We’ve heard so much about the American dream: well, Trump is the American nightmare made flesh.
BILLY BRAGGAll 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.
More Billy Bragg Quotes
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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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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.
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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
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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!
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A patriot is someone who cares what happens in their country.
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Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all.
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All the great political music was made at the height of political confrontations.
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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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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.
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Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is / I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses.
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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.
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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.
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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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At some point in your life you have to engage with the fact that you are part of a society.
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I was in a little punk band and we put out a few punk records that weren’t very political, at all.
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Being spokesman for a generation is the worst job I ever had.
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If you’ve got a blacklist, I want to be on it.
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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.
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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.
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I never met a politician who didn’t want to be a guitar player in a rock band. I’ve got the opportunity to say what I believe in.
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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.
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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.
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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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I’m just saying that we need to find a better way to manifest the broader society’s aspirations, politically.
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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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Were it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers.
BILLY BRAGG