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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.

Billy Bragg

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

Country Dream Nightmare Ugly Worry
You have to recognise your responsibility to your community for your actions. Liberty doesn’t mean that you are not held accountable.
BILLY BRAGG

Community Mean Responsibility
If we think we’re a nation with great ideas, and a nation that wants to make the world a better place, let’s commit ourselves and involve ourselves with our European partners.
BILLY BRAGG

Grea Idea Ourselves Thinking World
I’d like to think that in a generation or two we’ll have politicians whose life experience reflects that of the people who are voting for them.
BILLY BRAGG

People Thinking Voting
There are quite a few honest songwriters out there writing about relationships and their own personality traits. But for some reason, once they step out of the bedroom, their honesty doesn’t seem to come with them.
BILLY BRAGG

Bedroom Honesty Personality Traits Writing
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
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
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
You can experience a download, but you can’t download an experience.
BILLY BRAGG

Downloads Experience Feelin
Whether we like it or not, we live in a post-ideological world. That’s how a Donald Trump can get through. He has no ideology at all: in that sense, he’s a bit like Mussolini.
BILLY BRAGG

Ideology Party Post Sense Thinking Whether World
What happened on September 11 wasn’t the first act of war, it was the most unspeakable act of murder and terrorism. But it was construed by a very small group of people – there is no army out there in the dark waiting to take over America.
BILLY BRAGG

Army Dark Unspeakable War
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.
BILLY BRAGG

Accuse Liars never Saidm Ignore
A nation with their freezers full are dancing in their seats, while outside another nation is sleeping in the streets.
BILLY BRAGG

Dancing Politics Sleep
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
Were it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers.
BILLY BRAGG

Pairs Pins Punk Safety
I’m still batting away on my politics for the Labour Party. I’m much further to the left of them than I used to be, but that’s because they’ve moved, not me.
BILLY BRAGG

Away Batting Party Stills Used
I enjoyed so much working with the guys from Wilco, and riffing off of them, and having someone come up to me with ideas, because normally in the studio it’s me who has to come up with all the ideas.
BILLY BRAGG

Come Guy Idea Ideas Riffing Studio
At some point in your life you have to engage with the fact that you are part of a society.
BILLY BRAGG

Education Free Important Powerful
I came into this whole business by going to see Rock Against Racism gigs with the Clash.
BILLY BRAGG

Racism Racist Rocks
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.
BILLY BRAGG

Country Disaster Month September War
That’s what I’m about — getting engaged. Too many people don’t wade in the mud with the politicians.
BILLY BRAGG

Mud People Politician Wade
A patriot is someone who cares what happens in their country.
BILLY BRAGG

Cares Country Patriot
Without accountability, there can be no freedom. I know it seems like a paradox.
BILLY BRAGG

Accountability Freedom Paradox Seem
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
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
So, in some ways, the political songs tend to be a bit more like reportage, whereas the love songs tend to be like novels, you can pick them up off the shelf and go into them any time.
BILLY BRAGG

Love Political Reportage Song Way
I’m just saying that we need to find a better way to manifest the broader society’s aspirations, politically.
BILLY BRAGG

Aspiration Better Just Saying Need Party Politician

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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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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Popular Authors

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