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.
Raglan Road
Billy Bragg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might one day rue
I saw the danger and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And I said: 'Let grief, be a fallen leaf
At the dawning of the day'
On Grafton Street in November
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passion's pledge
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay
Oh I loved too much and by such
By such is happiness thrown away
I gave her gifts of the mind
I gave her the secret signs
That's known to the artists who have known
The true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint did not stint
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her own dark hair
Like clouds over fields of May
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly
My reason must allow
That had I loved not as I should
A creature made of clay
When the angel woos the clay
He'd lose his wings at the dawn of day
The song "Raglan Road" conveys a bittersweet, melancholic mood that reflects the singer's unrequited love for a woman. The first stanza sets the tone for the song as the singer reminisces about a woman he first saw on Raglan Road during autumn. He was instantly captivated by her dark hair and aura which he suspected could lead to heartbreak. He decides to avoid her to prevent any future regrets as he walks down the "enchanted way." The singer embraces the inability to take back ill-given love with the lines, "Let grief, be a fallen leaf/ At the dawning of the day."
In the second stanza, the singer recalls taking a walk with the woman on Grafton Street during November. The street is a metaphor for a deep ravine, and the trip refers to the depth of the relationship. The Queen of Hearts making tarts links back to the enchanting and whimsical imagery, representing how life must go on despite heartbreak. The regret of knowing that he "loved too much" echoes the bard's solution to "carry on regardless." He recognizes that his excessive love for a person who never reciprocated it is what led to his unhappiness, and he is saddened to have thrown away his chance at joy.
The final stanza sees the poet's double down on melancholy with strained metaphors, referencing ghosts of the past and angels losing their wings. In a poignant image, the singer sees the woman walking away hastily, signifying that she has moved on completely. He accepts that love and affection are losses and bittersweet memories, that he treasured despite the pain they later caused him.
Line by Line Meaning
On Raglan Road on an autumn day
Billy first spotted the woman he fell in love with on Raglan Road, known for its autumnal beauty
I saw her first and knew
Instantly, Billy knew that he was going to fall for her
That her dark hair would weave a snare
Her dark hair captivated Billy and he sensed danger from its power over him
That I might one day rue
Billy knew that if he entered into a relationship with her, there was a risk that he would one day regret it
I saw the danger and I passed
Aware of the potential heartbreak, Billy decides not to pursue her
Along the enchanted way
His decision to not pursue her was not without appreciation for the magic of the moment
And I said: 'Let grief, be a fallen leaf
Billy decides to deal with the heartbreak by treating it as something that falls away naturally
At the dawning of the day'
He wants to move past the sorrow and start a new day fresh
On Grafton Street in November
Billy references another street, Grafton Street, and a time of year, November, calling to mind the memory of another day spent with her
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Together, they walk together along a path that is precarious and possibly dangerous
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The path they walk along overlooks a deep ravine which can be viewed from above
The worth of passion's pledge
The overlook affirms the value of love, and how important it is to honor the promises made when love is present
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts
Even when love is present, life goes on with or without it
And I not making hay
Despite the opportunity to capitalize on love, Billy didn't see it, and failed to appreciate the potential happiness she could have brought
Oh I loved too much and by such
Billy reflects upon his faith in love and how it lead him to go all in with someone he wasn't meant to be with
By such is happiness thrown away
He believes that because he loved too intensely, he missed out on happiness outside of love
I gave her gifts of the mind
Billy contributed to her life in meaningful ways through thoughtful, intellectual exchanges
I gave her the secret signs
Billy introduced her to the esoteric and exclusive world of artists and creative types
That's known to the artists who have known
The secret signs represented an opportunity to bond with her over something special and specific to their shared interest in creativity
The true gods of sound and stone
By revealing the secret signs, they can recognize those who are truly creative and imaginative
And word and tint did not stint
He gifted her poems that he had written, holding nothing back in providing her with an insight into his thoughts and feelings
I gave her poems to say
He gave her the gift of using his poetic words as her own, a demonstration of how he trusts her and wanted to share his deepest thoughts with her
With her own name there and her own dark hair
By allowing her to use his poems as her own, it was her that was given credit for the poetic words, complementing her dark hair and creating the illusion that the words she spoke came from her own life
Like clouds over fields of May
The feeling is likened to the beauty and clarity of a spring day
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
This line invokes a feeling similar to when one thinks of home and can picture the surroundings clearly
I see her walking now
Billy encounters the woman he loved, walking by himself
Away from me so hurriedly
She walks away quickly, allowing Billy a brief moment to realize and accept that their time together had passed
My reason must allow
Billy accepts the end of the relationship while desperately wishing things could be different
That had I loved not as I should
If Billy was able to distance himself emotionally from love, he would have fared better in life
A creature made of clay
He would have been better off loving someone that was just like him, human and imperfect
When the angel woos the clay
When an other-worldly being tries to make the most of a flawed match, trouble ensues
He'd lose his wings at the dawn of day
Being caught up in the emotional entanglements is just setting oneself up for heartbreak when the dawn comest
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Paddy Moloney, Patrick Kavanagh, Van Morrison
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind