Oasis: "Do not Look Back in Anger"
If British society were a married couple, you would have to advise them to part: it's over. Your relationship is hopelessly shattered. That will not work anymore. Unfortunately, one half of the UK can take off badly, so you'll have to endure it. What to do? "Do not Look Back In Anger" would be a start. In fact, no band has foreshadowed the cultural nostalgia of the British for a simpler England that articulates itself in Brexit as perfectly as Oasis - even though Liam and Noel Gallagher are in rare opposition to Brexit, as they have emphasized in many interviews , (rap)
Kate Tempest: "Hold Your Own"
The London poet and musician Kate Tempest has become a kind of national poet of Great Britain in recent years. This year she released her most impressive album so far, a call for self-healing in turbulent, uncertain times. The key piece is more of a long poem than a song: "If everything is fluid, and if nothing can be known: hold your own," Tempest warns: If everything is in flux, everything is uncertain, then stay true to yourself, claim you against the evil out there. Good advice - and a comforting prayer for the uncertain election outcome. (boron)
Slowthai: Nothing Great About Britain "
Every crisis needs a bard to make the misery bearable: For England came in this year of endless Unterhaus debates the 24-year-old rapper Slowthai in this Shakespearian role. His debut album is not only one of the most brilliant pop statements of 2019, but the brash title track "Nothing Great About Britain" brought the political and social hangover in the UK with caustic ridicule and biting anger in a nutshell: nothing, but nothing at all is still great here. (boron)
The Who: "Will not Get Fooled Again"
The most rebellious, least-affluent band in UK history has always been The Who. It is not for nothing that Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, both beyond the age of seventy, recently released a furious new album after a long time. Her eternal hymn of resistance against the promises and Verschaukelungen of politicians and revolutionaries, however, her 1971 published signature song "Will not Get Fooled Again". Whether it's Brexiteers and Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn and his left-wing populism, this rock'n'roll hymn, which calls for skepticism, goes with every poll. (boron)
Billy Bragg: "Full English Brexit"
Of course, the great left-wing songwriter Billy Bragg should not be missing here. His laconically impersonated on the piano role prose of a Brexit voters who ponders the glory days of the British Empire in the pub and worries about the alienation of the country, the working-class bard published in 2017, but for the hangover breakfast after the election, this song is of course exactly the right thing. In all discord: On beans, eggs, black pudding and bacon, the British can still agree in case of doubt. And talking about politics is not so good either. (boron)
Ed Sheeran feat. Stormzy: "Take Me Back To London"
When the British mainstream sings about England, then preferably from an imaginary distance. Ed Sheeran describes himself in "Take Me Back To London" as a lonely superstar, who longs for the homeland - together with the grime rapper Stormzy. What exactly the chart breakers like there, this information, however, they remain guilty. Pints , pubs and raves seems to have missed the much traveled Sheeran on his world tour, Stormzy celebrates classically the suburbs of London as a salutary alternative to the glittering world of the music business. Whatever the choice, this consistent lack of criticism can continue on the radio. (CPA)
Blur: "Song 2"
In the nineties, the world in general and the pop world in particular were still fine for England. In "Cool Britannia" the Britpop ruled unchallenged, and he was so powerful that a band like Blur could make fun of his fellow musicians in the USA: "Song 2" was nothing but a euphoric parody of the grunge guitars. Whether that would be allowed in times when England after a Brexit urgently need the US under Trump as a trading partner? (Kae)
Travis: "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?"
"Sunny days, oh where have you gone?", That's not only the Scottish band Travis has been wondering since 1999 in the song "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?", But also the entire EU, since most of the British are in favor of Brexit have decided. "Everybody's saying everything is alright" sings Fran Healy, by the way a long-time election Berliner. This, of course, could not possibly have meant Britain's removal from Europe. Nevertheless, this slightly schizophrenic self-compassion hymn gives hope. Maybe also for the EU and Great Britain: "I see a tunnel at the end of all these lights" ("I see a tunnel at the end of the lights"). Or not? (evh)
The White Stripes: "Seven Nation Army"
At least in British pop, there is no need for elections to clarify the balance of power: Jeremy Corbyn has a comfortable majority here. This was especially evident in the summer of 2017, when the Labor Chief was invited to speak at the legendary Glastonbury Festival - between Run The Jewels and Craig David. Euphoric "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn" songs to the tune of "Seven Nation Army" greeted him then - and were not least taken up by rapper Stormzy, Corbyns probably the most popular fan. What is being bawled on the streets of Britain on Thursday night? (hpi)
The Smiths: "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"
If we understand it correctly, Boris Johnson's campaign strategy was to lure people to the Tories, whose Britain-first views are as extreme as those of Morrissey - the Morrissey of today, mind you. The Morrissey, who sang at the Smiths in 1984, would not have dreamed of being courted by Margaret Thatcher's party one day. The blast of sighing, which is the title of this lamentation, could be launched after Friday's polarized campaign on Friday morning - one way or the other. (feb)