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.
Island Of No Return
Billy Bragg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To keep my foxhole out of sight
Digging into dinner on a plate on my knees
The smell of damp webbing in the morning breeze
Fear in my stomach, fear in the sky
I eat my dinner with a weary eye
After all this it won't be the same
Messing around on Salisbury Plain
Pick up your feet, fall in, move out
We're going to a party way down South
Me and the Corporal out on a spree
Damned from here to eternity
I hate this flat land, there's no cover
For sons and fathers and brothers and lovers
I can take the killing, I can take the slaughter
But I don't talk to Sun reporters
I never thought that I would be
Fighting fascists in the Southern Sea
I saw one today and in his hand
Was a weapon that was made in Birmingham
Pick up your feet, fall in, move out
We're going to a party way down South
Me and the Corporal out on a spree
Damned from here to eternity
I wish Kipling and the Captain were here
To record our pursuits for posterity
Me and the Corporal out on a spree
Damned from here to eternity
The song "Island Of No Return" by Billy Bragg tells the story of a soldier who is digging a foxhole during a war, eating on his knees, and experiencing fear at all times. He hates the flat land, where there is no cover, and he can see the enemies approaching. He is capable of killing and slaughtering but is not keen to speak to Sun reporters. The soldier reflects on how things won't be the same after the war, and he can't wait to mess around on Salisbury Plain because he wishes that Captain and Kipling could record their pursuits of the war for posterity.
The song's inspiration is drawn from the Falklands War, where British soldiers fought for the sovereignty of the British territory, Falkland Island. The name of the song itself is a reference to the Falkland Islands because it was known as "Isla de Los Estados" (Island of the States) to the Spanish in the 17th century, who believed it was the last rock before the edge of the world, marking the point of no return. The song is an anti-war protest, where Bragg portrays the soldier's life and his experiences during the war. The song highlights the harsh reality of war, where soldiers have to dig their foxholes to stay safe, but at the same time, they are exposed to the enemy, and there is no guarantee of survival.
Line by Line Meaning
Digging all day and digging all night
I work tirelessly to keep my foxhole hidden from sight
To keep my foxhole out of sight
I need to hide from the dangers of war
Digging into dinner on a plate on my knees
I eat my meal while hunkering down in my foxhole
The smell of damp webbing in the morning breeze
I wake up to the scent of my gear which has gotten wet from the humidity
Fear in my stomach, fear in the sky
I am both scared and intimidated by what the future holds
I eat my dinner with a weary eye
I am exhausted by the ongoing warfare
After all this it won't be the same
Nothing will be the same after witnessing the horrors of war
Messing around on Salisbury Plain
Having fun on the plain prior to the war
Pick up your feet, fall in, move out
It's time to move and get moving
We're going to a party way down South
We're being deployed to fight in the war
Me and the Corporal out on a spree
I'm on a mission with Corporal
Damned from here to eternity
I am destined to live with war forever
I hate this flat land, there's no cover
The flat land I'm exposed to doesn't provide sufficient cover
For sons and fathers and brothers and lovers
The war affects everyone, whether they're a family member or lover
I can take the killing, I can take the slaughter
I can bear the violence and killing in the war
But I don't talk to Sun reporters
I choose not to engage with reporters from a specific media outlet
I never thought that I would be
I never expected I'd have to fight
Fighting fascists in the Southern Sea
I'm fighting against fascist enemies in the sea down South
I saw one today and in his hand
I encountered an enemy soldier who held a weapon
Was a weapon that was made in Birmingham
The enemy soldier had a weapon that was manufactured in Birmingham
I wish Kipling and the Captain were here
I wish two iconic men were here to document our experiences
To record our pursuits for posterity
To document our actions for future generations to understand
Damned from here to eternity
I am stuck living through the war for the rest of my life
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: BILLY BRAGG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@scottforbes4931
Saw Billy bash on that guitar a couple times in Boston and NYC
Awesome
USMC and 30+ years Union
I love Billy
@nomesstins
respect to all squaddies who understand everything this song says so many raw memories
@douglasparkinson4123
the guitar on this one is top notch.
@jimstafford2832
One man,guitar and amp..... magic ....
@alexanderlieder7192
great song
@Anon6655321
What a fucking line, Billy knows how to write 'em.
@patkelly8309
Hahaha which one? All of them lol
@thomasandersen6719
@@patkelly8309 "I can already taste the blood in my mouth, we're going to a party way down south"
@joelmarcianovieira1667
i really like it
@simonyip5978
"I can already taste the blood in my mouth.. "