I'm Just Saying That We Need To

Today, Rather Than Talk In Terms Of Ideology Or Ideas Like Socialism, I Think More Important Issues To Discuss Are Things Like Compassion And Accountability.

Britain Is A Great Country. We Can More Or Less Say What We Like, And We Can Walk Down The Street Without Anyone Trying To Kill Us. I Know It's Tough For Some People, But Generally We Live In A Caring Society. We Live In A Great Country, But We're No Longer A Great Power. Part Of The Problem With Some Elements Of The European Debate Is That They Hanker For The Days When We Were A Great Power. Those Days Are Gone, And They Went A Long Time Ago.

I Don't Mind Being Labeled As A Political Songwriter. I've Chosen To Do That. What Really Annoys Me Is Being Dismissed As A Political Songwriter. That Really Pains Me, Because Life Isn't All About Love; It's Not All About Politics, Either. It's A Beautiful Mixture Of Events That Absolutely Baffle You, And You Think, "why Can't I Do Something About That?", Whether Those Events Are In Your Bedroom, Or Out There In The Wide World. In Our Daily Lives We Engage With Them At Different Times, And I'm Trying To Write About The Whole Human Experience, Or My Perspective On It Anyway.

But, In The End, Even A Song That's As Politically Bland As Blowin In The Wind, You Probably Wouldn't Get Up And Sing That Now, Whereas Some Of Bob Dylan's Love Songs That Were Contemporary With That, Like Say Girl From The North Country, You Can Still Get Up An Play Now.

At Some Point In Your Life You Have To Engage With The Fact That You Are Part Of A Society. Yeah The Individual Is The Most Important Facet In Society But Unless Every Individual Is The Recipient Of Free Health Care, Free Education Decent Affordable Housing And A Proper Pension Then Only The Rich And Powerful Will Be Individuals And The Rest Of Us Will Be Exploited By Them.