Song of the Day 5/1: Billy Bragg, “The Internationale”

May Day, though not celebrated in reactionary America, was declared International Workers’ Day in 1889 by the Second International organization of workers’ and socialist parties, which also adopted “The Internationale” as its official anthem.

English songwriter and activist Billy Bragg has supported leftist causes since his early career, after being inspired by the Clash. “I realize I was naive to think the Clash could change the world by singing about it. But it wasn’t so much their lyrics as what they stood for and the actions they took. That became really important to me,” he once told Entertainment Weekly. “Phil Collins might write a song about the homeless, but if he doesn’t have the action to go with it he’s just exploiting that for a subject. I got that from the Clash, and I try to remain true to that tradition as best I can.”