to the next thing.
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Were it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers.
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It would shine a torch into the dirty little corner where the BNP defecate on our democracy, and that would be much more powerful than duffing them up in the street – which Im also in favour of.
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At some point in your life you have to engage with the fact that you are part of a society.
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You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers while you’re waiting for the Great Leap Forwards.
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I’m just saying that we need to find a better way to manifest the broader society’s aspirations, politically.
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Without accountability, there can be no freedom. I know it seems like a paradox.
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What corporations fear most are consumers who ask questions. Naomi Klein offers us the arguments with which to take on the superbrands.
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You can experience a download, but you can’t download an experience.
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I think if you’re going to make political art, you have to engage at some level. You can’t just write about politics, you have to try and be politics as well.
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The evil lot who did that thing on September 11 did it because they wanted to create a war between America and Islam. And by invading Iraq, we gave them what they hoped for.
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I’ve had songs written during the Falklands war, and during the first Gulf war I got letters from soldiers saying they were listening to these songs, like Island of no return.
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