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.
Jeane
Billy Bragg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The low-life has lost its appeal
And I'm tired of walking these streets
To a room with a cupboard bare
Jeane
I'm not sure what happiness means
But I look in your eyes
We tried, we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried
Jeane
There's ice on the sink where we bathe
So how can you call this a home
When you know it's a grave?
But you still hold a greedy grace
As you tidy the place
But it'll never be clean
Jeane
We tried, we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried
Oh, cash on the nail
It's just a fairytale
Oh, and I don't believe in magic anymore
Jeane
But I think you know
I really think you know
Oh, I think you know the truth
Jeane, oh
No heavenly choir
Not for me and not for you
Because I think that you know
I really think you know
I think you know the truth
Oh, Jeane
That we tried, and we failed
That we tried, and we failed
We tried, and we failed
We tried, and we failed
Oh, oh, Jeane
The song “Jeane” by Billy Bragg is a heart-wrenching musing on the loss and failure of love. As Bragg laments, the low-life has lost its allure, and the banal miseries of poverty-- an empty cupboard, an icy sink -- have taken over. The titular “Jeane” stands in as a sort of avatar of lost love, an anchor in the midst of all the hardship. Though Bragg is sure he doesn’t know what happiness means, he looks to her, hoping to find it in her eyes. But alas, it isn’t there. The pair have tried and failed, and try as they might it seems they just can’t get it right. In the end, Bragg seems to say, they are left with nothing but the barren truth: they tried, and they failed. There’s no fairy tale ending, no magical solution.
Bragg’s lyrics in “Jeane” are raw and vulnerable, speaking to the universal experiences of heartbreak and disappointment. The song’s straightforwardness echoes its sincerity, rendering the heartbreak all the more palpable. Ultimately, the song serves as a testament to the tumultuous nature of love, and the ways it often falls short.
Line by Line Meaning
Jeane
The beginning of the song where the singer addresses Jeane.
The low-life has lost its appeal
The singer explains how they are tired of their current way of life.
And I'm tired of walking these streets
The singer is physically exhausted from wandering around with no clear direction.
To a room with a cupboard bare
The artist's living conditions are inadequate, as they don't have any food to eat.
I'm not sure what happiness means
The artist is confused about the concept of happiness.
But I look in your eyes
The one positive thing in the singer's life is their connection with Jeane.
And I know that it isn't there
However, even that connection is not enough to bring them true happiness.
We tried, we failed
The artist and Jeane have attempted to make things work in the past, but to no avail.
There's ice on the sink where we bathe
The living conditions are so bad that even the water is frozen.
So how can you call this a home
The artist questions whether it's fair to even refer to their living situation as a home.
When you know it's a grave?
The singer believes that their current living conditions will inevitably lead to their death.
But you still hold a greedy grace
Despite their situation, Jeane still manages to maintain her composure and grace.
As you tidy the place
Jeane takes care of their living area, even though it's a lost cause.
But it'll never be clean
However, no amount of cleaning can fix the bigger issues at hand.
Oh, cash on the nail
The singer uses this phrase to refer to the idea of having money readily available whenever needed.
It's just a fairytale
The artist believes that having that kind of financial security is a pipe dream.
Oh, and I don't believe in magic anymore
The artist has lost their sense of hope and optimism.
But I think you know
Despite this, the singer believes that Jeane understands them on a deeper level.
I really think you know
The singer is certain that Jeane truly understands how they feel.
No heavenly choir
The artist uses this phrase to refer to the idea of a happy ending.
Not for me and not for you
The artist believes that they will never be able to achieve true happiness, despite their connection with Jeane.
Because I think that you know
The artist reiterates their belief that Jeane truly understands their situation.
I really think you know the truth
Jeane is aware of the harsh reality of their situation.
Oh, Jeane
The song ends with the artist addressing Jeane one final time.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Johnny Marr, Steven Patrick Morrissey
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind