Music and politics

I am an irregular reader of Q, Mojo and Word magazines, I find the writing and the music most interesting. The current edition of Q had an article on 50 years of Great British Music, which is why I paid my £3.90 over for it. Being off work with the dreaded flu, I settled down for a nostalgic journey through the last 50 years of British music. The articles on the 1950s and 1960s made for excellent reading. The articles in the 1970s section were even more interesting as that was the start of my period of music history. Then the 1980s section and it all took an ugly turn as the we hate Margaret Thatcher society took session. Unfortunately the interview with Elvis Costello went beyond both the pale and the truth. Elvis Costello was asked about "Shipbuilding" one of Elvis Costello's best known tracks and one of my favourites. I knew it was written about the Falklands War, hence the lines "The boy said dad they're going to take me to task, But I'll be back by Christmas...For saying that people get killed in, The result of this shipbuilding...Diving for dear life, When we could be diving for pearls". A great track and I could forgive the anti-Falklands imagery. Elvis Costello was asked about his vow from 1989's Spike to "dance on Margaret Thatcher's grave" and the lyrics of "Shipbuilding". This is the end of his quoted answer - "I wrote that lyric before the Belgrano, I've been to see the monument, stood and read the names of all the men... well boys who died. Whatever you say about the conduct of war that crime alone will see Thatcher in hell."

I have blogged before about the Belgrano myths and the facts that seem to be ignored by the left-wing whingers; such as:

Hector Bonzo, admitted that the Belgrano's decision to sail away from the Task Force on the morning of 2 May was only a temporary manoeuvre. "Our mission ... wasn't just to cruise around on patrol but to attack,"

Though the ship was heading away from the Falkland Islands, it had been moving towards the task force all the previous day, and had only turned around because an air attack on the task force was cancelled due to lack of wind to launch planes from the aircraft carrier operating to the north of the Falklands.

Belgrano had in fact been ordered back towards the coast to wait for more favourable conditions for an attack. Her captain, Hector Bonzo, said "We were heading towards the mainland but not going to the mainland; we were going to a position to await further orders"

Argentine Rear-Admiral Allara who was in charge of the task force that the Belgrano was part of said, "After that message of 23 April, the entire South Atlantic was an operational theatre for both sides. We, as professionals, said it was just too bad that we lost the Belgrano".

In 1994 the Argentine government conceded that the sinking of the Belgrano was "a legal act of war"



Yes the sinking of the Belgrano resulted in the deaths of 323 sailors and that is a horrible truth but IT WAS WAR. I note that anti-war commentators rarely criticised the Argentinians for invading the Falklands in the first place, a group of islands whose population are 100% in favour of being British. Nor do I remember them criticising a really right wing fascist government from invading the Falklands but were happy to attack Thatcher for freeing them. I don't remember the left attacking the Argentinians for killing UK armed forces personnel such as when they attacked HMS Sheffield (not an attack craft but there to provide a long-range radar and medium-high altitude missile "picket" far from the British carriers) resulting in the death of 20 sailors.

I also note that the left wing commentators tend not to comment on how defeat in the Falklands War led to ever-larger protests against the military regime in Argentina and is credited with giving the final push to drive out the military government that had overthrown Isabel Perón in 1976 and participated in the crimes of the Dirty War. Galtieri was forced to resign and elections were held on 30 October 1983 and Raúl Alfonsín, the Radical Civic Union (UCR) party candidate, took office on 10 December 1983.


I wonder if Elvis Costello has criticised Castro's regime or just the American government?


Elvis Costello - "Peace, Love and Understanding" but only for South American fascist governments, certainly not for a British government headed by Mrs Thatcher.