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.
When The Roses Bloom Again
Billy Bragg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the roses were in bloom
A soldier and his sweetheart brave and true
And their hearts were filled with sorrow
For their thoughts were of tomorrow
As she pinned a rose upon his coat of blue
Do not ask me love to linger
For duty calls your sweetheart's name again
And your heart need not be sighing
If I be among the dying
I'll be with you when the roses bloom again
When the roses bloom again
Beside the river
And the mockingbird has sung his sweet refrain
In the days of auld lang syne
I'll be with you sweetheart mine
I'll be with you when the roses bloom again
Mid the rattle of the battle
Came a whisper soft and low
A soldier who had fallen in the fray
I am dying, I am dying
And I know I'll have to go
But I want to tell you
Before I pass away
There's a far and distant river
Where the roses are in bloom
A sweetheart who is waiting there for me
And it's there I pray you take me
I've been faithful, don't forsake me
I'll be with her when the roses bloom again
"When The Roses Bloom Again" is a song that tells the story of a soldier and his sweetheart, who are taking a stroll in the garden where the roses are in bloom. They are filled with sorrow as they know that the soldier will have to leave to serve his duty. The girl pins a rose on his blue coat and they exchange thoughts about their fate. She tells the soldier not to be troubled, as even if he falls in battle, she will be with him again when the roses bloom. Their bittersweet exchange is meant to show the love they have for each other, and how even in the face of war, they hold onto hope.
The song takes on a nostalgic and romantic tone as it refers to old times and memories. The second verse of the song tells a story of the soldier receiving a message during the battle that he is going to die. He asks his companion to take his remains to a distant river where his true love is waiting for him. The song ends by repeating the theme from the first verse; he will be with his beloved when the roses bloom again.
Overall, "When The Roses Bloom Again" is a touching song that reminds us of the power of love and hope in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
They were strolling in the gloaming
They were walking in the twilight
Where the roses were in bloom
Where there were plenty of blooming roses
A soldier and his sweetheart brave and true
A courageous and loyal soldier and his beloved partner
And their hearts were filled with sorrow
They felt great sadness
For their thoughts were of tomorrow
They were thinking about the future
As she pinned a rose upon his coat of blue
She attached a rose to his blue coat
Do not ask me love to linger
Don't ask me to stay
When you know not what to say
When you don't know what to tell me
For duty calls your sweetheart's name again
Your lover must go back to fulfill their duties
And your heart need not be sighing
You shouldn't feel distressed
If I be among the dying
Even if I die
I'll be with you when the roses bloom again
I'll be there with you in spirit when the roses bloom again
When the roses bloom again
When the roses are in bloom once more
Beside the river
Next to the river
And the mockingbird has sung his sweet refrain
And the mockingbird has sung its beautiful melody
In the days of auld lang syne
In the olden days
I'll be with you sweetheart mine
I'll be with you, my beloved
Mid the rattle of the battle
During the noise of the fighting
Came a whisper soft and low
A quiet whisper could be heard
A soldier who had fallen in the fray
A soldier who had died in battle
I am dying, I am dying
I am close to death
And I know I'll have to go
And I know I have to leave
But I want to tell you
But I want to say
Before I pass away
Before I die
There's a far and distant river
There is a faraway river
Where the roses are in bloom
Where the roses are blooming
A sweetheart who is waiting there for me
A lover who is waiting for me there
And it's there I pray you take me
And I ask that you take me there
I've been faithful, don't forsake me
I've been loyal, don't abandon me
I'll be with her when the roses bloom again
I'll be reunited with my lover when the roses bloom again
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JEFF TWEEDY, WOODY GUTHRIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind