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From the Sleaford Mods and Idles to Jagger and McCartney, all the best songs about Brexit are here....
It might be a looming economic and cultural disaster that's split the country into two irreconsiliable factions, but Brexit isn't all bad news. It has at least galvanised the musicians of today into action, penning songs left, right and centre about the crisis. Given that the most outrage about leaving the EU so far has come from youth, you might expect new kids on the block like Goat Girl and Shame to have their say on the matter, but everyone from old timers like Bragg, Jagger and McCartney to subversive electronic wizard Gazelle Twin has got involved. So, as the clock ticks down to our departure, enjoy our run down of ten great songs about Brexit....
SLEAFORD MODS: BHS
Actually penned before the Brexit vote and preimiered at the Mods' shows in late 2015 before becoming a highlight of their 'English Tapas' album of the following year, 'BHS' nevertheless captures the mood of the country, spitting venom at BHS boss Philip Green for languishing on his huge yacht as his workers' pensions disappeared down the toilet along with the company. Viewed with the benefit of post-Brexit hindsight, lines like “I lay and hope for the knuckle dragging exodus” and “you can't blame the betrayed” seem to be foretelling what many were still in denial about at the time.
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MICK JAGGER: ENGLAND LOST
Jagger sets his soul-searching about Brexit within the disappointment of watching a lacklustre performance by the England football team in the pouring rain. It verges on the ridiculous at times, especially given the long term tax dodging status of the Stones, but there are some lyrical zingers too, like “I think I'm losing my imagination / tired of talking about immigration” and “London's gonna be like Singapore...though not as hot.” The weird, moody narrative in the video adds another layer of brilliance too.
BILLY BRAGG: FULL ENGLISH BREXIT
Certainly not pro-Brexit, but definitely an attempt by the Bard of Barking to explain the frustrations and fears of those who voted to leave, drawing the fine line between racism and merely feeling your culture is under threat. You might not find the views palatable, but you have to admit it's one of the more sophisticated and least judgmental musical examinations of the post-Brexit situation.
GOAT GIRL: SCUM
Don't be fooled by the relaxed country rock tinge to the music, because this track from the South London scenesters is probably the most vitriol-filled song about Brexit. The classic line “how can entire country be so thick” is followed by the assurance that the 'scum' named in the title “aren't around here.” Far from being contradictory, the combination of musical delicacy and unbridled lyrical anger ultimately adds even more impact and punch.
SHAME: VISA VULTURE
Another one of the names to emerge from the South London circuit alongside Goat Girl, the band go the other way here, producing the funniest Brexit track. It's a very tongue in cheek love song to the Tory leader, with a second meaning about immigration lurking beneath the sarcasm. “Theresa,” they sing in increasing desperate – for which, read increasingly mocking – tones, “please let me stay.” On this form, Shame will be around a lot longer than the current Prime Minister anyway.
IDLES: GREAT
The heavily tipped punk foursome Idles burst back into action recently with this rousing anthem that employs the twin weapons of humour and rage to devastatingly effect. “Blighty wants her blue passport / not really sure what the union's for,” numbers among the priceless lines, all built around a powerful disdain for dumb nationalism. Excuse the pun, but it's great.
ENTER SHIKARI: TAKE MY COUNTRY BACK
“I don't want to take my country back. I want to take my country forward,” declares Shikari smger Rou Reynolds in this high voltage offering from the hardcore/rave fusionists' 2017 album 'The Spark'. “Look what we've done to ourselves,” says the song, possibly the most heartfelt of the anti-Brexit track pack.
BARRICADES: LIFELINE
There are similar sentiments to Shikari's track going on on here, as London duo Barricades use a hardcore-slanted rock backdrop to express their despair at the societal splits and schisms that happened in the wake of the vote. “What are we doing to ourselves?” singer-guitarist Jordan McLaughlin asks, as if in the midst of existential crisis. Good question indeed.
GAZELLE TWIN: HOBBY HORSE
The whole of the new Gazelle Twin album 'Pastoral' deals with the disconnect between stereotypical image of the English countryside, so tied up with Brexit and national identity, and the reality of a landscape inhabited by bored teenage kids and bigoted misanthropes. 'Hobby Horse' seems to echo the post-Brexit climate, where positions are polarised and debate shut down. Its genuinely creepy promo video appears to echo that, as GT herself finds herself confronted by an agitated skinhead, to the sound of the song's chorus: “get on your hobby horse and get out of here!”
PAUL MCCARTNEY: DESPITE REPEATED WARNINGS
The former Beatle admitted he was too confused to know which way to vote in the Brexit referendum, but he makes his feelings about the current political situation pretty clear on 'Despite Repeated Warnings. With lines like “What can we do to stop / This foolish plan going through”, he's come up with a call to arms – or at least democratic action – that recalls the more overtly political streak of his 70s work like 'Give Ireland Back To The Irish'.
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