The Anti-Premier League

Even Bono was singing about Margaret Thatcher in the Eighties. His main chance came during the Self Aid event at the RDS Showgrounds in Dublin. There he was, with his buckskin jacket and his flowing tresses, interrupting a poor version of the Dylan song, ‘Maggie’s Farm’ with a freeform message about emigration, poverty and dwindling chances. By ‘Maggie’s Farm’ I guess he was talking about England, destination for Ireland’s young unemployed. And yes, Bono was also prompted to slip in a refrain from ‘Old MacDonald’s Farm’. I’m not sure what the political dialectic was, but it was pitiful rock and roll.

It was almost mandatory for every chancer with guitar and every alternative comedian to make a Thatcher statement back then. And while I'm not here to pass judgement on the former Premier, I do feel qualified to critique a significant song. Therefore ‘Stand Down Margaret’ by The Beat was svelte polemic and Sinead O’Connor sang her rebuke of ‘Black Boys On Mopeds’ like a sad lullaby.

There are few instances of pro-government anthems in any western pop culture, although Jonathan King did record a version of ‘We Can't Let Maggie Go’ to mark Thatcher’s departure from office. Not a genius recording and the populace withheld their custom. Many people are currently all over the social media, linking to Elvis Costello’s ‘Tramp the Dirt Down’ as a creative work. The intent is vindictive, but the form is oddly gentle, accented (as I recall) by the traditional skills of Donal Lunny and Liam O’Flynn.

There was more predictable invective from Crass while Morrissey came under State scrutiny for ‘Margaret On The Guillotine’. Pete Wylie has also been censured and pursued for a song that anticipated Margaret’s demise. Billy Bragg has of course been diligent in his application while The Specials took on the entire Conservative establishment in the monumentally edgy ‘Ghost Town’. Back then, the people were getting angry.