Masaryk University Faculty of Education
Department of English Language and Literature
A COURSE DESIGN : CULTURAL IMAGES OF CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN IN POPULAR LYRICS Diploma Thesis Brno 2007 Šárka Mlčochová Supervisor: Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, PhD.
Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci zpracovala samostatně a použila jen prameny uvedené v seznamu literatury. ______ Šárka Mlčochová
I would like to thank Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, PhD. for her kind and patient supervision and for the advice she provided to me during my work on this diploma thesis. CONTENT 4 ______
1. INTRODUCTION 6
1.1. ARGUMENT 6
1.2. POPULAR CULTURE 7
1.3. LEARNING A SECOND CULTURE 10
1.3.1. WHY POPULAR LYRICS ? 12
1.4. HOW TO USE THE TEXTBOOK 12
1.5. PREFACE TO THE TEXTBOOK 14
2. THE TEXTBOOK 16
2.1. MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 16
2.1.1. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN 16
2.1.2. MR. CHURCHILL SAYS 18
2.1.3. POST WORLD WAR II BLUES 20
2.1.4. SHIPBUILDING , ISLAND OF NO RETURN 21
2.1.5. GHOST TOWN 24
2.1.6. A DESIGN FOR LIFE 24
2.1.7. COCAINE SOCIALISM , TONY BLAIR 25
2.1.8. I’M WITH STUPID 27
2.1.9. GORDON BROWN 28
2.2. LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 30
2.2.1. TOO YOUNG TO BE MARRIED 30
2.2.2. YOUNG TURKS 31
2.2.3. NO CLAUSE 28 32
2.2.4. KASHKA FROM BAGHDAD 33
2.2.5. PROBLEM CHILD 34
2.2.6. HERE COMES THE WEEKEND , POOR PEOPLE 35
2.2.7. TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS PLEASE , 37
HURRY UP HARRY
2.2.8. HURRY UP ENGLAND , WORLD AT YOUR FEET 39
2.2.9. WEST INDIES CRICKET SONG 40
2.2.10. COUNTRY HOUSE 41
2.2.11. ROY ROGERS 42
2.2.12. RADIO GA GA 43
2.2.13. A DAY IN THE LIFE 44
2.2.14. INTERNET LOVE 45 CONTENT 5 ______
2.3. ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 47
2.3.1. LONDON IS THE PLACE FOR ME 47
2.3.2. SHANTY TOWN 48
2.3.3. HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY 49
2.3.4. REDEMPTION SONG 50
2.3.5. WHITE RIOT 51
2.3.6. IT DREAD INNA INGLAN 52
2.3.7. THE GUNS OF BRIXTON 53
2.3.8. MUNDIAN TO BACH KE 55
2.3.9. THE GROUND BENEATH HER FEET 56
2.3.10. SGUABAN ARBHAIR 57
2.3.11. SCOTS WHA HAE , FLOWER OF SCOTLAND 59
2.3.12. INTERNATIONAL VELVET 60
2.3.13. EBONY AND IVORY 61
2.4. YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 63
2.4.1. GAMBLIN ’ MAN 63
2.4.2. MY GENERATION 65
2.4.3. (I CAN ’T GET NO) SATISFACTION 66
2.4.4. ALI BABA ’S CAMEL , LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS 67
2.4.5. SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP 69
2.4.6. ANARCHY IN THE UK 70
2.4.7. REJECT OF SOCIETY 71
2.4.8. TAINTED LOVE 72
2.4.9. BATTLE OF THE BEANFIELD 73
2.4.10. THEIR LAW 74
2.4.11. END OF A CENTURY 75
3. CONCLUSION 77
RESUMÉ 79
BIBLIOGRAPHY 80
DISCOGRAPHY 85
INTRODUCTION 6 ______ 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. ARGUMENT This diploma thesis tries to grasp a new concept of understanding contemporary British cultural phenomena. It attempts to design a textbook based on the investigation of cultural features in popular lyrics composed in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. The textbook may be used as both self study material for English teachers and a textbook for advanced learners of the English language. Above all, it is intended as alternative course material for university students with a particular interest in British cultural studies. The textbook also complies with the requirements of cross curricular approach to teaching and learning. The incentive to design the course originated from the author’s practical need to outline some kind of procedure to comprehend and interpret selected cultural images of contemporary Britain. The key conception is based on the proposition that a great deal of what is recognized as a British cultural attribute is integrated into British popular lyrics and may be transparently presented in a compact form that the lyrics offer. The textbook does not necessarily provide ready made lesson plans, but contains short background reading on the selected issues that are to be further developed by the analysis of the lyrics attached. Should both teachers and students like to use the textbook, they are to adapt the individual cultural images to their own purposes and approach them creatively. Even though the content of the textbook is based on a variety of topics and phenomena, it is to be used as a supplementary sourcebook and always in conjunction with other kinds of material and further reading. In four self contained chapters, the thesis strives to cover selected images of four extended areas of contemporary British cultural background and their reflection in popular lyrics. The method of structuring the content of the chapters may be labelled as a topic clusters stratification, which means that issues being described are classified according to the relevant area of culture in which they manifest themselves. Chapter one of the textbook emphasizes the role of the British monarchy, politics and class as creators of British culture. Besides the attention paid to leisure, Chapter two examines to what extent British culture coincides with its lifestyle and depicts the cultural background of specific media outcomes. Chapter three traces back INTRODUCTION 7 ______ Britain’s transformation into a multicultural and multiethnic society. Chapter four comments on the power youth cultures attained throughout the second half of the twentieth century and trends which have influenced the contemporary British cultural climate. To establish the criteria for the choice of cultural phenomena and lyrics included in the text, the author searched for themes that are supposed to raise one’s level of general knowledge in the field of British cultural studies, such as political power, race prejudice and generation gap. However, peculiarities of different areas of culture and the huge volume of available information had to be critically taken into consideration. Since the traditional concept of investigating British cultural studies has proved to be that of an academic discipline, sources from British studies, cultural studies and popular culture sections are discussed throughout the text. The purpose of this diploma thesis is not to provide students and learners with a complete outline of British culture. The main aim is to motivate them to awaken their interest in selected contemporary cultural issues via popular lyrics, an attractive and easily approachable kind of educational material, and consider the idea that it is the past five decades which form what may be regarded as the cultural image of contemporary Britain. 1.2. POPULAR CULTURE Theories of popular culture have fed into the conception of this thesis. However, the theories diverge in their estimation what exactly might be covered by the term ‘popular culture’. The expressions ‘popular’ and ‘culture’ are concepts of several semantic layers. Storey (2005), for instance, discusses six definitions of popular culture: 1. The culture that is widely favoured. 2. The culture that is “left over” when it is decided what ‘high culture’ is. 3. Mass culture. A commercial culture, mass produced for mass consumption. 4. An authentic culture of the people. However, defining and identifying what authenticity is and who the people are may be a problem. 5. A site of struggle between the resistance of subordinate groups in society and the forces of incorporation operating in the interests of dominant groups in society. INTRODUCTION 8 ______ 6. A postmodern approach which no longer recognises the distinction between high and popular culture. Strinati claims that the theories of popular culture are to be conditioned by three related themes. The first concerns who or what exactly determines popular culture. The second concerns the influence of commercialism and industrialisation on popular culture. The third concerns the ideological role of popular culture. (1995) Even though the thesis is not primarily concerned with the proposed arguments, it spontaneously presumes that it is people or groups of people, both elites and those from ‘below’, who determines the popular culture. However, the idea of the thesis is based on the conviction that popular culture does not emerge just from the people themselves as an expression of their interest, but it is partly imposed from above by a type of social and political control and those in positions of power. Furthermore, the thesis asserts that products of popular culture are conditioned rather by profitability and marketability than their quality and intellectual legacy. The thesis also claims that popular culture emerges from the urbanisation of the industrial revolution. Strinati questions whether popular culture indoctrinates people to adhere to the values of those who exercise power over them or if it is about opposition to the social order. (ibid.) The thesis holds the view that in society there exists some kind of resistance to those in power in the form of rebellion, which frequently creates dominant ways of thinking and acting within the public . Storey (2005) further emphasises the experience of living in a postmodern and capitalist society, which is a way of life increasingly dominated by the mass media. The coming of the mass media and increasing commercialisation of cultural artefacts seem to threaten to destroy the pure ground of the theories mentioned above. O’Brien refers to this phenomenon as “culture contamination”. (2004: 4) It seems that transformations associated with the rise of industrial production have destabilised the values which theories of ‘high culture’ pushed forward. Fiske claims that in a capitalist society, everyone is a consumer and that consumption is the only way of obtaining the resources for life. (1989) Cultural scientists refer to such a consumer society, in which industrialisation unties bonds between people, as a mass society. The links among people in such a society may be INTRODUCTION 9 ______ described as distant and sporadic rather than close and integrated. In the mass society, the individual is left on his/her own and finds it difficult to find values by which to exist. In the process of studying the emergence of the mass culture and mass society, a hypothesis that the power of the mass is emphasised but not welcomed at the same time has been put forward. The thesis agrees with the hypothesis; it is not possible to avoid or ignore the growth of urbanisation and industrialisation, however, excessive consumption may distance consumers from primary cultural commodities. In the course of the years, culture has come to be mass produced in order to be profitable. Such a tendency has suppressed, for instance, folk culture in favour of cultural products reduced to one common mass taste. As the power of the mass has won its position in the field of contemporary cultural studies, critics nowadays clearly distinguish between the two forms of cultural production. Folk culture refers to cultural practices developed within a socially identifiable group which are communicated from generation to generation. One may see it as the expression of the life experiences shared by its creators and the audience. On the contrary, mass culture is dedicated to various kinds of audience which usually remain unknown. The critics also differentiate the means of transmission of the two forms of culture. Whilst the folk culture is simple, often face to face and communicated orally, the mass culture depends on the mass media, which convey the message to the audience. The growth of the consumer society in Britain could be registered in the mid 1950s. The first symptoms were both the arrival of advertising on television and the increasing importance of the press. Advertising in particular helped to stimulate mass consumption and thus the advertising industry became a great economic success of the post war years. Ideally depicted goods in advertisements affected all aspects of life and the public’s attention was drawn to fashion and style, which further led to rising expectations of living conditions. In the same period of time, the so called ‘culture of everyday life’ came into existence. The term might be interpreted as all communicative practices shared among members of a society who lack economic, political and social power and comprises all activities involved in the production of any meaning. The thesis briefly and perfunctorily comments on social rituals such as music and fashion. INTRODUCTION 10 ______ The theories of popular culture further explore how cultures of different societies, different groups within the societies and societies and groups in different periods of time are related to each other, how they develop and change. The thesis tends to capture the concept similarly; it covers the second half of the twentieth century in Britain and investigates British society and its development over the last five decades. Nevertheless, it traces not only the artefacts and tangible elements, but also the overall social climate and background. 1.3. LEARNING A SECOND CULTURE
In order to learn a second culture one must be culturally aware, which means to possess an ability of cultural awareness. Methodologists talk about the so called sensitivity to the impact of culturally induced behaviour. Tomalin and Stempleski provide an argument that this requires awareness of one’s own culturally induced behaviour, awareness of the culturally induced behaviour of others and also an ability to explain one’s own cultural standpoint. (1994) If these requirements are not met, they may be a potential source of conflict when one culture enters into contact with another, for cultures are different and variable. Methodologists distinguish between ‘big C’, achievement culture, and ‘little c’, behaviour culture. The thesis emphasizes mostly ‘big C’ elements of British culture – history, politics, class and institutions, media and music and the way of life. Evidently, ‘big C’ culture has benefited from a curriculum of topics to be covered and a range of textbooks which are concerned with them. Nevertheless, the thesis tries to include in the textbook as much of ‘little c’ culture as possible, bearing in the mind that the meaning of ‘little c’ culture has been continually broadening. Gail Robinson, an American researcher in the area of cross cultural education, reports that the meaning of ‘little c’ culture, as defined by teachers of English as a second language in English speaking countries, nowadays falls into three categories: products, ideas and behaviours. (ibid.) According to Brown, to understand just what ‘little c’ culture learning is, one needs to understand the nature of acculturation, culture shock and social distance. (in Valdes 1994) Each type of situation taking place in the second language background involves a different degree of acculturation. Learning a second culture within a foreign INTRODUCTION 11 ______ background involves the deepest form of acculturation as the learner must survive within a strange culture. Unfortunately, the textbook cannot provide students and learners with such a high degree of acculturation, but at least it provides the foreign language context, which also produces a valuable degree of acquiring the ‘little c’ culture. The issue of culture shock is not included in the thesis, for the textbook is not concerned with the first hand experience of learning culture in a target cultural background; however, the conception of social distance is applied. The term ‘distance’ is used in an abstract sense and denotes unavoidable differences between the two cultures. Despite the dissimilarities, the Brown’s theory suggests that it is important to give power to the place of culture learning. (ibid.) The textbook does not provide students and learners with the target culture’s place of learning, but it educates no matter what the place of learning is, the authenticity of the target culture being represented by the song lyrics and quotations. Inspired by Seelye (1993) who provides general goals of culture learning, the thesis justifies the reasons for learning British culture specifically with the help of the textbook designed in the following chapters: 1. To increase learners’ level of general awareness of the contemporary British cultural background. 2. To stimulate learners’ curiosity about contemporary Britain and let their own culturally induced behaviour emerge. 3. To develop an understanding that factors such as social class, the political situation, history, media, multiculturalism and other social variables influence the ways in which British people behave, act and live. 4. To help learners to develop the ability to evaluate British culture in their own way and generalize about the acquired pieces of knowledge. 5. To help learners to get out of the routine of conventional ready made textbooks, which are often based on cliché and drill. 6. To persuade learners that popular lyrics are not just song texts, but could be a device to explore the cultural background of a country, in this case Britain. INTRODUCTION 12 ______
1.3.1. WHY POPULAR LYRICS ? Remarkably enough, popular songs have become an inseparable component of language learning. For teaching purposes, popular music and its lyrics have been predominantly used for one of the most basic skills that are to be developed while acquiring language, e.g. listening, or as a device to practise language systems, such as grammar and vocabulary. Needless to say, popular music is everywhere and all students and learners have some musical taste, so it may be stimulating for teachers and lecturers to tune in to their students’ interests. However, in language teaching, the song lyrics are often perceived just as source of language. The thesis works with the song lyrics differently. They serve as devices to discover cultural features of contemporary Britain which would hardly be recognized when being explored in the way described above. The song lyrics appear to be a very flexible and attractive material for several reasons. Firstly, they are highly memorable. Secondly, they are motivating for a majority of learners. Thirdly, they are readily available. Lastly, they provide an unlimited source of cultural codes. The idea of learning about British culture via popular lyrics originated spontaneously and with the aim of showing what may be found beyond the text of any song . The thesis discusses the often unconscious connection between cultural events and their reflection in popular song lyrics and points out that song lyrics might have acted as one of the factors contributing to changes in the social climate. Britain and its leadership in the sphere of popular music offered valuable pieces of work in the form of song lyrics and thus enabled the examination of varied cultural settings which form what the thesis calls ‘cultural images of contemporary Britain’.
1.4. HOW TO USE THE TEXTBOOK
As already stated, the textbook is intended as alternative course material for university students, both secondary school and university teachers and advanced language learners interested in British cultural studies or the contemporary British cultural background generally. The concept of the textbook follows the contemporary ELT trend of learning in context, which is provided by the song lyrics that include cross curricular links. INTRODUCTION 13 ______ The textbook was created with the aim of breaking up the traditional pattern of learning and lecturing on areas attached to the field of British cultural studies and British culture. University students may use it as self study material, secondary school teachers as a sourcebook for in class activities, university teachers as supplementary material for a course design and language learners as a source of authentic texts that the song lyrics offer. The textbook consists of the following areas of British culture, each of which has dedicated to it a separate chapter: • Monarchy, politics and class • Lifestyle, leisure and media • Ethnicity and multiculturalism • Youth cultures and trends The four chapters are further divided into subchapters, which are compiled in a chronological order and each of which consists of three parts:
Background reading – provides a lead in to the selected cultural image
Listening – presents the song lyrics
Questions for consideration – help to induce further discussion Throughout the text, square brackets with numbers are used to refer to quoted lyrics or their fragments. If the course is presented in front of the audience, it is recommended that the teacher presents the text in “Background reading” section and the audience listen. Every time song lyrics appears, the lecturer plays the particular song (if available), the audience follow the lyrics or their fragments in “Listening” section and consider the “Questions for consideration”. In order to answer the questions, students and learners are encouraged to discuss other kinds of material and further reading. As an inseparable component, a CD with the most relevant songs is enclosed to the textbook in the appendix. INTRODUCTION 14 ______
1.5. PREFACE TO THE TEXTBOOK What is suggested in the following text is that song lyrics could be treated as if they were mirrors of a particular period of time and could be portraying cultural phenomena. The weight of this statement might be seen in [I], where an introductory verse of the lyrics to the song Candle in the Wind 97 is presented. The lyrics was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin as a tribute to Princess Diana’s death in a Paris car accident in 1997. [1] Goodbye England’s rose May you ever grow in our hearts You were the grace that placed itself Where lives were torn apart... ... The original lyrics of the song, the introductory verse of which is illustrated in [2], was written by Elton John in 1973 to celebrate Marilyn Monroe’s life, though. [2] Goodbye Norma Jean No I never knew you at all You had the grace to hold yourself While those around you crawled... ... The two versions of the lyrics to the song may induce a culturally oriented discussion. Possible questions to answer may be: • What do we know about the two women? • What did they have in common? • How did they influence the period of time in which they lived? • How do they influence the present? • Why is Princess Diana referred to as an England’s rose? • Who are ‘those’ who crawled around Marilyn Monroe? The more the series of questions increases in volume, the more elaborate the outcome which may be achieved. What is expressed in [I] and [2] are not apparent cultural features, there are only hints to be recognized by further and in depth investigation. In the following chapters INTRODUCTION 15 ______ there are many other song lyrics extracts explored, in which such investigations are proposed.
NOTE The textbook further runs into the problem of protest songs, which have been composed intentionally to change the social climate and cultural background. As they are to protest against problems such as injustice, racial discrimination and inequalities, war, globalization, they may sound too forthright, straightforward and even amoral when being compared to the songs composed without the intention mentioned. It is necessary to mention that all the songs lyrics depend, for their interpretation, on the composer and hearer sharing the same context and may not be easily understood as intended. Thus, popular songs lyrics are unavoidably interpreted mostly in terms of the hearer’s perspective, unless the composer clearly comments on the background of the lyrics. With the help of the CD, the thesis deals not only with the lyrics, but it is also concerned with the overall impression of the music. MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 16 ______ 2. THE TEXTBOOK 2.1. MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS
2.1.1. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
Background reading It should not be a surprise to learn that any cultural image is based on stereotypes. Storry and Childs claim that “perhaps the most enduring stereotypical version of Britain is that which revolves around the idea of monarchy”. (1997: 27) On the account of the monarchy as an institution, the authors foreground that “British monarchy has been both popular and deeply unpopular at different times in its history” (ibid.) Therefore it is worth noting that over the last half a century, when the British monarchy flourished under the reign of the Queen Elizabeth II, Her Majesty’s image of a national symbol has been successively mocked and referred to as the source of alienation the people felt by the suppressing control of the monarchy. The British national anthem, God Save the Queen , the part of which is cited in [1] and which has represented underlying feelings towards the sovereignty of the United Kingdom for centuries, became an object for the assault on the status quo in Britain in 1977. The punk version by the Sex Pistols, partly quoted in [2], was released to correspond with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and in 2002 the re released version coincided with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. (URL 21) It may be assumed that these two events belong among the most significant national festivals held in Britain since Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne in 1952. They were to celebrate twenty five and fifty years of the Queen’s reign. On the advice of the Prime Minister, the Queen even agreed that the Golden Jubilee should be an extra Bank Holiday:
Listening (CD 42) [1] God save our gracious Queen, [2] God save the queen Long live our noble Queen, The fascist regime God save the Queen! They made you a moron Send her victorious, Potential H bomb Happy and glorious, God save the queen Long to reign over us, She ain’t no human being God save the Queen! There is no future ... In England's dreaming ... MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 17 ______
Background reading In this case, the judgements expressed in [2] should be treated as if they were reflecting, perhaps not recognizably enough, the British social climate of the 1970s. In his anthology of the decade, Healy (1989) refers to the 1970s as the era of pessimism, uncertainty and acrimonious rebellion. These features may help to illustrate how the lyrics in [2] can be identified as culturally appealing. Beside the attention paid to the cultural background of the lyrics, moral aspects should be taken into consideration. Firstly, there appears to be a general convention that the national anthem is unassailable and should not be mocked. Secondly, the same operation of the convention does apply to the royalty. Thirdly, claims about fascism may be considered highly controversial and may need much more support than provided in [2]. Although many believe it was created because of the Jubilee, the band denies it. Johnny Rotten has explained the lyrics as follows: “You don’t write a song like God Save The Queen because you hate the English race. You write a song like that because you love them, and you’re sick of seeing them mistreated.” His intentions were apparently to evoke sympathy for the British working class and a general resentment for the monarchy. (Lyndon 1995)
Questions for consideration: • The Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne was held in 1952. When and where did her coronation take place? • “Jubilee Line” is a line on the London underground. How does it relate to the twenty fifth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne? • God Save the Queen is the national anthem of Britain. In which centuries did its tune and lyrics appear? Which other countries use the tune and the lyrics as a royal anthem? • The anthem is one of the national symbols of Britain. What/who else does belong to them? • When the Sex Pistol’s God Save the Queen was first released in 1977, so many people agreed with the song’s message that it reached no. 2 in the UK pop chart, which led to enough discontent within the British public. Wikipedia, The Free MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 18 ______ Encyclopedia states that the song might have sold enough copies to hit no. 1 but had been kept off for political reasons. Whether proved or disproved, what does the speculation suggest? May it confirm the theory that popular culture indoctrinates people to adhere to values of those who exercise power over them? (Strinati 1995)
2.1.2. MR. CHURCHILL SAYS
Background reading As a contrast to the ‘warfare state’ of Nazi Germany, wartime and post war Britain was coined by the term ‘welfare state’, which essentially meant the totality of schemes and services through which the Government and local authorities had assumed a major responsibility for dealing with different types of social problems. (Marwick 1996) During the war, Britain was surviving under the Winston Churchill’s first government. His actions and speeches were a great inspiration not only for Allied forces, but also for musicians in the late 1960s. The Kinks composed a song Mr. Churchill Says [3], the lyrics of which quotes from the most famous Churchill’s lines, for comparison cited in [4]. Both fragments in [4] come from Churchill’s speech delivered in the House of Commons on June 4 and 18, 1940:
Listening (CD 25) [3] Well Mr. Churchill says, Mr. Churchill says We gotta fight the bloody battle to the very end Mr. Beaverbrook says we gotta save our tin And all the garden gates And empty cans are gonna make us win We shall defend our island On the land and on the sea We shall fight them on the beaches On the hills and in the fields We shall fight them in the streets Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed to so few 'Cos they have made our British Empire A better place for me and you And this was their finest hour ... [4] “We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 19 ______ we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” (URL 23) “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’.” (URL 23)
Background reading The lyrics in [3] foregrounds that even almost twenty years after delivering the speeches and four years after Churchill’s death, his words and deeds were still alive. Therefore the cultural legacy of the lyrics is not its message, but Churchill himself and his actions. Since the late 1940s the British Empire, weakened by World War II, had been losing influence in the world by giving independence to its colonies. The Empire disintegrated and Britain started to form a new foreign policy towards the United States, the Soviet Union, European countries and the Commonwealth countries of former British possessions. (McDowall 2003) Churchill’s second government proved that he was worth being respected. After the Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, as Sked and Cook summarise, “people looked forward to a second Elizabethan age, and Churchill’s towering presence as premier served to enhance their hopes of national recovery and glory.” (1993: 103)
Questions for consideration: • Churchill was awarded a prominent prize in literature in 1953. Which prize was it? For what kind of writing did he win the prize? • In the fragment of the lyrics Mr. Churchill Says appears another name. Who was “Mr. Beaverbrook”? May it be guessed from the lyrics? • The first Churchill’s speech fragment in [4] is about a battle in the World War II. What is the name of the battle, which describes German effort to gain superiority over the Royal Air Force? • By decree of the Queen, Churchill’s state funeral service was held in the seat of the bishop of London. (URL 23) It was the first state funeral for a non royal family member since the early twentieth century, and no other of its kind has been held since. In what Anglican cathedral did the funeral take place? MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 20 ______
2.1.3. POST WORLD WAR II BLUES
Background reading Anthony Eden’s administration (1955 – 1957) followed, involving the Suez crisis in 1956. The crisis happened to be a sudden disruption of the newly developed British foreign policy. Uniting with France and Israel and attacking Egypt in order to sustain its power over the Suez Canal was not a good deal for Britain. Two countries that backed Britain´s position, the United States and the Soviet Union, considered this attack to be a scandalous political defeat for Britain and refused to treat it as an equal partner any longer. (McDowall 2003) Eden was replaced by Harold Macmillan (in office 1957 – 1963) who brought Britain into the sixties. His quote of 1959 “You’ve never had it so good,” proved to be an accurate reflection of the time when the early 1960s specifically enjoyed full employment and financial prosperity. The socio political progress in Britain from post war years to the revolutionary 1960s is depicted in Post World War II Blues , the fragments of which are presented in [5], composed by Al Stewart in 1973. Even if the lyrics has not stood up to the test of time, mostly due to an American influence imposed on Stewart in the 1970s, the text comments on the attitude towards the society as taken by a working class boy:
Listening (CD 48) [5] I was a post war baby in a small Scots Uncle Ike was our American pal town And nobody talked about the Suez I was three years old when we moved Canal down south ... Hard times written in my mother's And one day Macmillan was coming looks downstairs With her widow's pension and her A voice in the dark caught him ration books unawares ... It was Christine Keeler blowing him a And Churchill said to Louis kiss Mountbatten He said "I never believed it could "I just can't stand to see you today happen like this" How could you have gone and given ... India away?" I came up to London when I was Mountbatten just frowned, said "What nineteen can I say? With a corduroy jacket and a head full ... of dreams In coffee bars I spent my nights 1959 was a very strange time Reading Allen Ginsberg, talking civil A bad year for Labour and a good year rights for wine ... MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 21 ______
Questions for consideration: • What does the second fragment in [5] parody? Louis Mountbatten was a British admiral, statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. How was he related to India in post war years? • In the third fragment of the lyrics in [5], Stewart mentions, apart from the crisis at Suez Canal, also the name Ike. To whom does he refer? • The fourth fragment in [5] is alluding the so called Profumo Affair, by which Macmillan’s conservative government was discredited. Who was Mr Profumo and who was Christine Keeler? • The fifth fragment in [5] suggests that it was usual for a nineteen year old man to read Allen Ginsberg in coffee bars and talk about civil rights. Which period of time is referred to?
Background reading As suggested in [5], the year 1959 was politically unsuccessful for Labour, and so was the whole decade as the Conservatives were in power from 1951 to 1964. Then the Labour candidate Harold Wilson replaced the discredited Macmillan and being re elected in 1966, he carried Britain into the 1970s. However, the beginning of the 1970s brought the Conservative Party back to power and under the leadership of Edward Heath (in office 1970 – 1974) Britain joined the Common Market on 1 January 1973, having been prepared by changing the old system of money to the decimal currency in 1971. (Sked, Cook 1993)
2.1.4. SHIPBUILDING , ISLAND OF NO RETURN
Background reading The 1970s were the decade of the change in the role of women. An association protecting the rights of women called the Women Liberation Workshop was founded in Britain in 1969 and by the end of the 1970s their influence on society was apparent. Job opportunities for women were opened and women were given high positions. Patricia Scotland could enter her political career and later became Queen’s Counsel – the first black woman in Britain to do so and in 1979, as Sked and Cook say “it was Mrs. Thatcher who was to win the chance to shape Britain’s future.” (1993: 328) MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 22 ______ Margaret Thatcher, following re elected Labour Prime Ministers Harold Wilson (in office 1974 – 1976) and James Callaghan (in office 1976 – 1979), became the first female and the longest serving British Prime Minister in the twentieth century (in office 1979 – 1990). Many political commentators suggested that she had removed class from the political landscape. Before Thatcher, Britain was portrayed as a class ridden society in which each class was uniquely characterised and class generally was a stable part of the British way of life then. Thatcher, the daughter of a shopkeeper, made it possible for anyone to climb to the top of the British society. However, in the course of the years of her administration, she was not only beloved, but also disliked and dispised. She became both political and cultural figure of the 1980s in Britain and her actions had a continuing impact on popular culture. In her first government (1979 – 1983), Thatcher had been criticised mostly for her engagement in the Falklands War in April 1982. The Falkland Islands, having been British land for almost 150 years, were invaded by Argentina. Unfortunately, Thatcher with her diplomatic efforts was unable to resolve the situation so the Royal Navy was dispatched there to provide military power and Britain regained its territory. Thatcher’s decision to sink an Argentine submarine, which resulted in the death of more than 350 Argentine soldiers, proved highly contentious. (Marwick 1996) In the following years, not only statesmen and politicians but also many musicians commented on this controversial conclusion. Not even a year after the Falklands War, Elvis Costello wrote a song Shipbuilding [6]. As he said in one of interviews, it was supposed to be a statement of the shipbuilder working in the seaport during the constructions for the war against Argentina (URL 21):
Listening (CD 14) [6] Is it worth it? A new winter coat and shoes for the wife And a bicycle on the boy's birthday It's just a rumour that was spread around town By the women and children Soon we'll be shipbuilding Well I ask you The boy said "Dad they're going to take me to task, but I'll be back by Christmas" It's just a rumour that was spread around town Somebody said that someone got filled in For saying that people get killed in The result of this shipbuilding With all the will in the world Diving for dear life MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 23 ______ When we could be diving for pearls It's just a rumour that was spread around town A telegram or a picture postcard Within weeks they'll be re opening the shipyards And notifying the next of kin Once again It's all we're skilled in We will be shipbuilding
Background reading In 1984 another song referring to the Falkland Islands appeared. Its lyrics was written by Billy Bragg, an important cultural and musical figure of the 1980s. He has been Labour representative and a strong opponent of the Conservative Thatcher. Further, he helped to found a left wing movement called Red Wedge that was to introduce the policy of the Labour Party to young people. (URL 24) In Island of No Return [7] he expressed tribute to British soldiers who died in the Falklands and emphasized the irony that they had not died in an ideological struggle against the Russians but in a territorial battle with a country to which the government had been encouraging arms sales, as suggested in the third fragment:
Listening (CD 5) [7] Digging all day and digging all night lovers To keep my foxhole out of sight I can take the killing, I can take the Digging into dinner on a plate on my slaughter knees But I don't talk to Sun reporters The smell of damp webbing in the ... morning breeze I never thought that I would be Fear in my stomach, fear in the sky Fighting fascists in the Southern Sea I eat my dinner with a weary eye I saw one today and in his hand ... Was a weapon that was made in I hate this flat land, there's no cover Birmingham for sons and fathers and brothers and ...
Questions for consideration: • In what kind of region, economically depressed or prosperous, might the plot of the lyrics in [6] be set and why? • Why might inhabitants of the region depicted in [6] feel ambiguous about the possibility of having new jobs? • In what areas of Britain were the ships for the war against Argentina really built? • In which line in [7] is suggested that the result of Falklands War had been justified in the media in additional proclamations? MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 24 ______ • What social class do narrators both in [6] and [7] probably belong to?
2.1.5. GHOST TOWN
Background reading During Thatcher’s administration, British people experienced an enormous rise in unemployment which aroused feelings of common uncertainty and disgust. (Marwick 1996) The lyrics of The Specials Ghost Town , a fragment of which is shown in [8], signals a specific problem of that time:
Listening (CD 46) [8] This town, is coming like a ghost town This town, is coming like a ghost town All the clubs have been closed down Why must the youth fight against This place, is coming like a ghost town themselves? Bands won't play no more Government leaving the youth on the too much fighting on the dance floor shelf Do you remember the good old days This place, is coming like a ghost town Before the ghost town? No job to be found in this country We danced and sang, Can't go on no more And the music played inna de The people getting angry boomtown ...
Questions for consideration: • What age group is the lyrics in [8] about? • The Specials got together in Coventry, a prosperous industrial town in the 1960s, then socio economically depressed place in the 1980s. What exactly had, according to the lyrics in [8], changed? • What socially oriented feelings might have been projected in the title of the lyrics in [8], Ghost Town ?
