In 1982 when the Argentinian military invaded the Falklands, Britain's Northern cities were falling apart, largely due to Thatcher's economic policies. Unemployment was rising at a dizzying rate, and heavy industry was closing down whilst the new "service economy" was still decades away for anywhere outside London. Of the 1.1m jobs lost between 1980 and 1985, 1m were in the Northern half of the country. Set against this, the first thought of many working class long-term unemployed on hearing about the "Task Force" to be sent to the Falklands was that Britain would need to make more ships, and that therefore the shipyards might reopen, providing work. It is not so much that an individual father might build a ship only for his own son to die in it - more that working men were building ships that younger working class men and boys would die in. To me it sounds more than an indictment of government policy, but is also critical of the working men who turned a blind eye to this fact in order to buy "a new winter coat and shoes for the wife". I think this is one of the most powerful songs ever written, even though I think that not having experienced being a long-term unemployed man trying to provide for a family makes Costello harsher than necessary on the working man's actions.
The "back by Christmas" is (as lunaspie mentions) a cliche from WW1 (and WW2) where both conflicts were expected to be short-lived.
"..take me to task" is a pun linked to the reference by Thatcher to the fleet as a "Task Force".
@paul_f good thoughts paul_f. However, I disagree with
@paul_f good thoughts paul_f. However, I disagree with
"even though I think that not having experienced being a long-term unemployed man trying to provide for a family makes Costello harsher than necessary on the working man's actions. "
"even though I think that not having experienced being a long-term unemployed man trying to provide for a family makes Costello harsher than necessary on the working man's actions. "
It's probably not unfair of you to take issue with EC for this but to be fair to him: I don't believe economic struggle is necessarily a completely foreign concept to him and his family. He was working for a living when he got "discovered", and I was always under the impression his father, though a somewhat-well-known bandleader, had them living lower-middle-class. About that I could be wrong but I'm almost positive they were not well-to-do.
Even if it was a case of EC being in an ivory tower, it wouldn't mean his opinion carries no value, and if there's a deeper point to be made in criticizing the actual workers, it'd be that as long as it's a "good thing" when the economy takes an upturn in times of war, that, more than anything else, seems to be the main reason the cycle continues.
In 1982 when the Argentinian military invaded the Falklands, Britain's Northern cities were falling apart, largely due to Thatcher's economic policies. Unemployment was rising at a dizzying rate, and heavy industry was closing down whilst the new "service economy" was still decades away for anywhere outside London. Of the 1.1m jobs lost between 1980 and 1985, 1m were in the Northern half of the country. Set against this, the first thought of many working class long-term unemployed on hearing about the "Task Force" to be sent to the Falklands was that Britain would need to make more ships, and that therefore the shipyards might reopen, providing work. It is not so much that an individual father might build a ship only for his own son to die in it - more that working men were building ships that younger working class men and boys would die in. To me it sounds more than an indictment of government policy, but is also critical of the working men who turned a blind eye to this fact in order to buy "a new winter coat and shoes for the wife". I think this is one of the most powerful songs ever written, even though I think that not having experienced being a long-term unemployed man trying to provide for a family makes Costello harsher than necessary on the working man's actions.
The "back by Christmas" is (as lunaspie mentions) a cliche from WW1 (and WW2) where both conflicts were expected to be short-lived.
"..take me to task" is a pun linked to the reference by Thatcher to the fleet as a "Task Force".
@paul_f good thoughts paul_f. However, I disagree with
@paul_f good thoughts paul_f. However, I disagree with
"even though I think that not having experienced being a long-term unemployed man trying to provide for a family makes Costello harsher than necessary on the working man's actions. "
"even though I think that not having experienced being a long-term unemployed man trying to provide for a family makes Costello harsher than necessary on the working man's actions. "
It's probably not unfair of you to take issue with EC for this but to be fair to him: I don't believe economic struggle is necessarily a completely foreign concept to him and his family. He was working for a living when he got "discovered", and I was always under the impression his father, though a somewhat-well-known bandleader, had them living lower-middle-class. About that I could be wrong but I'm almost positive they were not well-to-do.
Even if it was a case of EC being in an ivory tower, it wouldn't mean his opinion carries no value, and if there's a deeper point to be made in criticizing the actual workers, it'd be that as long as it's a "good thing" when the economy takes an upturn in times of war, that, more than anything else, seems to be the main reason the cycle continues.