World Wide Woozle episode #515

Hello enormous listening world...

This week I've been thinking about what it means to be a rebel. I won't bore you with the many reasons why this has been on my mind but I'm going to briefly explore it from a musical point of view here. There are two main points in the definition of a rebel; one relates to someone rising up against their government or ruler and the other one is someone who resists control, authority or tradition. With that in mind, let's rock.

Chuck Prophet - Jesus Was A Social Drinker (live) - https://youtu.be/TTiRNRvoG1s

Yup, if we're to believe even half of what is written down, Jesus was a rebel. You can take the whole son of God out of the equation if you like and his ideas and actions are still  rebellious.

Rebellion can take many forms and sadly violence is one of them. At times the violence seems unjustified and damaging to whatever cause it is related to. And then there are other times when it's a last resort when no-one will listen or nothing else works. Currently the World is sitting idle as Indonesia rules West Papua with a cruel, iron fist. We all pitched in to help East Timor but for some reason we're happy that atrocities have continued there since the early 1960s. 

George Telek - West Papua - https://youtu.be/qYKnlg5hQOo

Johnny Cash was a rebel. He sang a hit song about shooting a man, "just to watch him die" in the mid 1950s. He performed in prisons, released gospel albums and although he came from a conservative background he sang for the downtrodden and the dispossessed. The fact that Johnny's life was so troubled and has so many contradictions cements his place as a musical rebel.

Johnny Cash - Man In Black (live) - https://youtu.be/1Okt0-Y38Pc

Staying in the USA for a minute, the Dixie Chicks are rebels. Now known as The Chicks, the band took a stand against the war in Iraq and caused massive uproar amongst their audience. Death threats and all sorts of other things followed but The Chicks stood their ground.

The Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice (live) - https://youtu.be/9wh0om9erc8

The Specials were rebels. They fused punk, ska and anti-racism beginning in the late 70s in Coventry, England. And they're still rocking...

The Specials - B.L.M. - https://youtu.be/wgu_mexOpww

I could go on and on about different kinds of rebels. John Howard was a rebel when he enacted tough gun laws in Australia, Eddie Mabo was a rebel fighting for land rights for Indigenous people, Robert The Bruce rebelled and fought for independence against a cruel regime and Kevin Rudd had the stones to stand up and say "Sorry". None of these people are perfect and I'm sure I could list any number of reasons not to like them but at one time they made a stand for what they believed in even if it flew in the face of tradition, control, authority or law. Let's leave it there, I've said more than enough.

I'll finish this week with a quote from one of my favourite artists. Billy Bragg sings, "...if no-one out there understands, start your own revolution and cut out the middle man..."

Billy Bragg - Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards (live) - https://youtu.be/Zn06juaCNSA

There you have it folks, have a great week.

Rob

"I'm sick and tired of hearing things from

Uptight short sided narrow minded hypocrites

All I want is the truth, just give me some truth...." Gimme Some Truth, Cheap Trick, 2019 (originally by John Lennon)