Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Billy Bragg: Levi Stubbs' Tears (1986)

One dark night he came home from the sea
And put a hole in her body where no hole should be
It hurt her more to see him walking out the door
And though they stitched her back together they left her heart in pieces on the floor

Thankfully, Billy knows how to use an apostrophe. After browsing the internet for any length of time (especially comments on various posts) it becomes clear that grammar is dead. I'm not talking about typos. I have my fair share of typos. I am referring to people who cannot construct a sentence and fail to use any punctuation. It makes me sad for the future.

Think Again, Bragg's cover version of the Dick Gaughan track, appears on side 2 of this 12" single. It's a song in the same tradition as The Box's Ordinary People and Sting's Russians. I prefer Bragg's live version on the Help Save the Youth of America EP, but this one is OK. The centerpiece, though, is Levi Stubbs' Tears, which is a really moving song.

A1 Levi Stubbs' Tears
A2 Walk Away Renee (Version)
A3 I Don't Need This Pressure Ron

B1 Think Again
B2 Scholarship Is The Enemy Of Romance
B3 Between The Wars (Recorded Live At The Festival Des Politischen Liedes In Berlin (GDR), February, 1986)

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