Apologies for my absence friends. I was hyper-fixating, but not on this. I am deep in the weeds of my first year of my PhD and everything to do with that, including ethics applications, course work, and presenting a paper for my first conference in August (which I have not written yet). Not to mention finishing up a work contract and trying to find another, plus
But hey, at least the United States didn’t completely fuck the rest of the world while I was gone, right!? Right!?
It’s been a wild ride. In just one month we’ve seen the return of Brownshirts in the guise of ICE agents, we’ve had mass deportations without due process, we’ve had not one, not two, but THREE of my favourite fascism scholars fleeing the country, and we’ve had the US basically tanking the global market.
There’ve been bright spots. Australia and Canada both roundly rejected Trump style populism and here in Oz, our conservative faction has been pretty soundly decimated, which is just bloody lovely.
Anyway, I have a theory we all died during COVID and we’re all collectively in global hell now.
But even in hell there’s singing! I assume. So let’s finish off with a bang!
5. Nazi - Chumbawamba
Issue: Anti-fascism
So, was anyone going to tell me that Chumbawamba were in fact a very progressive anarcho-punk band who donated most of their proceeds and championed causes like animal rights, pacifism, class struggle, Marxism, feminism and anti-fascism whilst simultaneously being mostly known for a song about drinking so much you can’t walk anymore or nah?
If you only know them from Tubthumping (you know it even if you think you don’t know it. Here’s a hint: “I GET KNOCKED DOWN!”), like I did, you too are missing out on some goodies. I particularly like this little ditty, only ever recorded live (from what I could find) and which has lately been making the rounds on social media. I wonder why?
Choice lyrics:
We’re told that after the war
The Nazis vanished without a trace
But battalions of fascists still dream of a master race
The history books, they tell of their defeat in ‘45
But they all came out of the woodwork
On the day the Nazi diedThey say the prisoner of Spandau was a symbol of defeat
Whilst Hoess remained in prison,
Then the fascists, they were beat
So, the promise of an Aryan world would never materialise
So, why did they all come out of the woodwork
On the day the Nazi died?The world is riddled with maggots
The maggots are getting fat
They’re making a tasty meal of all the bosses and bureaucrats
They’re taking over the boardrooms
And they’re fat and full of pride
And they all came out of the woodwork
On the day the Nazi diedSo, if you meet with these historians
I’ll tell you what to say
Tell them that the Nazis never really went away
They’re out there burning houses down and peddling racist lies
And we’ll never rest again
Until every Nazi dies
4. Bella Ciao - Traditional
Issue: Workers rights and anti-fascism
This Italian folk-derived song has an interesting history that stretches back to the late 19th century. It isn’t settled fact, but it’s believed to have originated amongst the female field workers in Northern Italy as a rallying cry against fairly hideous working conditions. The earliest written version dates back to 1906.
It resurfaced just after the second world war in the 1950s, with some claiming it was a partisan song during WW2—but there’s been no solid evidence of this and the most commonly known version only appeared in writing AFTER the war. Regardless, since then, it’s become something of an anti-fascist rallying song in Italy, which would explain why it made these guys so mad:
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And that’s great, because fuck those guys.
It’s been covered countless times, by countless artists around the world, and continues to crop up, especially lately. Again, I wonder why.
Choice lyrics:
And if I die as a partisan,
Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
And if I die as a partisan
Then you must bury me.
Bury me up in the mountain,
Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
Bury me up in the mountain
Under the shade of a beautiful flower.
And all those who shall pass,
Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
And all those who shall pass
Will tell you "what a beautiful flower."
This is the flower of the partisan,
Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
This is the flower of the partisan
Who died for freedom
3. November to Remember - Bambu
Issue: Political reform
Bambu is a Filipino-American activist and rapper from LA whose music deals with issues like police brutality, racism, and economic inequality. He released this song after the 2024 election at a time when many democrats were blaming the left for the election loss, given the large numbers that refused to vote for Kamala Harris due to her continued support of Israel alongside Joe Biden.
Which, do not even get me started.
Anyway, in November to Remember, Bambu basically argues that the American political system itself is inherently broken and needs to be torn down and rebuilt and that the left - from the staunchest anarchists to the most milquetoast of neoliberals will need to band together to make it happen. It’s a well-needed dose of revolutionary optimism and solidarity and I am so here for it.
Choice lyrics:
What if I told you that no matter who’s elected
Israel was cashing in the check to buy some weapons?
Hate to break it to you all,
But Roe V Wade coulda been codified by Democrats back in the dayThat was just a talking point, the point is don’t be scared
Fuck it homes, be loud, make the unaware aware
Punch a Nazi square right in the mouth for being brave
Resolution faster with a fadeToday’s the fifth day of November, 2024
This is not a loss of the war
This is just a friendly little reminder that the devil is alive
And he’s been in control the whole timeBreak out of the game
Join the resistance young Jedi
Break capitalism, watch the federation die
I am Bambu and I encourage all the fights
Same dog, different collar
Take the dog for a ride
2. Hind’s Hall - Macklemore
Issue: Gaza
If you would have told me way back in 2013, when “Thrift Shop” was dominating the charts, that 12 years in the future, the only mainstream rap artist who would be brave enough to publicly speak up about a genocide the entire mainstream media wants everyone to pretend isn’t happening would be fucking MACKLEMORE, I would not have believed you. I also would have had… many other questions. But hey, this is where we find ourselves in 2025.
Some background to the song: Last year, student activists occupied Hamilton Hall at Columbia University and re-named it “Hind’s Hall” in honour of five-year-old Hind Rajab, killed by IDF forces in the Gaza Strip.
According to Oxfam, more than 6,000 women and 11,000 children were killed in Gaza by IDF forces last year. UN reports on Children and Armed Conflict have indicated that this is, by far, the highest amount of children killed in conflict in the past 18 years. To put that in perspective, it took almost three years of the Syrian conflict to reach similar numbers of child casualties.
Amnesty International, The United Nations, and the International Court of Justice (spearheaded by South Africa, who uh… know what an apartheid state looks like) have all concurred that Israel is committing genocide. And apparently we’re just not allowed to talk about that in the media. In any sane world, the planet would grind to a halt until this stopped, but again, this is where we find ourselves in the hellscape that is 2025.
And Macklemore, among all the artists out there, decided to talk about it — a lot. To date, he has been one of the the only artists consistently putting his money where his mouth is in speaking about the Gazan genocide. And given how quickly Columbia, NYU and others have rolled over for fascism since then, it’s looking like he chose just the right target.
The song samples Lebanese artist Fairuz’s song “Ana La Habibi” and quickly earned respect not just from activists, but from artists and even some mainstream publications, including Time (who said it joined the pantheon of American protest songs including Billie Holliday’s “Strange Fruit” and Crosby, Stills and Nash’s “Ohio”) and Vox. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine called it “the most Rage Against the Machine song since Rage Against the Machine” and honestly, I can’t think of higher praise than that.
The video (and every video he has released about Palestine on YouTube) has been choked to death and censored, so instead I’m posting his first performance of the song live, which happened to be in Wellington.
Choice lyrics:
What happened to the artist?
What you got to say?
If I was on a label, you could drop me today
I’d be fine with it
’Cause my heart fed my page
I want a ceasefire, fuck a response from DrakeWhat you willing to risk?
What you willing to give?
What if you were in Gaza?
What if those were your kids?
If the West was pretending that you didn’t exist
You’d want the world to stand up
And the students finally did
1. A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
Issue: Civil rights, racial justice
I honestly can’t recall a time in my life when I felt more hopelessness at the state of the world than I do right now. It is extremely hard to understand the ugliness of it at the moment and some days, that makes it almost impossible to think of anything else.
But I still believe that things will get better. That’s because there is literally no other way to think. And when I think of all the things that still give me hope—the rejection of hate politics in the most recent Canadian and Australian elections, the bravery of those speaking the truth regardless of the consequences they face, and the love that underpins so much of the human experience—one of the strongest inspirations is art. Because so much art, like many of these songs, and countless books, poems, films, paintings and other music, is born out of difficulties we can’t even fathom.
Which brings me to my favourite song of all time.
Sam Cooke was born one of eight children in 1930s Mississippi and wrote A Change is Gonna Come after he and his band were turned away from a hotel in Louisiana for the crime of being black.
The song was instantly adopted by the Civil Rights Movement, though Cooke himself never performed it in public, both because of its complexity and because it sounded, to him, “like death.”
I don’t hear that, personally. To me, it sounds like hope. Because every time I hear it, I think that if someone can experience the things that Cooke did, that kind of cruel, pointless, visceral hate, and create something so beautiful out of it, then anyone can. And that’s resistance to me in a nutshell.
Because he never performed it live, there is obviously no footage of him singing it. However, Jennifer Hudson sang a version for the Spike Lee biopic of Malcolm X and the live version is so incredible it made Denzel Washington tear up, get out of his chair and yell “DAMN”, and if it’s good enough for Denzel, it’s good enough for me.
Seriously, it’s incredible. Enjoy
Choice lyrics:
Then, I go to my brother
And I say, "Brother, help me, please"
But he winds up knockin' me
Back down on my knees, ohThere been times that I thought
I couldn't last for long
But now, I think I'm able
To carry onIt's been a long
A long time coming, but I know
A change gon' come
Oh yes, it will
Bits and Bobs
There has been a lot of escapism going on friends, like a lot. So on that vein I’ve been:
Reading: I just finished the first book in the MurderBot series, which I unexpectedly loved (MurderBot is SO autism coded and now I am intrigued for the adaptation) and I’m also loving The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. Be warned, it’s a doorstopper.
Watching: If you have not watched Seth Rogen’s “The Studio” yet, you need to get on that. I have not laughed so hard at a show in a long time. I also recently watched Hundreds of Beavers which is a slapstick silent movie that some guy from and his friends (and his dad) made for about $150K and which wound up making its way onto the festival circuit, being nominated for and winning a ton of awards, and ultimately being called one of the best movies of 2024 by The Guardian, Letterbox’d, The A.V. Club, The Los Angeles Time, The Boston Globe, RogerEbert.com, Slant Magazine, IndieWire and more. Friends, I went in expecting not much and I CACKLED the whole way through.
Listening to: I am in a Titanic phase and so am gripped by Noiser’s Titanic: Ship of Dreams podcast, which is incredibly comprehensive and exceptionally well done. I even learned a lot I DIDN’T know, such as the fact that in the boiler room, a lot of men worked naked and also they didn’t get bathroom breaks, so they would just shit on their shovels and put that in the coal furnace. I don’t really know what to do with that information, so I’m passing it on to you.
Anyway that’s all for now friends. I’ll try to be back sooner next time. Hope you all are staying well and keeping your chin up. Love you all madly.