The Corbyn Phenomenon

When Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party, an astonishing number of about 300,000 people were moved to join the Labour party.  I guess this should not have been as much of a surprise as it was.  For a long, long time, people had been waiting for someone to be elevated to a political platform who would then genuinely be their spokesperson - to express, on their behalf, their hopes, their beliefs, their wishes, their aspirations for  a better, fairer, more just, country and world.  For so long people had been enduring the tired, threadbare old mantras of "we're in it together", "we inherited this mess", "we're working as hard as we can", etc, etc.  Finally - at last - there was the ghost of a possibility that someone with real determination to improve things - not just for the majority but particularly for those from deprived areas and backgrounds and non-priviledged origins. These would, altogether, form a majority of the population and it would therefore be a considerable task to lift them out of the mire and depressing swamp of austerity that the Tories had let them sink into.

Jeremy Corbyn - it is well known - has been a lifelong campaigner for equality of not only opportunity, but also of an improved standard of living for those with the poorest, for the struggling, the deprived and disenfrachised, the jobless, the voiceless.  Jeremy, because of the courage which is his character and the compassion which is his nature, would strive to create a better, more just and more equal society and it was this dream that the thousands who flocked to Labour with him as Leader had been dreaming for so long.  Huge numbers of them had deplored the continuing use of precious public resources on the development of nuclear weapons and the unimaginable sums needed to refurbish the Trident submarines (what, on earth, was wrong with the old ones?) to deliver them in the very flimsiest likelihood of possible scenarios.  It does not take a Jeremy Corbyn for you to work out that firing nukes at each other is going to make losers of us all, besides which Corbyn, because of his humanitarian princples, could not- would not- countenance  condemning massive numbers of people to obliteration by initiating a nuclear attack.  Acknowledging my ignorance here, I don't know for certain, but I guess, from what I know of the man, that Jeremy would have equal difficulty in the event he had to respond with nuclear weapons. (If I'm ever fortunate enough to meet Jeremy, I will put that question to him.)

And, apart from his antinuclear stance, Jeremy Corbyn has courage and resilience.  It is a part of political life that if, as a politician, you speak out about injustice that you see happening in other parts of the world, you are bound to face severe criticism and antagonism from the perpetrators of that injustice, and they will do what they can to destroy your reputation and your credibility.  If, as Jeremy is, you are occupying a democracy-based platform, those perpetrators will make every effort to demolish that platform and use every method- fair or foul- to convince everyone that you are bad news - that you are not honest, that you are prejudiced and willing to sacrifice others for your cause.  Jeremy Corbyn has endured a lot more than his fair share of opprobrium for speaking out about the issues he feels deserve comment and/or criticism.  It takes a brave politician, knowing he/she is risking electoral unpopularity, to "stick his/her neck out" about injustice, especially when that injustice is controversial.  I admit my admiration for Jeremy Corbyn for his courage in the face of that.

I don't really want to immerse myself in the massive issue of antisemitism in this blog, except to say that anyone who considers Jeremy Corbyn to be antisemitic,  either is deliberately ignoring his (Jeremy's) abhorrence of any form of racism (for that is what antisemitism is) or has never made any effort to understand Jeremy's true nature and principles, easily  discernable from his  many, many public pronouncements and appearances.  While I do acknowlege that there have been examples of antisemitism demonstrated by some Labour party members, I cannot accept that Jeremy Corbyn would ever have been complicit in covering up such examples or, for that matter,  knowingly to have refrained from taking action in cases where such instances were found to be true.  I sincerely hope I am justified in that view and,  if I am not then, no doubt someone better informed will put me right.

