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Talking To The Taxman About Poetry (written
by Tom Wareham) A lot can be said about Billy Bragg's Talking With the Taxman About Poetry. It once again demonstrates his ability to write great songs, catchy songs, and that he is able to connect simple words and make so much out of them. Further, it shows he is capable of writing more than just political songs, even though a number of songs from Back to Basics also demonstrate this. But this album means more than that to me, it symbolizes delayed reaction. The first time I heard it, or any Billy Bragg for that matter, I didn't care for it. This is the same reaction I had when hearing The Clash's London Calling, U2's War, and Los Lobos' How Will the Wolf Survive?, along with too many others to be named. It was only after hearing later recordings by these artists, or reacquainting myself with the album I had earlier dismissed, that I realized what I had been missing. This delayed reaction could be days, weeks, or even years. The point of all this is, sometimes it takes a while for some things to grow on you so you can't always give up on what you may have passed on before. This is a lesson that not apply solely to music. So listen up, listen often, and listen again. (Editor's note: While Tom gets credit for writing about Talking... , I can't really give him credit for contributing the suggestion. I had already bought it, but hadn't put it on the list that got shipped around to potential guest contibutors. John also noticed the omission (and both Tom and John noticed the omission of Fisherman's Blues, which I thought I had bought, but hadn't.) Tom wrote this blurb before I informed him of my mistake, and I decided I couldn't do any better.) |
