Songs of protest, humour, justice and love
The Times We've Been Through
Peter Hicks
$25 from Resistance Centres (addresses page 2)
Order at <http://www.indie-cds.com> or phone (03) 6295 1032
Review by Alex Bainbridge
Unfortunately, there are not many people in Australia writing and singing the sorts of songs that Peter Hicks has included on his latest album. Hicks' The Times We've Been Through is a wonderful collection of contemporary political music — songs of passion, protest, humour, justice and love.
Most of the songs are originals co-written with Geoff Francis. Hicks is backed up by the Ranters, a Hobart pub band that sings progressive, Irish and "driving-folk" songs. A song by Steve Gadd, one of Hicks' musical collaborators, about an unemployment-induced mishap in 1906 boosts the Tasmanian flavour of the album. It's a moving song with a catchy tune and a social message.
The review of The Times We've Been Through on the Indie-CDs web site hits the nail on the head: "Peter has put together a collection of songs which both challenge and entertain. They point accusing fingers at warmongers and economic 'rationalists', politicians who can't bring themselves to say sorry, they celebrate victories for the gay rights campaign, and make ironic commentary on touro-dollar exploitation of Australian mythological figures."
Francis and Hicks are consistent supporters of progressive causes, opponents of injustice and champions of music with a political message. This album will not be on John Howard's play list, it won't make Rupert Murdoch or Tony Blair feel comfortable, but it is bound to inspire and encourage ordinary working-class folk on the picket lines of life.
Francis and Hicks write a lot of satirical songs that relate to contemporary political events. Over the last 12 months, the pair have written a number of witty ditties, including some directed at those who've sold out in the labour movement, such as Jennie George and Bill Kelty. Since they relate to current events that often pass quickly, they are not necessarily suitable for release on a CD.
Hicks' humourous style is represented on the CD. "Go down to Glenrowan" is a send-up of the commercialism and nationalism of the tourism shrine erected to Ned Kelly in the Victorian bush town.
One contemporary song that I am very glad did make it on to the CD is about Mumia Abu-Jamal, the African-American activist framed for the murder of a police officer in 1981 and still on death row in the US. A large movement has developed in the US and around the world for a retrial, something the US political and legal establishments are vigorously resisting. The song highlights the numerous travesties of justice in Abu-Jamal's case.
"One day in October" is about the formation of the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group and was written for its 10th anniversary in 1998. The song captures some of the humourous and moving aspects of the struggle to repeal Tasmania's anti-gay laws.
The NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosova in 1999 was the inspiration for "Always the Other Side" . I found the song a little disappointing. Not that it is a bad song, in fact the contrary. It is a dramatic and powerful song that attempts to break down the propaganda routinely employed by governments in war to demonise their military opponents.
The song takes a clear stand against imperialist warmongering, making the satirical claim that no war crimes have ever been committed "by any side that's ever won" or that bombing schools and homes is in the best interests of civilians. The introductory notes for the song expose the fact that NATO violated the Geneva Conventions on at least 90 occasions during the bombing of Serbia.
It is the chorus that is not very satisfying: "It's always the other side, it's never you and me/ The forked tongue and the demon horns grow on the enemy". This, along with a couple of other lines in the song, seem to leave open the possibility of misinterpretation. Many people who turn away from the horrors of war, look for pacifist solutions instead of realising that the predatory interests of the ruling class are responsible for war. This song is not a pacifist song, but does seem to blur the distinction between the majority of people (who are not responsible for the war) and the ruling class (which is).
I would have hoped for a song more like "Another War Out There", another powerful song that opens the album. It is a tribute to the stand taken by Jeff Patterson, who was the first US marine to refuse to participate in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. The album notes point out that that war is still being waged by the US, both by bombing raids and crippling sanctions.
The chorus goes: "I have no cause to hate/ The men I would be killing/ Nor the children, nor the women/ Whose homes you'd have me bomb/ For the people of that land/ They are my sisters and my brothers/ And our fight is not with people/ who have never done us wrong."
The "Another War" in the title refers to the war that should be fought: "It's the war against poverty/ Starvation and disease". There is certainly no blurring of the class lines here.
One of the most moving songs on the album is about Tom Holmes, "an outstanding fiddle player and special person". He died in Hobart's Risdon Prison. Holmes had a mental illness but on a number of occasions police or other criminal justice officers failed to give him due care. He committed suicide from one of Risdon's notorious (and numerous) hanging points.
This song was born out of Holmes' wake — a session that literally lasted a week as a tribute. As Hicks told Green Left Weekly: "If Holmes had been a politician's son, all hell would have broken loose. He wasn't and it didn't". However the song is about Holmes' personal values — diametrically opposed to capitalist society's dominant values of greed, guile profit and plunder.
The Times We've Been Through is a powerful testament to solidarity and justice. It is $25 well spent. Check out Hicks' and Francis' web site at <http://www.trump.net.au/~glazfolk>.