And now, we have Keir Starmer.  In an effort to be honest and impartial,  I admit I thought at the outset that Starmer would be a good Labour Leader.  I know some of his work as a lawyer was involved with human rights and assumed he was an intelligent person and someone who would be concerned that in conducting politics, the truth - and the facts- should always be paramount.  I was dismayed and disappointed when, as one of his early actions, he sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey for exposing Israel's adoption of US police training methods (in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by employing some of those methods).  What is so deplorable about that is not that Rebecca Long-Bailey did something wrong - simply that she (or her action) implied some criticism of the Israeli regime.  I do accept that whether that implied criticism was justified or not, some might regard as debatable.  But what is not acceptable is that Keir Starmer is conflicted about the issue of criticism of Israel, but is not being open and honest about that conflict.  Starmer's wife is Jewish, so it is understandable that he might wish to hold back about commenting about issues concerning the actions of the Israeli regime.  He might feel that he cannot be impartial about such matters.  My point is that Starmer should openly declare and own  this conflict of interest and acknowledge that it is therefore difficult for him to comment on- or take actions in response to- issues regarding Israel.  His lack of openness about this does, for me, suggest a lack of integrity, of moral courage.

And now it's starting to look as if Keir Starmer is waging war on Jeremy Corbyn's legacy.  It certainly looks as though, in spite of Corbyn no longer being Labour Leader,  Jeremy is still hugely popular among the membership and continues to enjoy very strong support, a fact that Starmer appears to find so discomforting that he is using flimsy reasons to weaken Jeremy's influence - suspending him from the Labour party, then after being compelled to reinstate Jeremy, continuing the withdrawal of the Whip from Jeremy, which is a pretty drastic action, usually used to sanction some sort of misdemeanour.  It looks, currently,  as though Labour members who are supporting Jeremy and are critical of Starmer's actions, are now themselves being threatened by punitive action by Starmer.  Makes me ask myself- is Keir Starmer afraid of Jeremy Corbyn and the support he enjoys?  I would have thought that if Starmer could harness this strength of feeling for Jeremy Corbyn,  he could turn it to his political advantage - but then, I'm not a politician, so what do I know?

I do hope that if you've taken the trouble to read this long diatribe, you'll feel clear about where I'm coming from,  even if you don't agree with me.  I feel so strongly about the above that I felt compelled to share it with you all. Stay safe.

"Piece of Free" (after Covid 19 came.......)

Outside my bedoom window
There grows a nesting tree
The branches thick and shelter
The fledgling family
I hear the pigeon calling
He claims his territory
I feel a tinge of envy-
He's got his piece of free

All round our towns and hamlets
The atmosphere is strange
The silence is unnerving
The very air is changed
The streets are bare and empty
The pavements cold and still
No pitter-patter, chitter-chatter
Even birds have ceased their trill

What stalks these roads and sidings?
What taints the very air?
So small it needs no hiding
And no-one knows it's there
For safety's sake I stay at home
My friends I must not see
And here, nor there, I may not roam
I've lost my piece of free

The days of rove and ramble
For now, are just a dream
As normal life's a gamble
Under the lockdown scheme
We'll bide our time and prospect
The wind will shift - the fog will lift
Return our piece of free.....

'Silence is Complicity'

I got myself into bit of a spat with a mate of mine by putting that phrase on a FB post.  He felt it unfairly pressurised  or implied criticism of people who choose not to take up the option of speaking out about it when they encounter an example of someone, or a group, perpetratinginjustice upon another, or upon a group of people.  I felt obliged to explain myself.

I can understand how/why people feel in some way pressurised when they choose not to speak out and call it out when they have come across an injustice of some sort, especially when someone else suggests they are in some way complicit inthe injustice by remaining silent.  And yet I find myself compelled to agree with this view.  Those who are familiar with the bible story of the good Samaritan will perhaps have some understanding of the principle.  To be aware of and then not, in some way react when an obvious injustice has happened is, in some senses to "ignore" it - almost, to pretend you did not know it took place. 

 The phrase "silence is complicity" implies that-  not to call it out when someone is abused, harassed, discriminated against, persecuted or, in some way, treated unjustly is to allow the injustice to be unchallenged in any way - the perpetrator, for want of a better description, gets away with, the "offence", which may possibly mean it may be continued or repeated.  On the other hand, if the observer of an injustice speaks out about it, tells others about it, 'spreads the word', so to speak, then that person has helped to create an awareness of what has happened.  If the perpetrator knows that his/her 'offence' has been publicised and that others now know about it , it puts pressure on him her to amend his/her offending behaviour, possibly to try and make up for it and not to repeat it.  For the injustice to have happened unchallenged, risks its continuance and may even allow the perpetrator to feel emboldened.

I hope I've not made too much of a meal of  this - it's only because I feel that if we want a better world and for things to change for the better, we should not stay silent - or, even sit on the fence about -injustice, inequality, oppression, etc.  It's a non-violent way of helping our fellow humans - just by telling others about what is happening.  Words have a sort of 'ripple effect' - people tell each other and talk about what's happening and hopefully, the awareness results in change for the better.  So, the moral is, don't be afraid to speak out - the more people know what's going on, the better!  Good luck!

Songwriting:

 Hey Friends, Brothers, Sisters, who love justice and equality:  I've just had the huge honour of a whole radio programme devoted to my songs being broadcast in my beloved Aotearoa (NZ). Here's the link: 

 https://accessmedia.nz/Player.aspx?eid=188fb069-eb02-4c86-a97f-e4be8b6f0fe2

Just wanted to say a bit about songwriting, which, musically, has been my life since I first started writing songs, in about 1964, I think. This isn't meant to be any kind of 'workshop' or anything,  just a bit of insight into what the experience of songwriting is for me.

People will tell you it's a cathartic process and that's very true.  It can be a way of getting stuff off your chest - stuff that's been bothering or haunting you.  In fact it's very true that when you use songwriting to try and express that 'stuff',  the sense of relief when you've actually got a song that has dealt with it -  is very real.  After many years I finally wrote a song about my own origins - or what I knew of them - (some of them are very shrouded) - I felt as though I'd had a massive emotional release, so strong was it. The song in question, although not recorded, is called "In the Mist of '45". I do hope I'll record it one day, at least for posterity.

And that word posterity is important.  Although your songs may not always be biographical in the literal sense, they nevertheless will inevitably feature biographical elements, and those will sometimes only be apparent when you've finished writing the song and sit back, as an observer, and look at it.  It may not be until you look at a larger crossection  of a songwriter's output that you can get a feeling of that "biography", for want of a better expression.

For me, songwriting is a journey of discovery.  Some may be surprised at that - assuming that if you set out on putting your thoughts on a subject into a song, you would know what you were going to end up with.  In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.  What comes into your mind as you're fossicking around for the inspiration, or the idea, or the catalyst that will move the song on, can be truly surprising.  It may be a phrase, or a catchy riff, or a tempting bit of melody, or something you find totally baffling - that makes you say - where on earth did that come from?

It's true that these happenings sometimes come from the instrument you're using, but certainly not always.  In short, it's unpredictable, but don't be surprised if it happens to you - it could even occur in something as simple as when you're trying to think of a rhyme.  The allure of this unpredictability can be quite addictive.

I usually start with some sort of verse or chorus that I've just thought of in my head, because I've often found that  those words, that verse, can suggest a tune or melody to me simply because of their pattern, rhythm, or cadence. 

Just one more thing - be patient.  If it's not working, forget it for a while and go do something else, and come back to it later.  The thing is, you see, that your mind/brain will, without you being aware of it, continue to tussle with the challenge while you're off doing the more mundane things of daily life.  I once wrote a song, called "Daydreaming", while I was hoovering the living room.  Some activities seem to require so little concentration that there's room for your mind to do all sorts of thinking about something that's occupying your thoughts more.  (The downside of that is that the activity you're supposed to be doing, suffers from lackof concentration, as my faithful partner, Pauline would confirm.

Well, friends, I'm stopping there, before this really does become a songwriting workshop!  The main thing for you aspiring songwriters is- don't fret - don't worry about it!  Good luck!