2.1.6. A DESIGN FOR LIFE
Background reading In 1990, the Prime Minister to replace Thatcher was John Major (in office 1990 – 1997), the Conservative Party leader. During Major’s administration, the existing gap between rich and poor was extended, despite his effort to further erode the barriers among the social classes in Britain. (McDowall 2003) An open critique of Major’s political methods appeared in 1996 in the form of the lyrics A Design for Life , written by a Welsh band the Manic Street Preachers. The MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 25 ______ crucial part of the lyrics is quoted in [9] and is concerned with the anxiety over the situation in Wales, where the male population was sent to throw away their lives in the darkness of the mines:
Listening (CD 28) [9] Libraries gave us power To show from where I came Then work came and made us free We don’t talk about love we only want What price now for a shallow piece of to get drunk dignity And we are not allowed to spend I wish I had a bottle As we are told that this is the end Right here in my dirty face to wear the A design for life scars ...
Questions for consideration: • Why is the song lyrics in [9] regarded as a protest song? • What kind of life does the lyrics despise? • Consider the statement: The lyrics in [9] is said to expose a lie that British people are living in a classless society. • A comment on the lyrics in [9] expressed on http://www.songfacts.com even hints at the striking analogy between the line “work came and made us free” and the Nazi slogan on the gates of Auschwitz concentration camp “Arbeit macht frei”. What analogy might have been suggested by the contribution?
2.1.7. COCAINE SOCIALISM , TONY BLAIR
Background reading In May 1997, Tony Blair won the general election as the Labour Party leader and replaced Major. The media associated Blair’s New Labour administration with the term ‘Cool Britannia’, being a spin on the eighteenth century song Rule Britannia . Childs and Storry (1999) point out that the phrase ‘Cool Britannia’ was used by a British band Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band as a song title in the 1960s. However, no clear connection between the song and the atmosphere of the late 1990s has yet been proved. Even though Tony Blair has not attracted as many songwriters as the Iron Lady Thatcher, he managed to inspire a number of protest songs. Yet, in contrast to Thatcher, no lyrics has pictured Blair on the guillotine, as did Morrissey in Margaret On The Guillotine , no party has been planned for the day he dies, as arranged in The Day That MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 26 ______ Thatcher Dies by Hefner and no songwriter promised to tramp down the dirt on his grave, as did Elvis Costello in Tramp the Dirt Down . The first years of his premiership which strived for a change in Britain’s image are observed in the lyrics Cocaine Socialism [10], written by the band Pulp in 1998 and Tony Blair [11], composed by Chumbawamba in 1999:
Listening (CD 36) [10] I thought that you were joking / When you said "I want to see you To discuss your contribution / To the future of our nation's heart and soul Six o'clock, my place, Whitehall" / Well I arrived just after seven But you said "It doesn't matter" / "I understand your situation And your image, and I'm flattered / Oh and I'd just like to tell you That I love all of your albums / Could you sign this for my daughter? She's in hospital, her name is Miriam / Now get down to the gist: Do you want a line of this? / Are you a (sniff) / socialist?" "Doin' fine, yeah! / Buzzin' all the time / Just one hit / And I feel great And I support / The welfare state / Oh, you must be socialist 'Cos you're always off out on the piss / In your private member's bar Oh yes you are / Yer superstar / Well you sing about common people And the mis shapes and the misfits / So can you bring them to my party And get them all to sniff this? / And all I'm really saying Is come on and rock the vote for me / All I'm really saying Is come on roll up that note for me / The gist of all of this is Do you want hits or d'you want misses? / Are you a socialist, yeah Socialist, yeah / Socialist, yeah / Oh yeah" "Yeah, you can be just what you want to be Just as long as you don't try to compete with me And we've waited such a long time For the chance to help our own kind, so now Please come on and tow the party line / Oh you owe it to yourself Don't think of anybody else / And we promise we won't tell Oh we won't tell, and we won't sell" / No we won't / No we won't No we won't
Listening (CD 10) [11] Tony But you're the same old cheating you, You said that you'd be true you, you I believed you like a fool Now it's time to say goodbye I should have seen it in your eyes Tony Tony You said that things would change You promised me the world But they ended up the same But I'm not that kind of girl And Tony now there's nothing but your And Tony now there's nothing but your lies lies ... ... Tony Tony There's nothing but your lies You promised something new
Questions for consideration: • The lyrics in [10] describes a meeting. Who meets whom? MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 27 ______ • Tom Ewing says that the lyrics in [10] was a springboard for Pulp to attack Tony Blair, New Labour, Cool Britannia, the issue of taking drugs and corruption. (URL 6) Which line/s prove or possibly disprove the statement? • What kind of attitude towards New Labour is depicted in fragments of the lyrics in [11]? • How could be Blair’s government characterized in general? Why may British people, across the political spectrum, have been disappointed with the Blair’s premiership? What hopes had they pinned on Blair?
2.1.8. I’M WITH STUPID
Background reading Blair’s relationship with the United States and both latest presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, has changed into a strong political alliance, especially as far as foreign policy has been considered. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia quotes famous Blair’s line from his post September 11 speech: “America has no truer friend than Great Britain”. (URL 24) The affinity to the United States is said to have damaged Blair’s reputation in the eyes of majority of British people. On the account of this partnership, Pet Shop Boys released the song I’m With Stupid [12], the lyrics of which is assumed to be commenting on the public opinion on the two politicians’ decisions:
Listening (CD 33) [12] Oh oh, I'm with Stupid Before we ever met ... I thought like everybody did See you on the TV You were just a moron Call you every day A billion dollar kid Fly across the ocean You flew up all the way Just to let you get your way Like a hawk chasing a dove No one understands me I never thought that I would be Where I'm coming from A sacrifice in love Why would I be with someone It comes Who's obviously so dumb? It grows ... And now we're tied together Every time you rise to meet me Everybody knows Take my hand to greet me ... Love comes Is stupid really stupid Love grows Or a different kind of smart? And power can give a man Do we really have a relationship Much more than anybody knows So special in your heart? ... ... MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 28 ______
Questions for consideration: • What kind of public opinion is recognizable from the fragments of the lyrics in [12]? • Which of the men, according to the lyrics in [12], insinuates himself into favour with the other? May this ingratiating have a basis in reality and thus be proved? • When being presented to native English speakers, the message of the lyrics in [12] is usually perceived as showing a contempt for the two men’s decision to invade a Middle Eastern country. Which country is probably meant? Might people outside English speaking countries catch the meaning of the lyrics in a similar way?
2.1.9. GORDON BROWN
Background reading In May 2007, Blair announced his intention to resign as both the Prime Minister and Labour Party leader and later in June 2007 formally handed over the leadership to Gordon Brown. Before his resignation, Gordon was rumoured to have bidden his time and taken over Blair’s office. Such a hypothesis might be recognised in the lyrics Gordon Brown [13] written by a jazz musician Colin Bailey:
Listening (CD not available) [13] Gordon Brown opens his mouth Taxes your food, your car and your In for a penny, house in for a pound He'll watch you sink Into your wallet dives Gordon Brown Drive you to drink ... He'll let you drown will Gordon Brown Gordon Brown charges the students ... All in the name of fiscal prudence Gordon Brown drops his square jaw Now each degree as the share prices drop through the comes at a fee floor Attendance is down with Gordon The Oil price is rising Brown Its hardly surprising ... Confidence abounds with Gordon Gordon Brown schemes and he plots Brown Awaiting the day Blair gets the chop ... He be right over, Gordon Brown rips off your pension He’ll be right round He’s got us all by those bits I can’t He’ll be next door; He’s Gordon mention Brown MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 29 ______
Questions for consideration: • Gordon Brown was formerly a highly ranked government officer. What was his previous position in the British government? • The British public believes that the two men, Blair and Brown, made an agreement after the death of Labour Party leader John Smith in 1994. According to Peston (2005), Brown agreed not to stand as a candidate in the Labour Party leadership election in 1997 and thus let Blair win. Brown is said to have expected something in return. Whether proved or not, what might he have expected and finally really gained?
Background reading The future of the British politics is concerned with the next generation. As Story and Childs point out, British young people tend to adhere to values that are produced by a consumer society rather than to long term proposals of political parties. (1997: 236) The alienation the young poeple seem to feel should be replaced with belief in a democratic progress of the society as a whole. To make young people in Britain integrate into the politically interested public may mean to bring political issues closer to those of leisure and lifestyle, the areas the young are acquainted with, by including them more clearly in the party political programmes.
LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 30 ______
2.2. LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 2.2.1. TOO YOUNG TO BE MARRIED
Background reading What is clear about contemporary Britain is that it is socially more acceptable to have alternative life styles, relationships and ways of bringing up children than it has ever been. In the beginning of the twenty first century, ‘cohabiting’ became common as a living arrangement before marriage. However, the trend of young couples living together originated in the early 1990s, when people tended to live together before they got married, if they had intended to get married at all. (Abercrombie, Warde 1992) Such a phenomenon may not have been accepted by the general public in the 1960s or 1970s, when young people were pre determined to hasty marriages predominantly by their irresponsibility of parenthood and family planning, as suggested in the lyrics to the song Too Young to be Married [1] by the Hollies:
Listening (CD 21) [1] She wakes up early every morning Too young to be married She gets up long before the sunshine But what could they do, they were Greets the milkman who's still yawning going to have a baby And reads the paper for a short time Calls the kids "Get out of bed" After the kids have had their breakfast They never hear a word she says Now they're off to get some schooling She cleans the house and makes the Husband stands to leave the table beds She says "I hope you have a good day" She starts to dream but knows she's He thinks "One day soon as I'm able fooling I'll get a job where I get good pay." She swears one day she'll stay in bed They find it hard to make ends meet but for now she knows she's got to keep But they don't mention it because they on working have each other 'Cos round and round inside her head An love is free while they're supposed She hears the words her mother said ... to be ... Too young to be married Too young to be married ... Too young to be free
Questions for consideration: • What has changed in the issue of marriage and cohabitation in Britain since the 1950s? Is it a worldwide trend or just British? • What kind of life is depicted in the lyrics in [1]? Is it exaggerated when being compared to reality? LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 31 ______ • Young British couples nowadays try to catch up with their parents and are ashamed to ask for help. Does the lyrics in [1] prove or disprove the statement? 2.2.2. YOUNG TURKS
Background reading The lyrics to the song Young Turks [2] by Rod Stewart, though being set in American environment, comments on the teenage pregnancy, the issue which has been much discussed in Britain since the 1980s. Nowadays the British society is more sympathetic, thus teenage marriages are not so common, however, back in the 1980s, the society used to be very cruel towards the teenage mothers:
Listening (CD 49) [2] Billy left his home with a dollar in his pocket and a head full of dreams. He said somehow, some way, its gotta get better than this. Patti packed her bags, left a note for her momma, she was just seventeen, There were tears in her eyes when she kissed her little sister goodbye. They held each other tight as they drove on through the night they were so exited. We got just one shot of life, lets take it while were still not afraid. Because life is so brief and time is a thief when youre undecided. And like a fistful of sand, it can slip right through your hands. ... Paradise was closed so they headed for the coast in a blissful manner. They took a tworoom apartment that was jumping evry night of the week. Happiness was found in each others arms as expected, yeah Billy pierced his ears, drove a pickup like a lunatic, ooh! ... Young hearts be free tonight Time is on your side. Billy wrote a letter back home to pattis parents tryin to explain. He said were both real sorry that it had to turn out this way. But there aint no point in talking when theres nobody listning so we just ran away Patti gave birth to a ten pound baby boy, yeah! ... Young hearts gotta run free, be free, live free Time is on, time is on your side ... Young heart be free tonight Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, yeah
Questions for consideration: • Who does the term ‘Young Turk’, in English slang, refer to? • What kind of teenage behaviour is depicted in the lyrics in [2]? LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 32 ______ • What has changed in the teenage mothers’ attitude towards the pregnancy since the 1980s? • During the 1990s lone motherhood has become a major political issue. In what way does the British society treat fathers as single parents?
2.2.3. NO CLAUSE 28
Background reading British attitudes towards teenage pregnancy and other serious social topics such as homosexuality and lesbianism are to be considered in relation to the overall socio political climate. The first indication that British gay lifestyles were to be censored was Clause 28 of the Local Government Bill of 1987, which banned the intentional promotion of homosexuality by local authorities. The act was to mitigate the gay community, but according to Storry and Childs (1997) it had the effect of mobilising and reaffirming British gay identity. Boy George, a former member of the band Culture Club, wrote a song No Clause 28 , that was to protest against the Conservative Party’s restrictions. The lyrics to the song is quoted in [3]:
Listening (CD 20) [3] To tamper with our pride curse They say to celebrate it But brothers we know it's gonna get Is social suicide worse I'm not your average beat boy You know you won't cure it with TV I'm not your rebel guy campaigns You want to make us hated Or telling those mothers what to put in You want to make us slide their veins No Clause 28 I'm telling you suckers start using your No Clause 28 heads Brother you're much too late By putting the money in hospital beds Don't need this legislation You're clamping our cars the streets are You don't need this score a mess Don't need this facist groove Look what you've done to the NHS Just to show pornography the door Not Tory, not Labour, not SDP Don't mean to be too precious It's all the same from a factory I don't mean to be uptight Don't talk to me about political choice But tell me iron lady I don't like your tone and I don't like Are we moving to the right? your voice No Clause 28 No Clause 28 No Clause 28 No Clause 28 Brother you're much too late Brother you're much too late They talk about AIDS they call it a LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 33 ______
Questions for consideration: • According to the lyrics in [3], what could have been the reason why the government had passed the Clause 28? What was considered to be the major threat? • Whom specifically does the lyrics in [3] address? What is the lyrics in [3] doubtful about? What kind of discrimination is suggested in the lyrics in [3]?
2.2.4. KASHKA FROM BAGHDAD
Background reading Current attitudes towards homosexuality and lesbianism appear to be more tolerant than in the 1980s, however, the AIDS crisis had increased prejudice. The most feared seem to be immigrants, who are believed to represent the greatest danger. Kate Bush reacts to the prejudice in her song Kashka from Baghdad , in the lyrics of which [4] she urges British people to tolerance and understanding:
Listening (CD 7) [4] Kashka from Baghdad Happy Lives in sin, they say, With another man, They never go for walks. But no one knows who. Maybe it's because The moon's not bright enough. Old friends never call there. There's light in love, you see. Some wonder if life's Inside at all I watch their shadows, If there's life inside at all. Tall and slim, In the window opposite. But we know the lady who rents the I long to be with them. room. She catches them calling a la lune. 'Cause when all the alley cats come out, At night You can hear music from Kashka's They're seen house. Laughing, ... Loving. They know Watching every night. The way Don't you know they're seen? To be Won't you let me laugh? Let me in your love.
Questions for consideration: • What do people in the lyrics in [4] say about the man from Baghdad? What kind of behaviour stereotype is suggested in [4]? LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 34 ______ • What kind of life, according to the lyrics in [4], does the man from Baghdad live and why? In general, do homosexual immigrants find sympathy for their lifestyle in Britain?
Background reading Immigration has also brought a number of family forms to Britain that are different from the traditional British pattern. Asian immigrant families are more patriarchal, the father controls family finances and negotiates major family decisions, whereas in West Indian families, men and women live together rather without a formal marriage or female dominated households occur.
2.2.5. PROBLEM CHILD
Background reading Compared with other countries, Britain could hardly be regarded as a child oriented state. It is believed that before 1960s and the birth of permissive society, in which people have been allowed a great deal of freedom, especially sexual, parents were much stricter with children. Nowadays British people have different attitudes to parenting. In the lyrics to the song Problem Child [5] by Graham Parker, one view is described:
Listening (CD 32) [5] How fast does the time go? How high does the wind blow? You don't know do ya ain't paid attention You can't think, can ya, increase the tension And you're running out to hide, cause you A problem child, you ain't got any sense A problem child, you can't find no defence Cause even though your heart is full of problems Nobody sees them, no one sees them baby but you and me ooh yeah baby but you and me How much does your life mean? How dumb do the birds seem? Flying round, aimlessly in circles, Just like you, playing with your sad curls and tears rollin down your face, cause you ... Everything you try to do gets in somebody's way Like a part that just don't work you're useless so they say Everything you wear don't fit your dreams are made of grey LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 35 ______ Stay with them and hope they'll turn to something someday Don't get wild they've only got you filed down as A problem child ...
Questions for consideration: • The lyrics in [5] suggests that a child is being ignored and overlooked. However, the title of the lyrics says Problem Child . What does the irony indicate? • How much time do British parents spend with their children? What kind of parents are likely to call their offspring a problem child in the way depicted in [5]? • How is hitting children thought of in contemporary Britain? • A lot of British families rent an au pair or a nanny to help with child care. What is beyond this phenomenon?
