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Don’t saddle me with your ideals, and spare me all your guilt. For a poet with all the answers, has never yet been built.

Billy Bragg

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.
BILLY BRAGG

Country Islands Soldier Song War
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.
BILLY BRAGG

Artist Important Journalist Thinking
If I can entertain people and get them to open up a little bit, then they’re much more conducive to any ideas I might have, whether they’re about relationships or politics. The most interesting songs, I think, are the ones where the two overlap.
BILLY BRAGG

Interesting Song Thinking
The key to it has to be some sort of proportional representation, which allows there to be more parties.
BILLY BRAGG

Aspiration Key Proportional Representation Society Sort
I think that ultimately Trump will lose the election and in the process destroy the Republican party – but then I’m an optimist, ha ha ha! So he might not lose. He might be in charge of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world!
BILLY BRAGG

Charge Election Nuclear Party Republican Ultimately
It’s like being stung by a bee and going out and smashing up a beehive, and thinking you’ve solved the problem. There are more beehives out there; more bees will come. But they’re bees. They’re not grizzly bears.
BILLY BRAGG

Bee Problem Smashing Solved Think Unspeakables
Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all.
BILLY BRAGG

Enjoyed Freedom Privilege
All the things about ‘the ugly American’ that we worry about and which the Americans see in themselves, it’s all of that. This is a politics of egotistical display.
BILLY BRAGG

About Country Display Egotistical Themselves
You have to believe that if the majority of people had their way, they would make a society that would be fair for everyone. If you don’t believe that, and if you think that the glass is always half empty, then you’re never going to have that sensibility.
BILLY BRAGG

Believe Empty Everyone Glass Sensibility Standard
You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers while you’re waiting for the Great Leap Forwards.
BILLY BRAGG

Activist Sleep Sleeper Waiting
Without accountability, there can be no freedom. I know it seems like a paradox.
BILLY BRAGG

Accountability Freedom Paradox Seem
Baptists burn more slowly.
BILLY BRAGG

Baptists Burn More Slowly
Britain is a great country. We can more or less say what we like, and we can walk down the street without anyone trying to kill us. I know it’s tough for some people, but generally we live in a caring society. We live in a great country, but we’re no longer a great power.
BILLY BRAGG

Caring Country Long
Start your own revolution, cut out the middleman In a perfect world we’d all sing in tune But this is reality so give me some room So join the struggle while you may The Revolution is just a t-shirt away
BILLY BRAGG

Cutting Middleman Reality Somemroom Struggle
Just because you’re gay, I won’t turn you away. If you stick around, I’m sure we can find some common ground.
BILLY BRAGG

Common Gay Ground Sticks
I’m celebrating my love for you with a pint of beer and a new tattoo
BILLY BRAGG

Beer Celebrating Love Tattoo
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.
BILLY BRAGG

Art Politics Thinking Try Writing
All the great political music was made at the height of political confrontations.
BILLY BRAGG

Confrontation Height Made Political
You 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.
BILLY BRAGG

Feel Makem Sceptic Someone Themselves
Never trust anyone who has no doubts. And I’m not talking about scepticism either: scepticism can be a healthy thing.
BILLY BRAGG

Better Feel Giving Mean Scepticism Up
Money maketh man a tory, don’t fire that assumption at me, I like toast as much as anyone but not for breakfast, dinner and tea
BILLY BRAGG

Assumption Fire Men Money Tea Toast
I came into this whole business by going to see Rock Against Racism gigs with the Clash.
BILLY BRAGG

Racism Racist Rocks
We’ve heard so much about the American dream: well, Trump is the American nightmare made flesh.
BILLY BRAGG

Country Dream Nightmare Ugly Worry
Certainly, the international image of the United States today is a lot less positive than 10 years ago. And that really shouldn’t be, because you have been the victims of this awful terrorist attack, and I think America deserves the sympathy of the world.
BILLY BRAGG

Images International States Thinking Today World
Part of the problem with some elements of the European debate is that they hanker for the days when we were a great power. Those days are gone, and they went a long time ago.
BILLY BRAGG

Ago Dismissed Long Part Political Problem Songwriter
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.
BILLY BRAGG

Dirty Favour More Powerful Shining
Don’t saddle me with your ideals, and spare me all your guilt. For a poet with all the answers, has never yet been built.
BILLY BRAGG

Answers Guilt Poetry Saddle

Don’t saddle me with your ideals, and spare me all your guilt. For a poet with all the answers, has never yet been built.

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Don’t saddle me with your ideals, and spare me all your guilt. For a poet with all the answers, has never yet been built.

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