When I first learned about him through his pop radio friendly “Workers Playtime” album (1988), Billy Bragg had been a pain in Thatcher’s ass for a number of years. The subversive lyrics of many of the songs collected on the album matched with the bouncy/poppy hooks crowded all other thoughts from my head for about two years.
Tender Comrade is the third song on the album. In the naivety of my youth I thought it was a conventional male/female hetero love song about Soviets or possibly Israeli soldiers finding moments of humanity and love in a fox hole. I laugh at my young self.
LOVE me some Billy Bragg. My only complaint when I saw him in concert was that he spent too much time haranguing for my tastes. But there’s no doubting his sincerity. Here’s one more in a similar mode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZaYEniPaJg
“Wearing badges is not enough, in days like these.”
Stephen William Bragg
“The majority, by their silence
Shall pay for days like these”
Stephen William Bragg
Willie Nelson dropped a new song at the Beto rally, “Vote ‘Em Out.”
https://youtu.be/ssVO5qnyQss