2.2.6. HERE COMES THE WEEKEND , POOR PEOPLE
Background reading Until relatively recently, most mothers in Britain did not take paid work outside the home. Most women’s main labour, unpaid, was to run the home and look after family and men were assumed to be the main breadwinners. Nowadays, in the beginning of the twenty first century, the primary characteristics of both men and women no longer seem to dictate what roles they should take in life. At the turn of the 1990s and the 2000s, there was a higher proportion of women at work than there was in the 1950s. Nevertheless, women have fared less than men and often failed to gain posts of greater responsibility. In addition, people from ethnic minorities are even more disadvantaged than mainstream women. (Abercrombie, Warde 1992) The work and its ethic is very strong in Britain and for a majority of the British population their identity is shaped by the notion that they work (Storry, Childs 1997). However, one of the main features of the working class in the 1990s and the 2000s is that many people are either not working, or not enjoying their job. In his lyrics to the song Here Comes the Weekend [6], Dave Edmunds describes the work ethic of a working class man in the late 1970s:
LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 36 ______
Listening (CD 18) [6] Monday ain't a fun day But it just don't ease the pain Tuesday's a goof day Goin' on the sick, don't do the trick Wednesdays are frenzy Sooner or later I'll be clockin' in again Thursday's the worst day Working 'round the clock both night Friday is great and day 'Cause I can hardly wait until the Never see enough from a tip or pay weekend They pay me for the shift like they was I should be clockin' in at eight scooping a gift But I'm a little late Here comes the weekend Can't get my baby 'cause I'm too tired .... to date Someday I'll be able to forget my Treat you tender when it's Friday again working days Here comes the weekend Life will be pretty 'cause my ship is ... comin' in My working week's so tough Everything will go my way and I will I think I've had enough until the never sin weekend Here comes the weekend I've had an overdose of doctor's notes ...
Background reading On the contrary, Alan Price’s lyrics to the song Poor People [7] shows that British society does not think highly about the kind of people depicted in [6]:
Listening (CD 34) [7] Poor people are poor people Nobody's gonna know. And they don't understand ... A man's got to make whatever he wants It's no use grumbling. And take it with his own hands. Life just isn't fair Poor people stay poor people There's no easy days And they never get to see There's no easy ways Someone's got to win in the human Just get out there and do it! race And sing and they'll sing your song If it isn't you, then it has to be me. Laugh while you're getting on So smile while you're makin' it Smile and they'll string along Laugh while you're takin' it And nobody's gonna know Even though you're fakin' it ...
Questions for consideration: • Do many British working class people approach their work routine in the same way as presented in the lyrics in [6] or is it rather rare? • What has changed since the 1970s in the issue of work ethic and job opportunities? Why have been many foreign workers leaving for Britain since the late 1990s? LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 37 ______ • What social class may be manifesting its opinion on the labour in the lyrics in [7]? • What was unemployment rate in Britain like in 2006?
Background reading Some British people see employment as culturally overemphasized. They propose quitting jobs when possible, working less, reassessing the cost of living, creation of jobs which are fun as opposed to work. Sometimes they create cultural norms where work is seen as unhealthy. Such an attitude si referred to as anti work ethic of life. (URL 24)
2.2.7. TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS PLEASE , HURRY
UP HARRY
Background reading Yet, fun and leisure are a part of British everyday life. The principal place of leisure outside home, according to Storry and Childs (1997), is pub. It is said that until 1950s the British pub was a more welcoming place for men than was their home, therefore pubs are traditionally thought of as male preserved. However, in the beginning of the twenty first century pubs are welcoming to people of both sexes, for instance on leaving the office, British people are used to have a drink with their workmates, both men and women. Typical pub behaviour is described in the fragments of the lyrics to the song Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please [8] by a punk band Splodgenessabound:
Listening (CD 47) [8] Two pints of lager and a packet of And I've got all the right money crisps, please. And all that, please. Two pints of lager and a packet of Thank you. crisps, please. ... I'll have two pints of lager and a packet I've been here half hour of crisps, please. And I'm getting very thirsty! I'll have some pickled onions, And a little bit of cheese, please. Two pints of lager and a packet of Thank you. crisps, please. Two pints of lager and a packet of Over here! crisps, please. Two pints of lager and a packet of ... crisps, please. Why won't you serve me? ... LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 38 ______
Background reading In 1978, the punk band Sham 69 released the song Hurry up Harry [9], which pre dates the pub trend observed in the years to come. For more than a decade, British pubs have been said to socialise people together, and thus be central to British life. The notion of a pub as a community meeting place emerged in the 1990s when British soap operas such as EastEnders and Coronation Street used pub environment as a place to gather:
Listening (CD 43) [9] Come on come on You're telling me to grow up Hurry up Harry come on But Harry don't you see Come on come on If I tried to act my age Hurry up Harry come on I wouldn't be me We're going down the pub We never do anything We're going down the pub So now's the time to begin ... Now listen here Harry You don't have to tell me If we're going down the pub That the thing's I do are wrong You'd better tell your mum and dad But everything I do in life And finish up your grub Is with us right or wrong I wish you'd listen to me Now I think I understand No, I don't want a cup of tea How to have some fun ... ...
Questions for consideration: • As recognizable from the lyrics in [8], what are British pubs typical of? • What is lager and what are well known kinds of British beer? • The song Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please was so popular that it inspired Susan Nickson to write a BBC sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps . Why has the song drawn such public attention? • What age group is the lyrics in [9] probably about? What does the lyrics in [9] denote? • British people spend nights out to celebrate weddings in pubs or bars. What are the parties, separate for men and women, called? LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 39 ______
2.2.8. HURRY UP ENGLAND , WORLD AT YOUR FEET
Background reading One of major British outdoor leisure outlets is sport. Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture appoints football to be Britain’s national sport, the history of which has been developing since the World War II. (Childs, Storry 1999) Football enthusiasm has widely spread, a whole range of fanzines have been published and club television stations have been established, mainly in England. Needless to investigate English football league system in detail to understand its contribution to the contemporary British cultural background. Famous people who command a high degree of public media attention are eager to manifest their support to individual clubs or the national team. Thus the punk band Sham 69 used motif of both the tune and lyrics of the song in [9] to release Hurry up England – The People’s Anthem [10], to coincide with England’s entry in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The Sham 69’s alternative anthem of the event was to compete with the official anthem World at Your Feet [11] by British rock band Embrace. (URL 24) Both lyrics in [10] and [11] are presented in fragments:
Listening (CD 44) [10] Come on, come on, We’re gonna win the cup Hurry up England, come on Cos you know what you’re doing Come on, come on, So let’s just wrap it up Hurry up England, come on I wish you’d listen to me We’re gonna win the cup We’ve got Gerrard, Lampard and We’re gonna win the cup Wayne Rooney ... We’ve got a blinding team full of You’re lions you are England quality Yes England’s who you are Colsall, Ferdinand and John Terry There’ll be no great escape It’s been forty years since Wembley There’ll be no bridge too far So let’s go and win it in Germany So come on lads, sing with me ... It’s all the way to Germany Now listen here England ... Listening (CD 19) [11] You're the first in my life to make me look back think With the world at your feet That we might just go all the way There's no one you can't beat And I want you to know we're all Yes it can be done hanging on With the world at your feet They'll come and yes they'll try There's no heart you can't reach To brake us down This could be the one But we know that we'll never lose Its calling, Its calling you now If we keep moving forward and don't You know its gonna be your time 'Cause the world is at your feet LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 40 ______ Yeah, the world is at your feet You're lifted up With one proud kiss Like stars in the sky There's nothing else Burning bright, seen by a billion eyes That feels like this Now, I want you to know we're all So lift your arms turned your way And everyone sing ... ...
Questions for consideration: • What has made British football a commodity of rather commercial than cultural character? How do commercialism and culture influence each other in general? • To what extent do British celebrities influence people’s lifestyles and tastes? What other spheres of Britan’s cultural image, beside football, do famous people noticeably affect? • What is the difference between the lyrics in [10] and [11]? Are they both versatile songs?
2.2.9. WEST INDIES CRICKET SONG
Background reading Apart from football, Britain is famous for cricket, a summer sport which is predominantly played in England. Despite its English origins, England is not believed to represent the top of the league. Within former and present members of the Commonwealth, West Indies teams claim to be the elite. The fragments of the lyrics to the song West Indies Cricket Song [12] by Jamaican reggae artist Sean Paul prove the statement:
Listening (CD not available ) [12] Ah dutty yeah! Buh yuh tek all dem wicket Yo, where una come, where una come Anything dere, yuh know we goin' from? wreck it! Wave una hand, wave una hand!! And we batsmen dem ah select it, six or a four What Island we come from?! Yuh know we goin mek it (West Indies!!) ... Answer de call! West Indies will get the gold cup, yeah! (West Indies!!!) ... Come let we show dem! Dis is we time! (West Indies!!) Ah true beat England, beat Pakistan Come rally all!! Beat Sri Lanka and de Australian! (West Indies!) Wha happen to de team from down ... India? Ah true de want play cricket So shock because we bowl dem over! LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 41 ______
Questions for consideration: • What is the Commonwealth and Britain’s role within it? • According to the recent research, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world. (URL 1) What sport is at the peak of popularity? • In what relation is Jamaica to Britain nowadays? • What else, apart from cricket, is Jamaica famous for?
2.2.10. COUNTRY HOUSE
Background reading Nearly all British people in full time jobs have several weeks’ holiday. In the 1980s and 1990s, the most traditional holiday destination was the coast, full of variety of activities, or the country. The lyrics to the song Country House [13] by Blur sarcastically comments on the phenomenon of a rich man’s sudden decision for the life in the country:
Listening (CD 3) [13] (So the story begins) And the food he eats City dweller In the country Successful fella He takes all manner of pills Thought to himself: And piles up analyst bills "Oops, I've got a lot of money In the country Caught in a rat race Oh, it's like an animal farm Terminally That's the rural charm I'm a professional cynic In the country But my heart's not in it I'm paying the price of living life at the He's got morning glory and life's a limit different story Caught up in the century's anxiety" Everything's going Jackanory Yes, it preys on him Touched with his own mortality He's getting thin He's reading Balzac, knocking back (Try the simple life) Prozac It's a helping hand that makes you feel He lives in a house wonderfully bland A very big house Oh, it's a century's remedy In the country For the faint at heart Watching afternoon repeats A new start (Try the simple life) ...
Questions for consideration: • The lyrics of 1995 in [13] describes a trend of British people buying or renting houses in the country. Is the trend typical of the 1990s and 2000s or is it rather traditional way of alternate living in Britain? LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 42 ______ • What kind of irony is depicted in the lyrics in [13]? What do the proper nouns ‘Jackanory’ and ‘Prozac’ refer to? What may be associated with the line ‘oh, it’s like an animal farm’? • What are popular localities in the British countryside?
2.2.11. ROY ROGERS
Background reading Despite the variety of different outdoor leisure pursuits, the dominant medium for cultural exchange in Britain is television. According to Abercrombie (1992), 58 per cent of the British population in the early 1990s relied on television as their principal source of news. Despite the quick expansion of the Internet, television has not lost its popularity even in the 2000s. Storry and Childs (1997) outline the development of television phenomenon; the novelty of watching television goes back to 1953 when the Coronation of the Queen Elizabeth II was broadcast. In the 1960s, daily consumption of televison rose as broadcasting expanded from evenings only to mornings. During the 1970s and the 1980s televison watching was available 24 hours a day, being supplemented by video and cable and satellite stations in the 1990s. It is very difficult to assess the output of television as a whole because of the diversity of programmes it offers. Abercrombie (1992) claims that the range of interest has been so wide that television programmes cannot present a coherent view of the world. Nevertheless, he emphasizes the fact that the programmes of some kind may convey a certain view of social values, or rather stereotypes. The example that he presents is attached to popular James Bond films, where the characteristics of femininity and masculinity are adapted to the viewpoint of the society, i.e. women are perceived to be rather silly and irrational, whereas men are active and make things happen. According to the recent research of the British Broadcasting Corporation, British people have been fascinated more by fictional television programmes than news. (URL 1) In 1973 Elton John released the song Roy Rogers [14], the lyrics of which is about a man fond of watching cowboy films:
LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 43 ______
Listening (CD 23) [14] Sometimes you dream, sometimes it of the plains seems Of roundups and rustlers and home on Theres nothing there at all the range You just seem older than yesterday Turn on the t.v., shut out the lights And youre waiting for tomorrow to call Roy rogers is riding tonight You draw to the curtain and one things Nine oclock mornings, five oclock for certain evenings Youre cozy in your little room Id liven the pace if I could The carpets all paid for, God bless the Oh Id rather have a ham in my tv sandwich than cheese Lets go shoot a hole in the moon But complaining wouldnt do any good And roy rogers is riding tonight Lay back in my armchair, close eyes Returning to our silver screens and think clear Comic book characters never grow old I can hear hoofbeats ahead Evergreen heroes whose stories were Roy and trigger have just hit the hilltop told While the wife and the kids are in bed Oh the great sequin cowboy who sings
Questions for consideration: • Who was Roy Rogers? • In what way, as seen in the lyrics in [14], may watching television influence one’s family life? • What are the most popular television channels in contemporary Britain? • What British television programmes have become famous worldwide?
2.2.12. RADIO GA GA
Background reading The transition from listening programmes and news on radio to watching them on television marked an important change in home entertainment. ‘The wireless’ decline in favour of television is aptly expressed in the song Radio Ga Ga [15] by the band Queen:
Listening (CD 37) [15] ... Mars I'd sit alone and watch your light You made 'em laugh you made 'em My only friend through teenage nights cry And everything I had to know You made us feel like we could fly I heard it on my radio Radio ... You gave them all those old time stars We watch the shows we watch the Through wars of worlds invaded by stars LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 44 ______ On videos for hours and hours So stick around 'cos we might miss you We hardly need to use our ears When we grow tired of all this visual How music changes through the years You had your time you had the power ... You've yet to have your finest hour Let's hope you never leave old friend Radio radio Like all good things on you we depend ...
Questions for consideration: • What does the narrator in the lyrics in [15] miss? • According to the lyrics in [15], what kind/s of advantage does radio have? • When did the transition from ‘the wireless’ to television happen? • What are the best known radio stations in contemporary Britain?
2.2.13. A DAY IN THE LIFE
Background reading Besides television, the major leisure activity of many British people is their hobby. Most of the hobbies are accompanied by magazines or popular newsletters. Vast majority of British people likes reading newspapers and may regard the activity as their hobby. The press, as well as other mass media, however, cannot give an objective presentation of the world because it must select from the flow of events and create dramas that will involve an audience. (Hart 1991) Due to tabloids, reading newspapers have become both trendy and social matter. According to the latest National Readership Survey, including the period from April 2006 to March 2007, the five most preferable newspapers in Britain were tabloids, in contrast to period from 1994 to 1995, when the serious newspaper format, “The Times”, reached the third position in the survey. (URL 15) Nevertheless, the tabloid format was preferred also in the previous decades. The lyrics to the Beatles’ song A Day in the Life [16] of 1967 was written while its authors were reading the “Daily Mail” newspaper (Davies 1978):
Listening (CD 1) [16] I read the news today oh, boy He didn't notice that the lights had About a lucky man who made the changed grade A crowd of people stood and stared And though the news was rather sad They'd seen his face before Well, i just had to laugh Nobody was really sure I saw the photograph if he was from the house of lords He blew his mind out in a car LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 45 ______ I saw a film today oh, boy Found my way upstairs and had a The english army had just won the war smoke A crowd of people turned away Somebody spoke and i went into a But i just had to look dream Having read the book I love to turn you on. I read the news today oh, boy Woke up, got out of bed Four thousand holes in blackburn, Dragged a comb across my head lancashire Found my way downstairs and drank a And though the holes were rather small cup They had to count them all And looking up, i noticed i was late Now they know how many holes Found my coat and grabbed my hat it takes to fill the albert hall Made the bus in seconds flat I'd love to turn you on
Questions for consideration: • The first strophe of the lyrics in [16] is said to be based on the article about the Tara Browne’s death in a car accident in December 1966. (URL 24) Who was Tara Browne and how was he connected to the 1960s’ London? • The fourth strophe of the lyrics in [16] is said to be based on the article about damaged roads. It mentions potholes in the town Blackburn, Lancashire. Where is Blackburn situated? • In the fourth strophe of the lyrics in [16] appears ‘Albert Hall’. What kind of building is it and whose name does it include? • What are contemporary tabloid newspapers in Britain, apart from the “Daily Mail”? What newspapers belong to the serious format, apart from “The Times”? • What is typical of British newspapers in general? Consider size, supplements and colour.
2.2.14. INTERNET LOVE
Background reading Another integral aspect of British culture is the Internet, however, it has taken some time to gain the position. Universities have been using the Internet since it started, but business users have been rather slower to take up the opportunities offered by the system. (Childs, Storry 1999) Some critics say that the Internet is a truly democratic phenomenon and the medium of the future, whereas the others claim that rapid decline at a rapid pace may be expected within several years. (Shields 1996) LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 46 ______ So far, the Internet has been used mainly by teenage and young adults’ population. For the system to be more fully integrated into the range of interests of older generation, its technology will have to be made simpler and more easily available. (Childs, Storry 1999) The lyrics to the song Internet Love [17] by Lolly shows why the Internet has been so attractive for young generation:
Listening (CD 27) [17] I, I love to play on the internet Internet love And I, I love to surf round the internet Now Ive been bitten by the ... Internet bug I power up I switch on I surf the highway for Im on line all day Computer love Im interactive in every way Im stuck on internet love In every way Im stuck on internet love ... I, I like to fly around in cyberspace Cos my virtual rocket can go any place
Questions for consideration: • What Internet activities are popular among young people generally? • What kind of love is meant by the lyrics in [17]? • What particularities of the Internet are mentioned in the lyrics in [17]? What are other typical features? • Does the lyrics in [17] contain any Internet terminology? What do the terms mean? • Why has the English Internet slang been penetrating into other languages without being translated? ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 47 ______
2.3. ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 2.3.1. LONDON IS THE PLACE FOR ME Background reading Britain became a multicultural and multi racial society during the 1950s when the decline of the Empire brought the colonials back. Chrisp (1994) attempts to consider the immigration from two viewpoints; on one hand these people had to face and experience racial prejudice, on the other hand they were given a chance to work in a country which they had been brought up to respect. Brown affirms that “British employers were quick to recognise the Caribbean and the Indian sub continent as fertile recruiting grounds for labour during the 1950s, whatever racist ideas they held.” (URL 2) In the late 1950s third world immigration in Britain was amounting to 100,000 persons per year. Caribbean people alone made up approximately 120,000 immigrants between 1948 – 1958, out of which nearly 60 per cent came from Jamaica. Although the Carribean people shared a colonial history, the inhabitants of each country regarded themselves as distinctive from the others. In the 1950s job opportunities were better in Britain than in their own countries. (Phillips, Phillips 1998) The first wave of the West Indian immigrants came on the Empire Windrush, a ship carrying passengers from Jamaica. One of them was Lord Kitchener, born in Trinidad, whose song London is the Place for me depicted experience of the whole Windrush generation. Unfortunately, the transcription of the lyrics to the song is not available.
Questions for consideration: • Despite the absence of the lyrics, why may have West Indies people of the Windrush wave considered London as ‘the place for them’? • Did London (Britain) come up to their expectations? What may they have expected? What could not they have expected? • When did the Empire Windrush arrive at Tilbury in England? ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 48 ______
2.3.2. SHANTY TOWN
Background reading The social situation in Jamaica in the 1950s and 1960s is partly demonstrated in the lyrics to the song Shanty Town [1] by Prince Buster, a Jamaican songwriter and one of the most influential figures in the history of introducing the West Indies music to Britain:
Listening (CD 8) [1] Too late, shanty town get scanty Is tan up an' watch dem mash dem ... belongs Too late, there is no more place to capture I saw a woman with a baby, cryin Too late, the people can't do no better She says: I got no place to sleep Too late, the rude boys gon' to jail I got no place to eat Too late, dem can't get no bail What is now am I to treat? Too late, seven years in dem tail The cops was standin by (Lord Lord Too late, the minister put on the Lord) pressure Baton sticks was long ... An all the rudies could do A woman with a baby, cryin is stay in jail an sing a song The same time all dem big bulldozer Too late, dem a go put on the pressure come in Too late, the people can't do no better The cops was standin' by Too late, shanty town get scanty Dem baton sticks was long Too late, the squatters start to scatter An' all the people could do Oh God I am sorry fi dem
Questions for consideration: • What is a shanty town? • What does the lyrics in [1] say about the life in the Jamaican capital? What is its name? • According to the lyrics in [1], what may have made Jamaican people emmigrate to Britain? • What kind of a state is Jamaica and who is the head? • What happened in 1962?
Background reading Immigration from India and Pakistan began a little later and reached its peak in the late 1960s. These people came to Britain prompted by a desire for better opportunities in both education and employment. ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 49 ______ People immigrating into Britain in the 1950s had not been tied down by any limitations, as the first restrictions concerning immigration were established by the Conservative government in 1962 and further in 1968. Since 1971, entry from all countries has been controlled by the Immigration Act, which is subsequently being amended by the individual Acts. (Hiro 1992) Caryl Phillips comments on the change of racial face in Britain: “The colour problem was debated in parliament, on television, in newspapers, magazines, on the radio. It was the big story of the 50s.” (URL 18) Different views on Britain as a multicultural society have been held in the course of the process of immigration. The former Conservative Party Member of Parliament John Townend was renowned for his controversial viepoints, which reflected in his statement that Britain had been a “mongrel race”. Townend further remarked: “The British are not a race but gathering of countless different races, the vast majority of which are not indigenous to these islands. In this era, our identity was shaped by Celts, Roman, Anglo Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Huguenots and Jews, to name only a few. The idea that Britain was a pure Anglo Saxon society before the arrival of communities from the Caribbean, Asia and Africa is a fantasy!” (URL 20)
2.3.3. HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY
Background reading The immigration of the West Indies population is a great illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences. Surprisingly enough, much of what is recognized as a traditional, or even national particularity of Britain, may appear to have originated in the Caribbean and be attached to Rastafari movement. The lyrics to the song His Imperial Majesty [2] by Mikey Dread depicts the core of the religion:
Listening (CD 17) [2] His Imperial Majesty Jah, O Jah Rastafari! Emperor Haile Selassie I Emperor Haile Selassie I! His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I They took us away from Africa Far, far, far from Jamaica Look how long, look how long To work on the big plantation Since we've been waiting down here All we see was frustration We have suffered and felt the pain Year after year after year Set me free, set me free From Babylon's slavery and misery Jah, O Jah Rastafari! We are all of one religion Emperor Haile Selassie I! 'Cause I'm a true born Rastaman... ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 50 ______
Questions for consideration: • Whom does the movement accept as ‘His Imperial Majesty’? The former emperor of which African country is he? • What do Rastafarians call him? • What does the lyrics in [2] say about Rastafarians’ African ancestors? • What does the movement call a modern society, seen as a place of slavery and misery?
2.3.4. REDEMPTION SONG
Background reading Quite often Rastafari is referred to as a religion, however, Rastas talk about the way of life, a philosophy. Rasta ideology has spread throughout Britain through reggae music and its representatives. Initially, the movement helped the immigrants to react to the dominance of white society, however, later Rastafari was adopted by British white youth cultures. Storry and Childs prove that “in the late 1970s and 1980s, the Afro Caribbean Rastafarian style influenced both black and white youth subcultural fashion, with red, green and gold Ethiopian colours commonly featuring on T shirts, hats, badges and jackets.” (1997: 172) In 1981, Bob Marley, a pioneer in spreading reggae and Rastafari doctrine throughout the world, wrote a message to Caribbean people living outside their homelands. It is called Redemption Song and the fragments of the lyrics are presented in [3]:
Listening (CD 29) [3] Old pirates, yes they robbed I, 'Cause all I ever have: Sold I to the merchant ships Redemption songs. Minutes after they took I From the bottomless pit. Emancipate yourselves from mental But my hand was made strong slavery; By the hand of the almighty. None but ourselves can free our minds. We forward in this generation Have no fear for atomic energy, triumphantly. 'Cause none of them can stop the time. How long shall they kill our prophets, Won't you help to sing While we stand aside and look? Oh these songs of freedom? Some say it's just a part of it: We've got to fulfill the book. ... ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 51 ______
Questions for consideration: • What does Marley call his native people in the lyrics in [3]? What does the salutation suggest? • What is the first strophe of the lyrics in [3] about? • What is the message of the lyrics in [3]? What kind of freedom does Marley proclaim? • To what extent may immigrants influence the way they will be treated in the new country?
2.3.5. WHITE RIOT
Background reading For Caribbean immigrants to Britain one of the devices to gain freedom is a carnival of West Indies cultures, which takes place annually in Notting Hill, London. It is led by communities of Afro Caribbean people who have been living in Britain since the 1950s. Nevertheless, in the course of the years the black people had to face racist attacks both from the white British natives and the police. The two biggest racially motivated riots in the history of the carnival happened in 1958 and 1976. The first was concerned with the aggression of the white working class youngsters who displayed hostility towards the black residents in the area, the second emerged when the black men attacked the police in order to safeguard their mate, an arrested pickpocket. (URL 24) In 1977, the Clash released their song White Riot [4] as a respond to the riot of 1976, in which two band members were engaged:
Listening (CD 12) [4] White riot I wanna riot All the power's in the hands White riot a riot of my own Of people rich enough to buy it ... ... Black man gotta lot a problems While we walk the street But they don't mind throwing a brick Too chicken to even try it White people go to school ... Where they teach you how to be thick Are you taking over An' everybody's doing or are you taking orders? Just what they're told to Are you going backwards An' nobody wants Or are you going forwards? To go to jail! ... ... ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 52 ______
Questions for consideration: • Which line/s of the lyrics in [4] despises/despise of the class economics? What does the lyrics drive at? • In what way are the black rioters of 1976 depicted in the lyrics in [4]? • Some people claim that the lyrics in [4] seems to be advocating a kind of a race war and appealing to white youngsters to find a worthy cause to riot, as did the black youths at Notting Hill Carnival. Consider the statement.
2.3.6. IT DREAD INNA INGLAN
Background reading The Afro Caribbean communities settled in Britain inevitably manifest their identity via their language and dialects. Montgomery (1986: 78) develops a view that Black Britishers possess a linguistic repertoire coming from the two sources; on one hand their language includes forms of Jamaican Creole, but on the other hand they control forms of Standard English. Such a blend is sometimes regarded as Rastafarian talk which may be intelligible to the English speaker restricted to the standard language. Barrett (1997) states three reasons why it is difficult for an outsider to interpret this Rasta dialect. Firstly, it is ungrammatical when spoken by the uneducated. Secondly, it comprises of Jamaican dialect used at the philosophical level. Thirdly, subject object opposition and verbs are scarce in Rastafarian speech. One of the popularizers of Rasta talk has been Linton Kwesi Johnson, a British based reggae musician whose lyrics deal with experience of being a Caribbean living in Britain. Apart from music, he has introduced the so called dub poetry to Britain. Both his lyrics and poetry were popular during Thatcher’s government and had strong political appeal. His lyrics to the song It Dread Inna Inglan [5] desrcibes the way immigrants in Britain are treated: Listening (CD 24) [5] Dem frame up George Lindo Maggi Tatcha on di go up in Bradford town wid a racist show but de Bradford blaks dem a rally but a she haffi go round kaw, me seh dem frame up George Lindo rite now, up in Bradford town African but de Bradford blaks dem a rally Asian round West Indian ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 53 ______ an´ Black British George Lindo im is a workin man stan firm inna Inglan George Lindo im is a famili man inna disya time yah. George Lindo he never do no wrong Far noh mattah wat dey say, George Lindo di innocent wan come wat may, George Lindo im nuh carri do dagger we are here to stay George Lindo im is not no robber inna Inglan George Lindo dem haffi let im goh inna disya time yah... George Lindo dem betta free im now!
Questions for consideration: • The lyrics in [5] is written in Rasta talk and some features might be seen also in the lyrics in [3]. What is typical of Rasta talk? • George Lindo was born in Hawaii and as a young man emmigrated to Britain, where he worked in a Bradford factory. He was sentenced to prison for a robbery, however, he was found innocent and set free with a huge financial compensation. (URL 1) In what way does the lyrics in [5] comment on the case? • What does the lyrics in [5] say about the relationship between immigrants and the government? • What may white British people make perceive Caribbean immigrants as dull and dense, as far as the language is concerned? (URL 10) • Why do both immigrants in Britain try to preserve their dialect on purpose? • What is the name of a fictional character played by a popular British comedian, who is typical of satirical version of Jamaican dialect and Rasta talk? 2.3.7. THE GUNS OF BRIXTON
Background reading Since the immigrants in the 1980s still had to confront discrimation and unemployment on a much larger scale than their white co citizens, laws protecting ethnic minorities proved as insufficient. The situation of young Afro Caribbeans in the 1980s is commented on by McDowall who claims that “as they were largely confined to depressed urban areas, many whites associated Afro Caribbean youths with violence and disorder.” (McDowall 1999: 108) The most questionable racially induced riots took place in 1981 and 1985 in Brixton, London, an area with serious social and economic problems and ihabited mainly by black communities. The violent protests on the streets of Brixton were to demonstrate against the lack of jobs and houses and mainly the aggresive prejudice of ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 54 ______ the police against people of other races. Childs and Storry (1999: 457) highlight that in the summer of 1981, the unemployment of black youths aged from 16 to 18 reached 55 per cent and this age group happened to be the main concern of the police. Prior to riots, the street crime in Brixton was to be reduced by the so called sus law, which permitted the police to act just on suspicion. (URL 24) In 1979 the Clash reacted to the police high handedness in the song The Guns of Brixton [6], the lyrics of which pre dates the events to come:
Listening (CD 11) [6] Oh, Guns of Brixton No need for the Black Maria Goodbye to the Brixton sun When they kick out your The money feels good ... front door And your life you like it well When they kick out your How you gonna come? But surely your time will front door With your hands on your come How you gonna come? head As in heaven, as in hell With your hands on your Or on the trigger of your gun head You see, he feels like Ivan Or on the trigger of your gun When the law break in Thrown under the Brixton ... How you gonna go? sun Shot down on the pavement Shot down on the pavement His game is called survivin' Waiting in death row Or waiting in death row At the end of the harder they His game was survivin' come As in heaven as in hell You can crush us ... You can bruise us You know it means no mercy Oh, the guns of Brixton But you'll have to answer to They caught him with a gun ...
Questions for consideration: • What kind of police treatment in Brixton does the lyrics in [6] comment on? • May it be regarded right to impose a kind of a law just on a certain group of people? • What does the future hold for Brixton, according to the lyrics in [6]? • What does Brixton look like nowadays? Has anything changed?
Background reading On one hand, some people consider Brixton to remain a dangerous area even in the beginning of the twenty first century, however, Oxford Guide to British and American Culture proves that many British citizens fearlessly go there to enjoy the shops, restaurants and clubs of many different cultures. (Crowther 2001) ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 55 ______ Rees (1993) further states that “the most disputable riot of the 1980s took place in October 1985 in Tottenham, London where a black woman’s death during the inspection of her house led her companions to murder a policeman.” And Musman and Adrian Vallance mention even Birmingham. They observe that “violent clashes between police and residents of some of the poorest areas of London and Birmingham took place in 1981 and 1985. Over two hundred buildings were either destroyed or damaged in the 1985 riots, nearly four hundred police and firemen were injured and four people died.” (1989: 27)
2.3.8. MUNDIAN TO BACH KE
Background reading It may seem that Afro Caribbean people represent the largest ethnic minority group, however, immigrants of Indian origin predominate. Their main contribution to the contemporary British image, apart from youth cultures and dialect, seems to be that of cuisine. As proved by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook in 2001, “chicken tikka masala is now Britain's true national dish, not only because it is the most popular, but because it is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences.” (URL 20) Nevertheless, one of the principal ways to manifest ethnic identity is music. Yet, Indian communities in Britain did not introduce its music until 1980s, when Bhangra became popular among young people. It came from Punjab region, Indian subcontient that is typical of its distinctive language, called Punjabi. (Abercrombie, Warde 1992) The promoter of Punjabi in Britain is an English born musician of Indian origin, Panjabi MC. Though his lyrics are not understandable to the majority of English speaking population in Britain, they have gained the same popularity as British native popular music. Punjabi language is presented in fragments of the lyrics to the song Beware of the Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke) [7] by Panjabi MC:
Listening (CD 31) [7] nIvIAW qUM kuC dyr pw ky rK lY[ AYvyN krIN nw iksy dy nwl ipAwr[ Neevian too’n kuchh der paa kay rakh Aive’n karee’n naa’n kisay day naal lai piaar. Keep your face lowered for some time. Do not fall in love with anyone. ply ivc muKVw lukw ik rih[ muMifAW qoN bc ik rih[[ Palay vich mukhrhaa lukaa kay reh. Mundia’n to’n bach kay reh. Keep your face hidden in the veil. Be aware of boys. ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 56 ______ nIN qUM huxy huxy hoeI muitAwr[ Be aware of boys. Nee’n too’n hunnay hunnay hoee mutiaar. qyrw kI ksUr jy nSIly nYx ho gey[ Hay! You have just become a young Tayraa kee kasoor jay nasheelay nainn woman. ho ga ay. If your eyes are intoxicated, then what muMifAW qoN bc ik rih[ is your fault in it. Mundia’n to’n bach kay reh. ...
Questions for consideration: • Why do Indian immigrants tend to preserve their dialect and to a certain extent avoid accepting Standard English as their official language? • What is the difference between the message of Rasta talk in [5] and Punjabi in [7]? What distinct topics do Caribbeans and Indians express in their music? What does it signal about their attempts to become a part of British cultural identity? • Why do British people enjoy listening to songs in Indian dialect, such as the lyrics in [7], even if they do not often grasp the meaning?
2.3.9. THE GROUND BENEATH HER FEET
Background reading Many writers moved to Britain in the immigration waves and through their works explored the experience of alienation, racism and poverty that greeted them in the 1950s. The literature of African, Caribbean and Indian authors, the former colonists, is typical of permanent search for identity and clarifying its complexity. The novels and poetry collections of the 1950s have become key texts in post colonial writing. (Dabydeen, Wilson Tagoe 1988) The post colonial writers have become an unseparable component of British contemporary literature, many of them outshining the native authors. (URL 15) One of the most respectable post colonial novelists has been Salman Rushdie, born in Bombay, India, who was even awarded a knighthood for services in literature on June 16, 2007. The song The Ground Beneath Her Feet [8] by the Irish band U2 credits Rushdie as the author of the lyrics, because the text is taken from his book of the same name: ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 57 ______
Listening (CD 50) [8] All my life, I worshipped her. I'll be down there in another day. Her golden voice, her beauty's beat. I won't rest until you're found. How she made us feel, how she made Let me love you, let me rescue you. me real. Let me bring you where two roads And the ground beneath her feet. meet. And the ground beneath her feet. Oh come back above. Where there is only love. Only love... And now I can't be sure of anything. Let me love you true, let me rescue Black is white and cold is heat. you. For what I worshipped stole my love Let me bring you to where two roads away. meet It was the ground beneath her feet. It was the ground beneath her feet Let me love you true, let me rescue you. Go lightly down your darkened way. Let me bring you to where two roads Go lightly underground. meet
Questions for consideration: • What other great figures of post colonial literature, apart from Rushdie, have influenced British contemporary fiction? • Where was Rushdie educated? When did he settle in Britain? • What are Rushdie’s most respected novels? Which of them is/are the most controversial? In which country is majority of his early fiction at least partly set? • What is the main issue explored in Rushdie’s novels? • The lyrics in [8] is a part of the text of Rushdie’s novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet . When was the novel published? What is its plot? • What other artists/bands, apart from U2, have cited a famous novel in their lyrics?
2.3.10. SGUABAN ARBHAIR
Background reading Traditionally, Britain is considered to be a Christian state, however, out of the three constituent countries, only England has a state faith in the form of the established church. Nevertheless, in the course of the years, communities of immigrants have made Britain a mutli religious country. Not only had they established a presence of different kinds of religion such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Rastafarianism., but they attracted many people to convert. (URL 24) ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 58 ______ However, contemporary British identity is determined also by ethno linguistic groups that spread to the different parts of Britain many centuries before the post war immigrants. Gaels, for instance, originated in Ireland and later settled in the west of Scotland. Before modern kinds of communication, it was possible for the Gaelic people never to hear the English language, thus Gaelic remains to be spoken in the areas of the former settlers and has been heard of via Scottish folk rock group, Runrig, whose Gaelic lyrics to the song Sguaban Arbhair/The Sheaves Of Corn is shown in [9]:
Listening (CD 40) [9] Bha mi raoir a' siubhal drathair and grandmother 'S thainig dealbh do mo laimh With a small boy by their side Dealbh mo sheannmh'air is mo shean'air They were working, making sheaves of 'S balach og na shuidh' ri'n taobh corn 'S iad ag obair aig na sguaban arbhair I sat looking into that photograph all Shuidh mi g'an coimhead fad' na h night oidhch' A longing came into my heart Thainig cianalas na m'chridhe And a heaviness bore down upon me 'S thainig cuideam na mo laimh Uair eile gu bhith dhachaidh It is not the ageing process that I am Uair eile gu bhith beo resisting Ruith mu'n cuairt na sguaban arbhair It is not that my life is unfulfilled Uair eile gu bhith og It is to realise that I am living in a wooden world Cha'n e aois a tha mi sabaid With people that can not understand Cha'n e mo bheatha nach eil slan my language 'S e bhith fuireach ann a' saoghal maide Le chuid daoin' nach tuig mo chainnt My grandfather and my grandmother have long gone Dh'fhalbh mo sheannmh'air 's mo The sheaves of corn have fallen down shean'air I have departed to another world Thuit na sguaban arbhair sios And Gaelic had disappeared from my Dh'fhalbh mi gu saobhal eile mouth 'S dh'fhalbh a' Ghaidhlig bho mo bheul Once more to be home Last night I was looking through a Once more to be alive drawer Running around the sheaves of corn I came across a photograph Once more to be young It was a photograph of my grandfather
Questions for consideration: • What groups of languages do Gaelic and English belong to? Where else is Gaelic spoken? • In what area of Britain is the plot of the lyrics in [9] set? How is its life different from that of big cities such as London and Edinburgh? ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 59 ______ • What kind of change does the narrator in the lyrics in [9] describe? What has happened to his/her identity?
2.3.11. SCOTS WHA HAE , FLOWER OF SCOTLAND
Background reading Another inseparable component of British cultural identity has been the issue of Scots language. McClure (1997) devotes attention to the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots, as it has been classified neither as a language, nor a dialect. Thus it may be confused with Scottish English, which is a form of English language used in Scotland and is referred to as Scottish Standard English. No matter what category Scots falls into, it has stood for a patriotic language of Scotland. The lyrics to the song Scots Wha Hae in [10] was written by Robert Burns in the late eighteenth century and for a long period of time used to serve as an anthem of Scotland:
Listening (CD 6) [10] 'Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, 'Wha, for Scotland's king and law, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Freedom's sword will strongly draw, Welcome tae your gory bed, Freeman stand, or Freeman fa', Or tae Victorie! Let him on wi' me! 'Now's the day, and now's the hour: 'By Oppression's woes and pains! See the front o' battle lour, By your sons in servile chains! See approach proud Edward's power We will drain our dearest veins, Chains and Slaverie! But they shall be free! 'Wha will be a traitor knave? 'Lay the proud usurpers low! Wha will fill a coward's grave? Tyrants fall in every foe! Wha sae base as be a slave? Liberty's in every blow! Let him turn and flee! Let us do or dee!'
Background reading Scots Wha Hae gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, when it became a part of the Corries’, a Scottish folk band, repertoire. In 1966, the band member Roy Williamson wrote a lyrics to the song Flower of Scotland [11], which is an unofficial anthem of Scotland nowadays:
Listening (CD 13) [11] Your wee bit Hill and Glen, The Hills are bare now, And stood against him, And Autumn leaves O Flower of Scotland, Proud Edward's Army, lie thick and still, When will we see And sent him homeward, O'er land that is lost now, Your like again, Tae think again. Which those so dearly held, That fought and died for, That stood against him, ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 60 ______ Proud Edward's Army, And be the nation again, your like again, And sent him homeward, That stood against him, That fought and died for, Tae think again. Proud Edward's Army, Your wee bit Hill and Glen, And sent him homeward, And stood against him, Those days are past now, Tae think again. Proud Edward's Army, And in the past And sent him homeward, they must remain, O Flower of Scotland, Tae think again. But we can still rise now, When will we see
Questions for consideration: • What historical event do lyrics in [10] and [11] comment on and celebrate? • What may be the reason why is the lyrics in [10] so popular that it is the current party song of the National Scottish Party? (URL 24) • Who was Robert Burns? How is he connected to British history? What other well known lyrics is he the author of? • In general, all national anthems have something in common. What typical features are included in the lyrics in [11]?
2.3.12. INTERNATIONAL VELVET
Background reading Apart from Gaelic and Scots, the image of contemporary Britain involves also Welsh culture. According to Mathieson (2001), the number of Welsh speakers in Britain had been declining for decades due to the increasing use of the English language. On the other hand, Mathieson provides an argument that at the end of the twentieth century it became compulsory for all school children to learn Welsh up to age 16, which reinforced the language in Welsh speaking areas and reintroduced elementary knowledge of the language in areas that had become Anglophone. The comeback of Welsh is apparent both in education and popular culture. To prove the statement, in 1998 the Welsh band Catatonia released their song International Velvet [12], the lyrics of which displays rather nationalism than internationalism:
Listening (CD 9) [12] Deffrwch Cymru cysglyd gwlad y gan, Every day when I wake up I thank the Dwfn yw'r gwendid bychan yw y fflam lord I'm Welsh creulon yw'r cynhaeaf, ond per yw'r Gwledd o fedd gynhyrfodd Cymraes don swil daw alaw'r alarch unig yn fy mron Every day when I wake up I thank the Pan darganfyddais gwir paradwys Rhyl lord I'm Welsh Every day when I wake up I thank the ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 61 ______ lord I'm Welsh Dwfn yw'r gwendid bychan yw y fflam Every day when I wake up I thank the Every day when I wake up I thank the lord I'm Welsh lord I'm Welsh Deffrwch Cymru cysglyd gwlad y gan, ...
Questions for consideration: • Welsh and Gaelic are Celtic languages. Nowadays, ‘Celt’ means any member of any group of people within Europe, who speaks Celtic. Who is meant by the term ‘Celt’ in the context of British history? • Where, beside Wales, Britain, is Welsh spoken? • The lyrics in [12] shows enthusiasm about being Welsh. What may Welsh people be proud of? 2.3.13. EBONY AND IVORY
Background reading The beginning of the twenty first century in Britain may have given an impression of a multicultural country, in which the media aimed at a teenage market educated young people in ethnic issues, but ethnic minorities might still perceive the world divided by class and race. The consequences of possible racial prejudice especially concern Afro Caribbean immigrants, 25 per cent of which were still unemployed in the late 1990s and who even nowadays find it very hard to get a job. In the 1960s Martin Luther King and others had argued passionately for racial harmony and equality among whites and blacks. In the following decades there was very little evidence that this dream was coming true. At least the metaphor in the lyrics to the song Ebony and Ivory [13] by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder seems to be showing awareness of the issues having been actual but rather ignored since the 1960s:
Listening (CD 30) [13] Ebony And Ivory live together in perfect harmony Side by side on my piano keyboard oh lord why dont we? We all know that people are the same where ever you go there is good and bad in everyone we learn to live we learn to give each other what we need to survive together alive Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony... ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 62 ______
Questions for consideration: • What kind of metaphor does the lyrics in [13] contain? • Some people claim that McCartney and Wonder themselves respresent ivory and ebony. (URL 1) What may be meant by the statemenet? • What country/countries, if any, does/do treat all the people more equally than Britain?
YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 63 ______
2.4. YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS Background reading In Britain, a wide variety of attitudes have been expressed towards the young, including sympathy, fear, even dislike and envy. British sociologists claim that youth cultures should be regarded as a new phenomenon to be treated as a special social category. (Abercrombie 1992) The birth of youth cultures is traceable in the 1950s. With the economic dependence on the United States, the standard of living in Britain rose. British people had a healthier life style and the level of education apparently increased. They had discovered new forms of pleasure which resulted in monitoring the latest fashion and clothing and watching TV, which became the most popular form of home entertainment. (Storry, Childs 1997) A generation gap between youth and adults had extended. Young people stood out since they had more money to spend on the new fashion. It may be stated that in the 1950s they were identified as a distinct group of consumers and since then have been associated with certain kinds of products and markets. (Chrisp 1994) On the contrarzy, John Osborne’s character Jimmy Porter came to symbolize the whole era, the generation of angry young men. Political views of these authors were seen as radical, sometimes even anarchic, and they described social alienation young people may have felt. They also often expressed their critical views on society as a whole, criticising certain behaviours or groups. (Carpenter 2002) As apparent from above, youth cultures, sometimes referred to as sub cultures, are attached to leisure rather than work. Abercrombie (1992) state that leisure is one of three important features of young people who participate in a youth culture. The second feature is that youth cultures are organized around the peer group and thirdly, youth cultures are characterized by a strong interest in style. It should be noted that adult groups of any kind also have such characteristics but they are not so marked.
2.4.1. GAMBLIN ’ MAN
Background reading The emergence of youth cultures in Britain is associated with musical styles, the core of which involves all the three mentioned features. Music has been one of the most YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 64 ______ distinctive part of leisure, has gathered peer groups and given significant impact on the style. The late 1950s’ social climate and its understanding completely changed when a new wave of music from the United States reached young people. The boom of rock and roll movement in Britain set up a new lifestyle which, according to Gammond (1991), was not restricted only to music. The new ideology provoked the origins of new social groups, which transformed into youth cultures. The most noticeable were Teddy Boys, young men wearing typical clothes of Edwardian style and regarding rock and roll as the authority. However, soon they were tired of American heroes and wanted their own, British idols. One of them was Cliff Richards, who made rock and roll also a British matter. In the mid 1950s, an originally British musical style, skiffle, was discovered and invented by a Scottish musician Lonnie Donegan. The lyrics to his song Gamblin’ Man is quoted in [1]:
Listening (CD 16) [1] I've gambled down in Washington And I've gambled up in Maine I'm going down into Georgia To knock down my last game I'm a gamblin' man, man, man ... Well I'd not been in Washington Many more weeks than three When I fell in love with a pretty little girl And she fell in love with me I'm a gamblin' man I'm a gamblin' man …
Questions for consideration: • How could be explained the frequent use of geographical names? • What country was typical of gambling in the 1950s? Was it typical of Britain? • The skiffle lyrics were written to satisfy young listeners. Why might the lyrics in [1] have been attractive for British young people? • According to [1], what kind of a strategy of writing a successful lyrics was popular in the 1950s? YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 65 ______
Background reading Marwick considers young people of the 1950s to be an unseparable part of the decade and also appoints them as those who took a great advantage of the scientific progress. He proves that “technological developments, allied with the particular turn taken by popular music, were to give youth a particular hegemony over the aspect of popular culture.” (1996: 123)
2.4.2. MY GENERATION
Background reading In the 1960s, the way of life in Britain completely changed. The revolutionary young generation was in the public eye and markedly influenced the social situation within the country. A small scale study researched by sociologist Kitwood later in 1980 showed that the content of negotiations between teenagers and their parents in the 1960s was determined by class and gender. To comment on the latter and its proportion in the youth cultures structure, Abercrombie (1992) points out that girls have joined in youth cultures, however, the rate of their participation has been very low. He further emphasizes the fact that girls have not stood at the centre of a group but became supporters or helpers to the boys. The spokesmen for the whole era became the Who and their song My Generation of 1966, the lyrics of which [2] expresses rather macho attitude towards the adults and the society:
Listening (CD 51) [2] People try to put us d down (Talkin' 'bout my generation) Just because we get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation) Things they do look awful c c cold (Talkin' 'bout my generation) I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my generation) This is my generation ... Why don't you all f fade away (Talkin' 'bout my generation) And don't try to dig what we all s s say (Talkin' 'bout my generation) I'm not trying to cause a big s s sensation (Talkin' 'bout my generation) I'm just talkin' 'bout my g g g generation (Talkin' 'bout my generation) This is my generation ... YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 66 ______
Questions for consideration: • Why might people consider the lyrics to the song My Generation to be a manifesto of the 1960s? • What attitudes towards the adults are visible from the lyrics in [2]? • What values, according to the lyrics in [2], did British young people in the 1960s adhere to? • To what extent might negotiations between teenagers and their parents of middle class differ from those of working class families? • The rebellion expressed in [2] is associated with boys rather than girls. What kind of expression could be more typical of girls and young women in the 1960s?
Background reading Since the 1960s, sociologists have concentrated research on woking class youth cultures as they tend to be defiant and spectacular. They represent a form of resistance to the conditions of working class life, however, each sub culture in a completely different way. For example mods and rockers, two dissimilar groups of youngsters that happened to be confronting each others, emerged right in the 1960s. Mods, cultivated and neat, sometimes sharply dressed looked scornfully at leather jacketed motorbike riders and unconventional rioters, the rockers.
