In 1977, Bragg formed the punk rock/pub rock band Riff Raff, and toured London's pubs and clubs. The band released a series of singles, which did not receive wide exposure. He also worked in Guy Norris Records in Barking. Bragg became disillusioned with his music career, and in May 1981 joined the British Army as a recruit destined for the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars of the Royal Armoured Corps. After three months, he bought his way out of the army for £175 and returned home, having attended basic training but having never served in a regiment as a soldier.
Bragg began performing frequent concerts and busking around London, playing solo with an electric guitar. His roadie at the time was Andy Kershaw, who became a BBC DJ (Bragg and Kershaw later, in 1989, appeared in an episode of the BBC TV programme, Great Journeys, in which they travelled the Silver Road from Potosí, Bolivia, to the Pacific coast at Arica, Chile). Bragg performing at South by Southwest in 2008.
Bragg's demo tape initially got no response from the record industry, but by pretending to be a television repair man, he got into the office of Charisma Records' A&R man Peter Jenner. Jenner liked the tape, but the company was near bankruptcy and had no budget to sign new artists. Bragg got an offer to record more demos for a music publisher, so Jenner agreed to release them as a record. Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy was released in July 1983 by Charisma's new imprint, Utility. Hearing DJ John Peel mention on-air that he was hungry, Bragg rushed to the BBC with a mushroom biryani, so Peel played a song from Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy although at the wrong speed (since the 12" LP was, unconventionally, cut to play at 45rpm). Peel insisted he would have played the song even without the biryani and later played it at the correct speed.
Within months, Charisma had been taken over by Virgin Records and Jenner, who had been laid off, became Bragg's manager. Stiff Records' press officer Andy Macdonald – who was setting up his own record label, Go! Discs – received a copy of Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy. He made Virgin an offer and the album was re-released on Go! Discs in November 1983.[citation needed] In 1984, he released Brewing Up with Billy Bragg, a mixture of political songs (e.g., "It Says Here") and songs of unrequited love (e.g., "The Saturday Boy"). The following year he released Between the Wars, an EP of political songs that included a cover version of Leon Rosselson's "The World Turned Upside Down" – the EP made the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and earned Bragg an appearance on Top of the Pops. Bragg later collaborated with Rosselson on the song, "Ballad of the Spycatcher". In 1985, his song "A New England", with an additional verse, became a Top 10 hit in the UK for Kirsty MacColl. After MacColl's early death, Bragg always sang the extra verse in her honour. In 1984–1985 he toured North America.
In 1986, Bragg released Talking with the Taxman about Poetry, which became his first Top 10 album. Its title is taken from a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky and a translated version of the poem was printed on the record's inner sleeve. Back to Basics is a 1987 collection of his first three releases: Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Brewing Up with Billy Bragg, and the Between The Wars EP. Bragg released his fourth album, Workers Playtime, in September 1988. With this album, Bragg added a backing band and accompaniment.
In May 1990, Bragg released the political mini-LP, The Internationale. The songs were, in part, a return to his solo guitar style, but some songs featured more complicated arrangements and included a brass band. The album paid tribute to one of Bragg's influences with the song, "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night", which is an adapted version of Earl Robinson's song, "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night", itself an adaptation of a poem by Alfred Hayes.
The album Don't Try This at Home was released in September 1991, and included the song, "Sexuality", which reached the UK Singles Chart. Bragg had been persuaded by Go! Discs' Andy and Juliet Macdonald to sign a four-album deal with a million pound advance, and a promise to promote the album with singles and videos.[citation needed] This gamble was not rewarded with extra sales, and the situation put the company in financial difficulty. In exchange for ending the contract early and repaying a large amount of the advance, Bragg regained all rights to his back catalogue.[citation needed] Bragg continued to promote the album with his backing band, The Red Stars, which included his Riff Raff colleague and long-time roadie, Wiggy.
Bragg released the album William Bloke in 1996 after taking time off to help raise his son. Around that time, Nora Guthrie (daughter of American folk artist Woody Guthrie) asked Bragg to set some of her father's unrecorded lyrics to music. The result was a collaboration with the band Wilco and Natalie Merchant (with whom Bragg had worked previously). They released the album Mermaid Avenue in 1998, and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II in 2000. A rift with Wilco over mixing and sequencing the album led to Bragg recruiting his own band, The Blokes, to promote the album. The Blokes included keyboardist Ian McLagan, who had been a member of Bragg's boyhood heroes The Faces. The documentary film Man in the Sand depicts the roles of Nora Guthrie, Bragg, and Wilco in the creation of the Mermaid Avenue albums.
In 2004, Bragg joined Florida ska-punk band Less Than Jake to perform a version of 'The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out' for the Rock Against Bush compilation.
At the 2005 Beautiful Days Festival in Devon, Bragg teamed up with the Levellers to perform a short set of songs by or associated with The Clash in celebration of Joe Strummer's birthday. Bragg performed guitar and lead vocals on "Police and Thieves", and performed guitar and backing vocals on "English Civil War", and "Police on my Back".
In 2007, Bragg moved closer to his English folk music roots by joining the WOMAD-inspired collective The Imagined Village, who recorded an album of updated versions of traditional English songs and dances and toured through that autumn. Bragg released his album Mr. Love & Justice in March 2008. This was the second Bragg album to be named after a book by Colin MacInnes. In 2008, during the NME Awards ceremony, Bragg sang a duet with British solo act Kate Nash. They mixed up their two greatest hits, Nash playing "Foundations", and Bragg redoing his "A New England". Bragg also collaborated with the poet and playwright, Patrick Jones, who supported Bragg's Tour.
