Mark E Smith kicks off our UK General Election 2010 considerations

We maybe shouldn’t have started with the most cynical man in rock!

Mark E Smith starts the Cold Blooded Clarity UK General Election 2010 coverage.

As the sort of people who put music above everything else, we are interested in hearing what musicians have to say about politics and our government leaders.

Not necessarily in a Red Wedge style (we wouldn’t be able to get the hair style) but who else is going to speak to us in the cynical tongue that we understand?

Sure,
Victoria Coren has an election diary in the Observer and we all know the real world of politics thanks to Armando Ianucci and ‘The Thick of It’ but it’s musicians we look to.

So where better to start than with Mark E Smith?

A curmudgeonly old git he may be but he’s been a fairly reliable social observer for the past few decades.

And with ‘Dog is Life / Jerusalem’ from the ‘I Am Kurious, Oranj’ album, Mark looks at the interaction between the government and its people. The government is responsible for a lot of ills in everyday life but there are a lot of people who milk the help that is up for grabs.

It was the fault of the government
I was walking down the street
When I tripped up on a discarded banana skin

And on my way down I caught the side of my head
On a protruding brick chip
It was the government’s fault
It was the fault of the government

I was very let down
From the budget I was expecting a one million quid handout
I was very disappointed
It was the government’s fault
It was the fault of the government

I became semi-autistic type person
And I didn’t have a pen
And I didn’t have a condom
It was the fault of the government
I think I’ll emigrate to Sweden or Poland
And get looked after properly by government

This viewpoint is as valid today as it was on release, which is all the more impressive when you consider it was released in 1988!

As we’ve said, we’re a bit cynical and one of our thoughts is “no matter who you vote for, the government always gets in” but that doesn’t mean you should step out of the voting process. If you at least have your say, you can feel free to rally and protest at every wrong step you think the government makes.

Even if it is not giving you a million quid handout.

So by all means be a cynical get when it comes to politics but if you are so disenchanted with it, do something about it. Tactical voting, protest voting or humorously spoiling your vote and giving the counters something to smile about, don’t just do nothing.

Cos that’s what the buggers want you to do!

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