2.4.3. (I CAN ’T GET NO) SATISFACTION
Background reading Influenced by San Francisco and hippy movement, British young people started to explore to what extent the human mind might be affected. Within British youth cultures, the idea of psychedelia was quickly adopted, which meant the exploration of different ways to perceive reality. These ways usually implied flirting with drugs that were easy to get and in the late 1960s caused overdoses and deaths of a number of young people. (Healey 1988) In 1965, in the starting phase of psychedelia, the Rolling Stones came up with the song (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction , the lyrics of which [3] shows offence and impudance: YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 67 ______
Listening (CD 38) [3] I can’t get no satisfaction How white my shirts can be I can’t get no satisfaction Well he can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke ’Cause I try and I try and I try and I try The same cigarrettes as me I can’t get no, I can’t get no I can’t get no, oh no no no When I’m drivin’ in my car Hey hey hey, that’s what I say And that man comes on the radio ... And he’s tellin’ me more and more When I’m ridin’ round the world About some useless information And I’m doin’ this and I’m signing that Supposed to fire my imagination And I’m tryin’ to make some girl I can’t get no, oh no no no Who tells me baby better come back later next Hey hey hey, that’s what I say week ... ’Cause you see I’m on losing streak When I’m watchin’ my tv I can’t get no, oh no no no And that man comes on to tell me Hey hey hey, that’s what I say ...
Questions for consideration: • Consider the statment about the lyrics in [3]. Paul Gambaccini, a radio and television presenter claims that “the lyrics to this were truly threatening to an older audience. This song was perceived as an attack on the status quo.” (URL 21) What kind of status quo may be meant? • What exactly has made the lyrics so daring in the eyes of older people and the authorities? • When the song was presented on TV in 1966, the line "trying to make some girl" was bleeped out by censors. Would the censorship be the same nowadays? If not, what has changed?
2.4.4. ALI BABA ’S CAMEL , LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS
Background reading As observed by Healey (1988), throughout the world the late 1960s signalled the youth in revolt. The major issues to rebel against were the American involvement in the war in Vietnam and students fighting for their rights in Paris 1968. Healey further underlines protest meetings about conditions at universities, in which British young people joined and their demand that marijuana should be made legal. Young people even managed to pull down many restrictions concerning sex and marriage. In 1969 the group of British art school men, called The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, released the song Ali Baba’s Camel , the introductory strophe of which is presented in [4] and which awakened the public interest in the issue: YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 68 ______
Listening (CD 4) [4] You've heard of Ali Baba. Forty thieves had he. Out for what we all want. Lots of LSD. He also had a camel. Stole it from a zoo. How he loved the camel, and the camel loved him too. Oh, how the how the camel loved Ali Ba(r)Ba(r)!...
Background reading Also the Beatles were accused of being inappropriate, especially in 1967 after writing the lyrics to the song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds [5], in the title of which the three initial letters of the words could have referred to the drugs, thus to their promotion:
Listening (CD 1) [5] Picture yourself in a boat on a river, marshmallow pies, With tangerine trees and marmalade Everyone smiles as you drift past the skies flowers, Somebody calls you, you answer quite That grow so incredibly high. slowly, Newspaper taxis appear on the shore, A girl with kaleidoscope eyes. Waiting to take you away. Cellophane flowers of yellow and Climb in the back with your head in the green, clouds, Towering over your head. And you're gone. Look for the girl with the sun in her ... eyes, Picture yourself on a train in a station, And she's gone. With plasticine porters with looking Lucy in the sky with diamonds glass ties, ... Suddenly someone is there at the Follow her down to a bridge by a turnstile, fountain The girl with kaleidoscope eyes. Where rocking horse people eat ...
Questions for consideration:
• The Bonzos came to the attention of a broader British public through a children's television programme. What could have been the public reaction on the lyrics to the song in [4] then like? • Until 1971 Great Britain had a different system of money, known as the pounds, shillings and pence system, which used to be called ‘Lsd’ – ‘L’ coming from the Latin word ‘libra’, ‘d’ from ‘denarius’, a Roman coin. (URL 5) Given it the new context, how could be the lyrics in [4] explained? What may have been beyond such a double meaning? YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 69 ______ • John Lennon, the author of the lyrics in [5], denied that the title of the song had been made up intentionally. (Davies 1978) However, many people argue that the content of the lyrics is too psychedelic to lack any connection with the drug affection or even intoxication. Consider the content of the lyrics in [5]. What is its message? • Why was the issue of drugs so attractive in the 1960s that the bands had taken the risk of being accused of corrupting teenagers?
2.4.5. SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP
Background reading Paradoxes of youth cultures in 1970s may be well illustrated by skinhead culture. The skinheads of the 1970s were much more provocative and rougher than youngsters in the 1960s. They have been associated predominantly with violence and racist aggression towards the people they have thought of as outsiders – black people, even students or anybody who looks ‘odd’. According to Clarke (1976), skinheads have been perfect representatives of working class, even though they claim to despise its way of life. For Clarke, the skinhead insistence on territory, their dislike anybody different, and the antipathy to authority are all elements of working class life. (in Abercrombie, Warde 1992) In opposition to skinheads, the so called Rude Boys appeared to be influential enough to create a new subculture. They followed teenagers having their roots in Caribbean countries and were typical of hanging round the streets and occasionally committing crime, due to bad treatment from native peers and authorities. (Healey 1989) During the 1970s, the spokesmen for the Rude Boys were The Specials, coming from Coventry and having both black and white members. (Garrett 1989) In 1979, they expressed mutual relationship between the skinheads and the Rude Boys in their lyrics to the song Skinhead Moonstomp [6]:
Listening (CD 46) [6] I want all you skinheads to get up on your feet Put your braces together and your boots on your feet And give me some of that old moonstomping Are you ready? Start stomping! ... YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 70 ______
Questions for consideration: • What typical features of the skinheads’ appearance does the lyrics in [6] mention? What are other characteristics? • What kind of relationship does the lyrics in [6] suggest? How did the Rude Boys think of the skinheads? What qualities did they assign them?
2.4.6. ANARCHY IN THE UK
Background reading It is believed that the youth culture of middle class in the 1970s was punk movement. Young people of middle class were more conforming and concerned with social structures. Yet, they were more political than working class people. Their political involvement started in the 1960s in student protests and peace movements. As the result, the young people of middle class devoted less time to the leisure and style. Still, the message British punk was sending out was one of rebellion, individuality and a wholesale rejection of society's expectations. Moreover, punk became a powerful medium for making political statements, as seen in [7] where fragments of the lyrics to the song Anarchy in the UK by the Sex Pistols is quoted, and for many stood for their early political education:
Listening (CD 41) [7] Right! Now ha ha ha... I use the N.M.E I am an antichrist I use Anarchy I am an anarchist ... Don't know what I want Is this the M.P.L.A or But I know how to get it Is this the U.D.A or I wanna destroy the passerby Is this the I.R.A ... I thought it was the UK Anarchy for the UK Or just another country It's coming sometime and maybe Another council tenancy I give a wrong time stop a traffic line ... Your future dream is a shopping I wanna be Anarchy scheme And I wanna be Anarchy .... (Oh what a name) How many ways to get what you want ... I use the best And I wanna be an anarchist I use the rest (I get pissed, destroy!)
Questions for consideration: • What kind of anarchy does the lyrics in [7] desire to achieve? YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 71 ______ • The lyrics in [7] mentions several organizations prominent at the time and compares them to the UK. What kind of organizations do ‘MPLA’, ‘UDA’ and ‘IRA’ represent? • What differences in attitudes towards the society are recognizable between the lyrics in [6] and [7]? Are differences determined by the class?
2.4.7. REJECT OF SOCIETY
Background reading In the late 1970s, anarchism became very popular within youth cultures. As proved by the Crass in the lyrics to the song Reject of Society in [8], it went against the socio political conventions and the authorities:
Listening (CD 15) [8] Not for me the factory floor, Now you start to worry. Sweeping up from nine to four. The Frankenstein monster you created Not for me the silly rat race, Has turn against you now you're hated. I don't see the point in anycase. They tell me I'm not what they'd like People ask me why I say what I do, me to be, I say to them, "Well wouldn't you?" It's their fault, you can't blame me. If you were fucked up just like me, They fucking tricked me half the time A reject of society. Now they've got to stand in line. They say I dig a hole and jump right in, They don't like it when they see me Well I don't give a shit about anything, have fun, I don't comply to their silly rules, They turn around and then they run. All they are is hypocritical fools. They don't listen to what I say, You give us conscience money, I'm a reject of society. ...
Questions for consideration: • Who/what is the narrator in the lyrics in [8] unhappy with? Whom does the narrator blame for his/her misfortune? • What does the lyrics in [8] signal about young people’s attitude towards work? • In what way does the lyrics in [8] reject the society? • What features are typical of anarchism in general?
Background reading Punk movement and anarchistic ideas may have originated in the 1970s, however, they do influence young generation even nowadays. Nevertheless, the proportion of their followers within the youth cultures is rather marginal. YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 72 ______
2.4.8. TAINTED LOVE
Background reading In the early 1980s, New Romantic movement occured in Britain and was primarily concerned with music and fashion. According to Gammond (1991) it was British musical industry that helped to specify the image of the New Romantic youth cultures, especially the fact that vinyl was replaced by compact disc and new technology gave birth to the new styles. The movement took place in London clubs, in which young people gathered. New Romantics are said to have worn effeminate clothes; they wore frilly shirts and make up. A musician David Bowie was considered to be a fashion icon for the New Romanticism. (Childs, Storry 1999) The youth cultures that emerged around the movement despised of the simplicity and austericity of punk and anarchism and demanded more sophisticated values by which to exist. An issue of homosexuality happened to be widely discussed, as suggested in the song Tainted Love covered by the New Romantic band Soft Cell, the excerpt of which may be seen in [9]:
Listening (CD 45) [9] Sometimes I feel I've got to Now I know I've got to Run away I've got to Run away I've got to Get away Get away From the pain that you drive into the You don't really want it any more from heart of me me The love we share To make things right Seems to go nowhere You need someone to hold you tight And I've lost my light And you'll think love is to pray For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night But I'm sorry I don't pray that way ... ... Once I ran to you Don't touch me please Now I'll run from you I cannot stand the way you tease This tainted love you've given I love you though you hurt me so I give you all a boy could give you Now I'm going to pack my things and Take my tears and that's not nearly all go Oh...tainted love Tainted love Tainted love ... ...
Questions for consideration: • What has changed in the youth cultures’ approach to the social issues since the 1950s? YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 73 ______ • What kind of love may be described in the lyrics in [9]? The band’s fans claim it does not display features of a usual heterosexual love song. Whether right or wrong, what might the fans be driving at? • Given the lyrics in [9] the contexts of homosexuality, what kind of tragedy may be hinted at? How would the title of the song be explained then? • What may have made the issue of homosexuality, out of a sudden, so openly debated?
2.4.9. BATTLE OF THE BEANFIELD
Background reading The 1980s brought a social phenomenon of people living in communities and travelling from place to place, between musical festivals and fairs. These groups of people are referred to as New Age Travellers, named after New Age and hippie beliefs shared within the communities. The convoys travelled without necessary tax and insurance, thus the movement had faced significant opposition by the British government and media since the mid 1980s. On June 1, 1985 an incident between the police and the Travellers happened, in which the police prevented the Travellers from setting up camps at Stonehenge. The incident is known as the Battle of the Beanfield and has been one of the largest mass civil arrests in English history. (Thorton 1989) The police repression of the Travellers is depicted in the lyrics to the song Battle of the Beanfield [10] by the Levellers:
Listening (CD 26) [10] I thought I heard something calling me I've seen the pictures on TV Hey, hey, now can't you see And I made up my mind that I'd go and There's nothing here that you can call see free With my own eyes They're getting their kicks They're laughing at you and me It didn't take too long to hitch a ride With a guy going south to start a new As the sun rose on the beanfield life They came like wolf on the fold Past the place where my friend died And no, they didn't give a warning Two years ago They took their bloody toll Down the 303 at the end of the road I seen a pregnant woman Flashing lights exclusion zones Lying in blood of her own And it made me think it's not just the I seen her children crying stones As the police tore apart their home That they're guarding YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 74 ______ And no they didn't need a reason free It's what your votes condone They're getting their kicks It seems they were committing treason They're laughing at you and me By trying to live on the road ... Bastards And I say, Remember what you heard, Hey, hey, now can't you see ... There's nothing here that you can call
Questions for consideration: • In what relation is the narrator in the lyrics in [10] to the riot? • Why may the authorities have prevented the Travellers from the Stonehenge festival? • The Earl of Cardigan, who witnessed the scene, said: “I shall never forget the screams of one woman who was holding up her little baby in a bus with smashed windows. She screamed at them to stop.” (Thorton 1989) Does the lyrics in [10] correspond with the quote? What does the lyrics in [10] say about the police actions? • The lyrics in [10] is said to show the police contempt of the Travellers. Which line/s prove/s the statement? • The Travellers are referred to as Peace Convoy. Why may they have been given such a label?
Background reading The movement New Age Travellers may have been a product of the 1980s, however, a number of communities continued to travel in the 1990s. In 1994, the Criminal Justice Act was passed, in which the Travellers were restricted by the law and trespassing was made a criminal act. Wong further points out that it was the first time in British history when young people as a whole were criminalized and the first time for a youth culture to appear in the British Law. (URL 25)
2.4.10. THEIR LAW
Background reading At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, youth cultures created their identity in the clubs, the control of which had they quickly taken. Youngsters discovered dancing and YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 75 ______ ecstasy as a fashionable companion to the enjoyment of music and gave birth to the rave culture, which transformed from the Acid House scene to the mainstream underground movement, predominantly based in London. The lyrics to the song Their Law by the rave band Prodigy, presented in [11], depicts the ideological focus of the movement:
Listening (CD 35) [11] What we're dealing with here is a total lack of respect for the law I'm the law and you can't beat the law ... Fuck 'em and their law Crack down at sundown Fuck 'em and their law
Questions for consideration: • What does the lyrics in [11] reveal about the rave movement? • Whom/what do the first two lines in [11] paraphrase? • What does the lyrics in [11] say about the relationship between the rave movement and the authorities?
2.4.11. END OF A CENTURY
Background reading In the mid 1990s, some of the youth cultures tended to form according to class origin and adopted many features from the young people of the 1960s and 1970s. However, they were rather individualistic both in fashion and style. The widespread adoption of computers and the Internet decreased the number of the groups of young people gathering in the clubs and made teenagers stay at home and wait to see what the new millenium holds for them. Despite the enthusiasm for extreme sports, other kinds of entertainment and outcomes of modern Britain in general, many young people felt rather sceptical about the late 1990s, as depicted in the lyrics to the song End of a Century in [12] by Blur:
Listening (CD 2) [12] She says there's ants in the carpet She needs a little sparkle Dirty little monsters Good morning TV Eating all the morsels You're looking so healthy Picking up the rubbish We all say Give her effervescence Don't want to be alone YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 76 ______ We wear the same clothes The mind gets dirty Cause we feel the same As you get closer to thirty We kiss with dry lips He gives her a cuddle When we say goodnight They're glowing in a huddle Good night TV End of a century... oh, it's nothing You're all made up special And you're looking like me Sex on the TV Can you eat her yes you can Everybody's at it ...
Questions for consideration: • What kinds of stereotypes, according to the lyrics in [12] were believed to be preserved at the end of the twentieth century? • What does the lyrics in [12] say about the lifestyle of a young couple in the late 1990s? • Has the new millenium broken up the utopy the young people may have spread out in the late 1990s? What has changed in people’s everyday lives?