In 2008, Bragg played a small role in Stuart Bamforth's film "A13: Road Movie". Bragg is featured alongside union reps, vicars, burger van chefs and Members of Parliament in a film that explored "the overlooked, the hidden and the disregarded."
He was involved in the play Pressure Drop at the Wellcome Collection in London in April and May 2010. The production, written by Mick Gorden, and billed as "part play, part gig, part installation", featured new songs by Bragg. He performed during the play with his band, and acted as compere.
Bragg curated the Leftfield stage at Glastonbury Festival 2010.
He took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty Six where he has written a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible.
Bragg performed a set of the Guthrie songs that he had set to music for Mermaid Avenue during the Hay Literary Festival in June 2012. Mermaid Avenue Vol. III and Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions were also released in early 2012.
On 18 March 2013, Bragg released his latest studio album, five years since Mr. Love & Justice, titled Tooth And Nail. It featured 11 original songs, including one written for the Bush Theatre, and a Woody Guthrie cover. Stylistically, it continues to explore genres of Americana (music) and Alternative country, both of which he has said he has been playing and writing regularly since Mermaid Avenue (1998).
In November 2017, he released all six tracks from the mini-album Bridges Not Walls as downloads and CD through the Billy Bragg website and other sellers, followed by the single Full English Brexit through Cooking Vinyl.
Bugeye Jim
Billy Bragg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I lose my house and my home again
If I get up and try to come
I get sent back to the land I'm from
Back to the land I'm from
The cloud came low and the rain did pour
I hear your hand touch on my door
Shows you standing in my room
Standing in my room
Bugeye Jim, I can't come
I can twist and turn, but I can't come
I can ache and I can burn, but I can't come
I woke up this morning with an aching brain
Hear you tap on my window pane
I look at you with a heavy head
I hear you sit down on my bed
The storm gets worse and my heart feels bare
I feel your fingers comb my hair
Feel you comb my hair
The mud it runs and the waters rise
I feel your hotkiss on my eyes
The rain it rained and the world did stir
I sing to you my lovesick word
I sing to you my lovesick word
Bugeye Jim, I can't come
I can twist and turn, I can't come
I can ache and I can burn, but I can't come
I woke up this morning with an aching brain
Hear you tap on my window pane
The song "Bugeye Jim" by Billy Bragg tells the story of a man who is torn between two homes. He cannot let someone in without facing the consequences of losing either his physical home or the place where he truly belongs. The singer feels conflicted and trapped, unable to make a decision between the two. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of an impending storm, with rain pouring down as the singer hears a knock at his door. He longs for the comfort and love of the person on the other side but is ultimately unable to go to them. He sings of feelings of lovesickness and pain, with a heavy heart and aching brain.
The message means that sometimes you have to make tough choices and weigh the consequences of your actions. It speaks of the difficulty of letting someone in when it could lead to the loss of something deeply important. The use of imagery throughout the song adds to the emotional distress of the situation, making it clear just how hard the decision is for the singer.
Line by Line Meaning
If I get up and let you in
If I allow you to enter my house
I lose my house and my home again
I may lose my dwelling
If I get up and try to come
If I attempt to leave
I get sent back to the land I'm from
I'm forced to return to my place of origin
Back to the land I'm from
Back to my homeland
The cloud came low and the rain did pour
It started to rain heavily
I hear your hand touch on my door
I hear you knocking at my door
The rain has quit and the light of the moon
The rain has stopped and the moon is shining
Shows you standing in my room
I see you standing in my room
Standing in my room
You are standing in my room
Bugeye Jim, I can't come
I am unable to go with you, Bugeye Jim
I can twist and turn, but I can't come
I am struggling to find a way to come with you, but I cannot
I can ache and I can burn, but I can't come
I am experiencing pain and discomfort, but I cannot come with you
I woke up this morning with an aching brain
I woke up with a headache
Hear you tap on my window pane
I hear you tapping on my window glass
I look at you with a heavy head
I look at you with a groggy, tired mind
I hear you sit down on my bed
I hear you sitting on my bed
The storm gets worse and my heart feels bare
The weather is getting worse and I am feeling vulnerable
I feel your fingers comb my hair
I feel your fingers running through my hair
Feel you comb my hair
You are combing my hair
The mud it runs and the waters rise
The ground is muddy and the water level is increasing
I feel your hotkiss on my eyes
I feel your warm kiss on my eyes
The rain it rained and the world did stir
It rained heavily and the world was in motion
I sing to you my lovesick word
I express my lovesickness to you through my song
Bugeye Jim, I can't come
I cannot go with you, Bugeye Jim
I can twist and turn, I can't come
I am trying to find a way to come with you, but I cannot
I can ache and I can burn, but I can't come
I am hurting inside but I cannot accompany you
I woke up this morning with an aching brain
I woke up with a headache
Hear you tap on my window pane
I hear you tapping on my window glass
Writer(s): Billy Bragg, Woody Guthrie Copyright: Sony/ATV Music Publishing (Uk) Limited
Contributed by Sophia M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.