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.
Fear Is a Man's Best Friend
Billy Bragg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wide-eyed, one eye fixed on the door
This waiting's killing me
It's getting me down
Day in day out
My feet are wearing holes in the ground
Darkness, woman and a bedroom floor
I'm a sleeping dog
But you can't tell
When I'm on the prowl
You'd better run like hell
You know it makes sense, don't you think about it
Life and death are things we only do when we're bored
Say fear is a man's best friend
Say fear is a man's best friend
Say fear is a man's best friend
You add it up it brings you down
You add it up it brings you down
Home is living like a man on the run
Days leading nowhere
"Where to my son ?"
We're already dead
But not yet in the ground
Come on, hold my shaking hand
And I'll show you around
The opening lines of the song "Standing waiting for a man to show, Wide-eyed, one eye fixed on the door, This waiting's killing me, It's getting me down, Day in day out" indicate the agony of anticipation which presents as a form of anxiety. The persona is portrayed as waiting pessimistically for something, possibly a man who he or she thinks may be a savior. They feel trapped, powerless, and unable to make choices. This anxiety is coupled with dark implications that suggest death and decay, "My feet are wearing holes in the ground." The next stanza depicts melancholy and loneliness seeking solace by wanting someone to hold them close forevermore, but the misery is asphyxiating, "I'm a sleeping dog, but you can't tell, When I'm on the prowl, You'd better run like hell."
The chorus elucidates that fear is an intrinsic part of human existence, and men depend on this fear to live; fear drives men, as they can only think of the danger and experience fear. The lyric 'Life and death are things we only do when we're bored' highlights the nihilistic worldview that men have no inherent purpose or meaning but are driven by fear. The verse "Days leading nowhere, "Where to, my son?" We're already dead, but not yet in the ground" abstractly suggests the persona's life as an aimless and meaningless existence, expressing their fears of death and the passage of time. Still, ultimately this fear perishes, and life is left to the decisions we make along the way that solidify the path of our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Standing waiting for a man to show
I am anxious and eagerly waiting for somebody to arrive.
Wide-eyed, one eye fixed on the door
I am keeping a strict watch over the door with wide-open eyes.
This waiting's killing me
This lengthy waiting is causing me distress.
It's getting me down
It's making me feel low and dejected.
Day in day out
This is an everyday occurrence.
My feet are wearing holes in the ground
I have been pacing so much that my shoes are beginning to show signs of wear and tear.
Darkness, woman and a bedroom floor
The context here is sexual encounters in a dark setting.
Want someone to hold me close forever more
I crave for intimacy and long for a companion to cling onto for life.
I'm a sleeping dog
I may be calm and still, but don't underestimate me.
But you can't tell
My appearance may conceal my true nature.
When I'm on the prowl
When I am active, I am a formidable force to be reckoned with.
You'd better run like hell
You better be prepared to flee from me when I am active.
You know it makes sense, don't you think about it
This statement is an appeal to the listener’s sense of logic and reason.
Life and death are things we only do when we're bored
The lyrics criticize the monotony of everyday life.
Say fear is a man's best friend
The song's central theme is expressed by this line - suggesting that being afraid is a natural component of human experience.
You add it up it brings you down
This is a warning not to allow fear and paranoia to hold sway over our lives.
Home is living like a man on the run
This expresses a sentiment of homelessness or restlessness.
Days leading nowhere
A feeling of being stuck in a rut or aimlessness.
"Where to my son ?"
The singer is lost and unable to navigate himself out of this situation.
We're already dead
Life has already taken its tole on him.
But not yet in the ground
Although life may feel bleak, there is still time to turn things around.
Come on, hold my shaking hand
A note of vulnerability combined with a plea for help.
And I'll show you around
An invitation to experience the singer's world.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN DAVIES CALE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Andy McDougall
Lou Reed is an actor, Tom waits is an actor. They're poets for my generation. Those who've been nowhere, seen nothing, and know everything, cause they've seen it on television. On the other hand..... Billy Bragg is just, well.... Billy Bragg. Fear IS the average mans best friend while courage to be oneself is, for better or worse, his. Get stuck in billy.
R. ROOKSBY
What's wrong with it? I like both versions...
huji891
sorry, this version does great injustice to John Cale's original (and actually i heard it before the original back then when it was issued, i believe on one of Bragg's peel Sessions)