CONCLUSION 77 ______ 3. CONCLUSION The previous chapters provided a sourcebook of informative material, the core of which is based on the connection between contemporary cultural background in Britain and popular lyrics. The aim of the thesis was to design a textbook that would awaken one’s interest in selected cultural issues of contemporary Britain and raise one’s general knowledge in the field of British cultural studies. Above all, the textbook was written with the aim of providing solid material for both secondary school and university students and teachers. The individual subchapters, the so called ‘cultural images’, may be adapted to specific purposes and further be used as a source for lesson planning or designing a course based on cross curricular approach to teaching and learning. The cultural images included in the textbook were selected on the basis of two criteria; the first criterion was to at least partly follow the topics of the curricular approach to culture teaching, the second was to choose issues that might be challenging for both students and teachers. The song lyrics contained in the textbook helped to summarize the extent to which popular music has been involved in the overall cultural and social climate of contemporary Britain, therefore several conclusions may be made. Generally, the topics depicted in British popular lyrics have not changed much over the past five decades. Lyrics commenting on British political background have inclined to address individual political figures rather than observe periods in which the politicians were in power. Remarkably enough, the Queen and the monarchy have not been regarded as unassailable symbols of the country and in the course of the years have been successively mocked in the lyrics. Within the sphere of lifestyle and leisure, the lyrics seem to have treated the main themes rather uncritically. The lyrics appear to have been describing particular phenomena without expressing concrete standpoints, which is the case, for instance, of the issue of work ethic and sports fans. However, the lyrics dealing with media outcomes have been conveying more resolute opinions on the topics. The lyrics contemplating the issues of ethnicity and multiculturalism have addressed the problem of racial diversity in Britain. In the lyrics, songwriters have, at different levels of urgency, been referring to issues still present in British society, such CONCLUSION 78 ______ as injustice, poverty and prejudice. The attention of the songwriters has been drawn to significant events, such as racially motivated riots, and rather legal aspect of the matter, such as law restrictions and power of authorities, either government or local. The lyrics further proved that trends and tendencies in British society have been markedly influenced by young generation and youth cultures. Most of the lyrics composed in the previous decades by youth cultures’ icons stood up to the test of time and nowadays are regarded as manifestos of a particular youth culture or a period of time. The common theme of the lyrics is alienation and rejection of the mainstream society. To establish their own opinion on the lyrics, students and teachers are advised to listen to the most relevant songs, which are available on the enclosed CD in the appendix. Since the popular lyrics represent unlimited source of cultural codes, the textbook may be expanded by contributions of further cultural images or whole chapters.
RESUMÉ 79 ______
RESUMÉ Tato diplomová práce nabízí studijní materiál, který obsahuje vybrané kapitoly ze současné britské kultury, a je založena na předpokladu, že britské kulturní prostředí se manifestuje v textech populárních písní. Vlastní studijní text je rozdělen do čtyř samostatných částí dle předem stanovených oblastí britské kultury. Jednotlivé kapitoly se zabývají konkrétními kulturními jevy, které jsou zachyceny v relevantních písňových textech. Každá kapitola obsahuje tři části: základní informace o daném jevu, poslech a otázky k zamyšlení. K textu je připojeno CD s příslušnými písněmi, které je součástí přílohy diplomové práce. Cílem práce bylo vytvořit materiál jak pro vysokoškolské studenty se zájmem o britská kulturní studia, tak pro středoškolské a vysokoškolské učitele, kteří mohou jednotlivé kapitoly použít jako podklad pro náplň svých vyučovacích jednotek a kurzů. Studijní text lze využít také pro samostudium.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 80 ______
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abercrombie, N., Warde, A. (1992). Contemporary British Society. Cambridge: Polity Press. Addis, C. (1992). Britain Now . London: BBC English. Banks, J.A., McGee, C. A. (1989) . Multicultural education. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Barrett, L. (1997). The Rastafarians . Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Bromhead, P. (1991). Life in Modern Britain. Aylesbury: BPCC Hazell Books. ISBN 0 582 03642 9. Brown, H. D. (1980). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. In Valdes J. M. (Ed.) (1994). Culture Bound. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 31045 8 Carpenter, H. (2002). The Angry Young Men: A Literary Comedy of the 1950s. London: Penguin Books. Childs, P., Storry, M. (1999). Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 14726 3. Chrisp, P. (1994). Britain since 1930. London: BBC Educational Publishing. ISBN 0 563 39640 7. Collins, J. (1989). Uncommon Cultures: Popular Culture and Post-Modernism. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 90137 5. Crowther, J. (2001). Oxford Guide to British and American Culture . Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 431332 8. Dabydeen, D., Wilson Tagoe, N. (1988). A Reader’s Guide to West Indian and Black British Literature. London: Hansib. Davies, H. (1978). The Beatles. New York City: McGraw Hill. ISBN 0 07 015463 5. Fiske, J. (1994). Understanding Popular Culture. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 07876 8. Ford, B. (1988). The Cambridge Guide to the Arts in Britain. Since the Second World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 32765 2. Frith, S. (1992). From the Beatles to Bros: Twenty-Five Years of British Pop. In Abercrombie, N., Warde, A. (Eds.) (1992). Social Change in Contemporary Britain. Cambridge: Polity Press. ISBN 0 7456 0782 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY 81 ______
Gammond, P. (1991). The Oxford Companion to Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 280004 3. Garrett, M. (1989). The Seventies. Hove: Wayland Publishers Ltd. ISBN 1 85210 724 3. Hart, A. (1991). Understanding the Media. A Practical Guide. London: Routledge. Healey, T. (1988). The 1960s. London: Franklin Watts. ISBN 0 86313 703 2. Healey, T. (1989). The 1970s. London: Franklin Watts. ISBN 0 86313 702 4. Hebdige, D. (1988). Hiding in the Light: On Images and Things . London: Routledge. Hiro, D. (1992). Black British, White British . London: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0 586 09137 8. Hofstede, G. (1984). National cultures and corporate cultures . In Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E. (Eds.) Communication Between Cultures . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Kramsch, C. (1996). Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 437187 5. Lederach, J.P. (1995). Preparing for peace: Conflict transformation across cultures . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Lyndon, J. (1995). Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs. Picador. ISBN 0 3121 1883 X. Marwick, A. (1996). British Society Since 1945 . London: Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0 14 024939 7. Marwick, A. (1991). Culture in Britain Since 1945. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd. ISBN 0 631 17189 4. Mathieson, K. (2001). Wales, Isle of Man and England. In Mathieson, K. (Ed.). Celtic Music. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0 87930 623 8. McClure, J. D. (1997). Why Scots Matters. Edinburgh: Saltire Society. ISBN 0 85411 071 2. McDowall, D. (2003). An Illustrated History of Britain. Harlow: Longman Group UK Limited. ISBN 0 582 74914 X. McDowall, D. (1991). Britain in Close-up. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. ISBN 0 582 32826 8. Mlčochová, Š. (2005). British Cultural Background in the Second Half of the 20 th Century as Interpreted by Popular Music. Brno. Montgomery, M. (1986). An Introduction to Language and Society. London: Routledge. BIBLIOGRAPHY 82 ______
Mountford, A., Wadham Smith, N. (2000). British Studies: Intercultural Perspectives. London: Longman. ISBN 0 582 42962 5. Murphey, T. (1995). Music & Song. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 437055 0. Musman, R., Adrian Vallance, D. (1991). Britain Today. Harlow: Longman Group UK Limited. ISBN 0 582 74930 1. O’Brien, S. (2004). Popular Culture: A User’s Guide. Toronto: Thomson. Peston, R. (2005). Brown’s Britain. London: Short Books. ISBN 1904095674. Phillips, M., Phillips, T. (1998). Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain. London: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0 00 653039 7. Randle, J. (1986). Understanding Britain: A History of the British People and their Culture. London: Lingual House. ISBN 0 86270 919 9. Rees, R. (1993). We were there, the 1980s. Oxford: Heinemann Library. ISBN 0 431 07326 0. Seelye, N. (1993). Teaching Culture: Strategies for Intercultural Communication. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company. ISBN 0844293296. Shields, R. (1996). Cultures of Internet. London: Sage. Sked, A., Cook, C. (1993). Post-war Britain – A Political History . London: Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0 14 017912 7. Storey, J. (2005). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. Massachusetts: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0582423635. Storry, M., Childs, P. (1997). British Cultural Identities. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 13699 7. Strinati, D. (1995). An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 12470 0. Thorton, P. (1989). Decade of Decline: Civil Liberties in the Thatcher Years, Travellers, clause 28. National Council for Civil Liberties. Tomalin, B., Stempleski, S. (1994). Cultural Awareness. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 437194 8. Turner, G. (1996). British Cultural Studies. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 12930 3. Wich, F. (1999a). Rock & Pop Encyklopedie I. A-L. Praha: Volvox Globator. ISBN 80 7207 276 5. Wich, F. (1999b). Rock & Pop Encyklopedie II. M-Z. Praha: Volvox Globator. ISBN 80 7207 277 3. BIBLIOGRAPHY 83 ______
Williams, R. (1966). Culture and Society 1780 – 1950. London: Penguin .
INTERNET SOURCES URL 1. BBC [online]. Available at: [http://www.bbc.co.uk]. URL 2. Brown, R. Racism and Immigration in Britain . International Socialism Journal [online]. 1995. [20.6.2007]. Available at: [http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj68/brown.htm]. URL 3. Brown, T. S. Subcultures, pop music and politics: skinheads and “Nazi rock” in England and Germany. FindArticles [online]. 2004. [28.5.2007]. Available at: [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2005/is_1_38/ai_n6234788#contin ue]. URL 4. Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition [online]. 2003. Available at: [http://www.carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html]. URL 5. English Weights and Measures [online]. April 24, 2007. [15.6.2007]. Available at: [http://home.clara.net/brianp/money.html]. URL 6. Ewing, T. The History Book on the Shelf. Column: Poptimist #5 [online]. June 19, 2007. [20.6.2007]. Available at: [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/43621 column poptimist 5]. URL 7. Farrar, M. The Northern race riots of the summer of 2001 – were they riots, were they racial? A case-study of the events in Harehills, Leeds [online]. May 18, 2002. [30.5.2007]. Available at: [http://www.maxfarrar.org.uk/docs/HarehillsBSARace2May02.pdf]. URL 8. Grimshaw, T. Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990). The Literary Encyclopedia [online]. August 31, 2004. [17.6.2007]. Available at: [http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1471]. URL 9. Haworth, M. “Candle in the Wind 1997”: A British View – Brief Article. FindArticles [online]. 1998. [2.7.2007]. Available at: [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_3_22/ai_59117067]. BIBLIOGRAPHY 84 ______
URL 10. Herbold, S. Jamaican Patois and the Power of Language in Reggae Music. The Dread Library [online]. 2006. [1.7.2007]. Available at: [http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/herbold.html]. URL 11. Jamaica Lyrics [online]. 2004. Available at: [http://www.jamaicalyrics.com.ar]. URL 12. Lloyd, J. Cool Britannia warms up – new image for UK. FindArticles [online]. March 13, 1998. [1.7.2007]. Available at: [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_n4376_v127/ai_2048497 2]. URL 13. Lyrics007 [online]. 2003. Available at: [http://www.lyrics007.com]. URL 14 . LyricsFreak [online]. Available at: [http://www.lyricsfreak.com]. URL 15. National Readership Survey [online]. Available at: [http://www.nrs.co.uk]. URL 16. OldieLyrics [online]. 2003. Available at: [http://www.oldielyrics.com]. URL 17. Peddie, I. Love of Labor. Pop Politics [online]. February 4, 2003. [13.6.2007]. Available at: [http://www.poppolitics.com/articles/2000 10 12 bragg.shtml]. URL 18. Phillips, C. Kingdom of the Blind . The Guardian [online]. July 17, 2004. [14.3.2007]. Available at: [http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story0%2C11374%2C1263134%2C00.html]. URL 19. Punk Music in Britain [online]. October 7, 2002. [25.6.2007]. Available at: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A791336]. URL 20. Siddiqui, H. Blair leading Britain to mulitultural chic. The Star [online]. May 20, 2001. [16.6.2007]. Available at: [http://www.thestar.com]. URL 21. Sold on Song, BBC Radio 2 [online]. [25.5.2007]. Available at: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/indepth/satisfaction.shtml] URL 22. Songfacts [online]. 2003. Available at: [http://www.songfacts.com]. URL 23. The Churchill Centre [online]. 2007. [12.6.2007]. Available at: [http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1]. URL 24. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia [online]. 2001. Available at: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page]. URL 25. Wong, P. H. Ravin’ the Adult Society, Representation of Rave Culture in British Media and Legislations, 1988-1997 [online]. October 25, 2003. [16.6.2007]. Available at: [http://web.hku.hk/~h0014130/diss/]. DISCOGRAPHY 85 ______
DISCOGRAPHY
CD 1. Beatles, The. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band [Audio CD], Parlophone, 1978. CD 2. Blur. End of a Century [Single] [Audio CD]. Emi Int'l, 1994. CD 3. Blur. Greatest Bits [Audio CD]. EMI, 2000. CD 4. Bonzo Dog Band. The Vol. 2: The Outro [Audio CD]. EMI Gold Imports, 2000. CD 5. Bragg, Billy. Brewing Up With Billy Bragg [Audio CD]. Elektra / Wea, 1987. CD 6. Burns, Robert. The Complete Songs Of Robert Burns [Audio CD]. Linn Records, 2007. CD 7. Bush, Kate. Lionheart [Audio CD]. Toshiba EMI, 1978. CD 8. Buster, Prince. Prince Buster On Tour [Audio CD]. Rootdown Records, 2003. CD 9. Catatonia. International Velvet [Audio CD]. London Records, 1998. CD 10. Chumbawamba. Tony Blair [Audio CD]. EMI, 1999. CD 11. Clash, The. London Calling [Audio CD], Epic, 1979. CD 12. Clash, The. The Singles [Audio CD], UK Sony/BMG, 2007. CD 13. Corries. Flower of Scotland [Audio CD], Moidart, 2006. CD 14. Costello, Elvis. The Best of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years [Audio CD]. Hip O Records, 2007. CD 15. Crass. Feeding of the 5,000 [Audio CD]. Crass, 1999. CD 16. Donegan, Lonnie. Skiffle King (50th Anniversary Edition) [Audio CD]. Castle, 2006. CD 17. Dread, Mikey. Rasta In Control [Audio CD]. Dread at the Control, 2002. CD 18. Edmunds, Dave. The Anthology (1968-1990) [Audio CD]. Rhino / Wea, 1993. CD 19. Embrace. World at Your Feet [Audio CD]. Independiente, 2006. CD 20. George, Boy. No Clause 28 [Audio CD]. Virgin, 1988. CD 21. Hollies, The. Too Young to be Married [Audio CD]. EMI Records Ltd, 1970. CD 22. John, Elton. The Greatest Hits 1970-2002 [Audio CD]. Mercury, 2004. CD 23. John, Elton. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [Audio CD]. MCA, 1973. CD 24. Johnson, Linton Kwesi. Dread Beat an’ Blood [Audio CD]. Virgin (UK), 2004. CD 25. Kinks, The. Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire [Audio CD]. Pye Studios (No. 2), 1969. DISCOGRAPHY 86 ______
CD 26. Levellers, The. Best Live - Headlights White Lines & Black Tar Rivers [Audio CD]. China, 1999. CD 27. Lolly. My First Album [Audio CD]. Polydor, 1999. CD 28. Manic Street Preachers, The. Everything Must Go [Audio CD]. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, 1996. CD 29. Marley, Bob & The Wailers. Legend [Deluxe Edition] [Audio CD]. Island, 2002. CD 30. McCartney, Paul. Tug Of War [Audio CD]. Capitol, 1990. CD 31. Panjabi MC. Mundian To Bach Ke [Audio CD]. Sony/Epic, 2004. CD 32. Parker, Graham & the Rumour, Stick to Me [Audio CD]. Polygram Int'l, 2001. CD 33. Pet Shop Boys. I’m With Stupid [Audio CD]. Parlophone, 2006. CD 34. Price, Alan. 100 Hits Love Story [Audio CD]. RMG Records, 2004. CD 35. Prodigy, The. Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005 [Audio CD]. XL, 2005. CD 36. Pulp. Cocaine Socialism [Audio CD]. Island Records, 1998. CD 37. Queen,The. The Works [Audio CD]. EMI, 1984. CD 38. Rolling Stones, The. Forty Licks [Audio CD]. Virgin, 2003. CD 39. Rudeboy. The Very Best of Mod Ska Skin and Two Tone [Audio CD]. Telstar, 2002. CD 40. Runrig. Play Gaelic [Audio CD]. Isa Music, 1978. CD 41. Sex Pistols, The. Anarchy in the UK [Audio CD]. Brilliant, 2001. CD 42. Sex Pistols, The. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols [Audio CD]. Virgin Records, 1977. CD 43. Sham 69. If the Kids Are United - The Best of Sham 69 [Audio CD]. Anagram Punk UK, 2004. CD 44. Sham 69 & the Special Assembly. Hurry Up England [Audio CD]. Virgin UK, 2006. CD 45. Soft Cell, The. The Twelve Inch Singles [Audio CD]. Universal, 2001. CD 46. Specials, The. Ghost Town [Audio CD]. Two Tone Records, 1981. CD 47. Splodgenessabound. Simon Templar / Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please [Audio CD]. Virgin, 1980. CD 48. Stewart, Al. Past, Present And Future [Audio CD]. Janus Records, 1973. CD 49. Stewart, Rod. The Very Best of Rod Stewart [Audio CD]. Warner Bros, 2001. CD 50. U2. Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack [Audio CD], Island / Interscope Records, 2000. CD 51. Who, The. My Generation - The Very Best of the Who [Audio CD]. Mca, 1996.