Don't think BB has ever heard of this progessive website and even if he had I don't think his new centrist/non-republican position fits well enough for him to post.

Keep doing us that favour of staying silent. Forever.

Braggy you are wrong. You have just become another fully paid up member of the Bob Dylan Union. Another snivelling phoney who took the shilling. Those of us struggling in the "new" capitalist economy wave you off. With two fingers. Bobby Moore FFS!

I don't doubt that the Queen's a charming old lady. So's my mum. The difference is that Her Majesty has never had to work a day in her life, while my mother has had to work a variety of not-very-pleasant jobs, paying - in the process - the very taxes that have funded Liz's family's lifestyle. OK, OK, I know that - spread across 60 million Brits - the cost is less than a groat per person, but that's not the point. The point is that the daily deification of this archetype of snobbery, privilege and inherited entitlement sends a message to all of us that there's nothing wrong with..er..snobbery, privilege, and inherited entitlement. And that's a message that's pounded into us Brits (even those of us - like myself - now living abroad) ad nauseam by the reverence and faux-affection that's poured on this woman by our craven (Lordship-craving) media at every opportunity. And that message is a profoundly corrosive, and dis-empowering one. Sorry, Billy, your reaction to being touched by an elderly angel in ermine is very human - and we love you all the more for it - but you're on the wrong side on this issue.

With all due respect, you Brits have a more democratic, progressive society than we have in America. I envy you.
My ancestors came to America over a hundred years ago from County Devon. Maybe we would have been better if they had stayed there. Unfortunately it's very difficult for an American to get a job in the UK, or I would come join you.

Right on PJD! Seeing the lyrics of that song reminded me (incidentally it was "Down below the Rio Grande" - a reference to the wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, and the "monkey trial on TV" referred to a film he saw about the teacher prosecuted in Kansas for teaching evolution in the 1920s) about how important a figure Billy was twenty to thirty years ago. He wasn't some affected poseur, he meant it, and in those dark days of Thatcherism he he was a very influential, and indeed politically active figure. That's why the sycophantic drivel above is such a betrayal. OK, if he shook hands with the Queen because he'd written the lyrics fair enough, but then to wank off about it in the Daily Mail (Britain's fascist paper) is unconscionable. Your effort also inspired me to dig out the cassette and reproduce some more lyrics below. This was not a Billy composition, it is a traditional folk song written in the mid 17th c celebrating the Diggers, but Billy brought it to a new audience. The Enclosure Acts had just been passed, taking the common land that had always been collectively owned and supported the majority of the rural population. The land was taken, the people starved, and the Diggers were the people fighting back. I wonder if Billy had this song running through his mind when he was twittering obsequiously to the direct beneficiary of this crime against humanity the other night at the Festival Hall.
The stunning thing about this song, which was written 350 years ago, is that it could have been written yesterday.

The World Turned Upside Down.

In 1649
To St. George's Hill
A ragged band they called the Diggers
Came to show the people's will
They defied the landlords
They defied the laws
They were the dispossessed reclaiming what was theirs

We come in peace they said
To dig and sow
We come to work the lands in common
And to make the waste ground grow
This earth divided
We will make whole
So it will be
A common treasury for all

The sin of property
We do disdain
No man has any right to buy and sell
The earth for private gain
By theft and murder
They took the land
Now everywhere the walls
Spring up at their command.

They make the laws
To chain us well
The clergy dazzle us with heaven
Or they damn us into hell
We will not worship
The God they serve
The God of greed who feeds the rich
While poor folks starve

We work we eat together
We need no swords
We will not bow to the masters
Or pay rent to the lords
Still we are free
Though we are poor
You Diggers all stand up for glory
Stand up now

From the men of property
The orders came
They sent their hired men and troopers
To wipe out the Diggers' claim
Tear down their cottages
Destroy their corn
They were dispersed
But still the vision lingers on

You poor take courage
You rich take care
This earth was made a common treasury
For everyone to share
All things in common
All people one
We come in peace
The orders came to cut them down

i was turned on to Billy Bragg a ways back by an Australian girlfriend, who would translate his lyrics for my US-English ears. Since this site is largely USAn, I thought i'd reprint this, my favorite Bragg song, -So heres to some old non sold-out Bragg - or is the new Bragg going to sue me for violating his "intellectual property" rights?

Help save the Youth of America

Help save the youth of america
Help save them from themselves
Help save the sun-tanned surfer boys
And the california girls

When the lights go out in the rest of the world
What do our cousins say
Theyre playing in the sun and having fun, fun, fun
Till daddy takes the gun away

From the big church to the big river
And out to the shining sea
This is the land of opportunity
And theres a monkey trial on tv
(It always sounded more like "as long as the Russians are on TV' to me)

A nation with their freezers full
Are dancing in their seats
While outside another nation
Is sleeping in the streets

Dont tell me the old, old story
Tell me the truth this time
Is the man in the mask or the indian
An enemy or a friend of mine

Help save the youth of america
Help save the youth of the world
Help save the boys in uniform
Their mothers and their faithful girls

Listen to the voice of the soldier
Down in the killing zone
Talking about the cost of living
And the price of bringing him home

Theyre already shipping the body bags
Down by the rio grande
But you can fight for democracy at home
And not in some foreign land

And the fate of the great united states
Is entwined in the fate of us all
And the incident at Chernobyl proves
The world we live in is very small

And the cities of Europe have burned before
And they may yet burn again
And if they do I hope you understand
That Washington will burn with them
Omaha will burn with them
Los Alamos will burn with them

It is the beginning of the end.

we luvs ya, billy, but frankly this stream of gobsmacked consciousness cum apologia is a bit over the top. so ya queed to see the queen. who wouldn't? why the defensive posture? no wonder ya turning into friedrich schiller and not dylan, mate. when peeps called dylan 'judas' he shouted back 'i don't believe you!' and then 'liar'. billy: nobody thinks you is insincere because you shook Her Hand. frankly mewishes that you never wrote this article bowing to a minority position in your fan base because if you hadn't written it and practiced a bit of cool-headed discretion, my brother, maybe the queen (who obviously liked you) she woulda invited ya to her place for a drink and some dinner and then it would have been you, billy, who could have quietly charmed the pants off the lady (so to speak) with the power of your insights, mon. but now yous blown it with this article. she ain't never gonna invite ya now and what i'm sayin' is hello a bit of more subtlety and cleverness is in order as you move up the great chain of being. so now why don't you go write a song apologizing to charles because frankly we're better off wid you friends with him that dishing him wid some tripe about how you don't dig him too tough. you know what i mean? since when does being left wing mean we can go all uppity with the powerful folks? it's a freak scuzzy world out there and the queen might not in any way be the worst of 'em. i woulda shook Her Hand and curtsied myself and so would 3/4 of your jealous fans. the adult view is that she, too, is caught in her own binds, her power not sovereign. braggy: i still love you but i want for you to advance Your Analysis, my bro. we are in a planetary crisis. the queen is just another person, albeit one with power. compassion and integration are better than rank and pointless polarizations. get real: we all have to work together. end comment: i'm glad you shook Her Hand. i really am. stand tall, braggy. it's really a good thing for everybody. work it, my bro. don't fight it. dylan woulda done the same and has shaken many a royal and papal hand. it's ok. no need to ask forgiveness. time is growing short. billy, insinuate your way into all conversations with everyone you meet. vision is viral. this is good, bills. roll with it all. make it all work for you. we luvs ya, billy.

Bragg writing for the rabidly middle-class Daily Mail should say it all.

Like the hippies of the 60s, punks of the 70s are equally able to sell out their principles.

HRH's endorsement of your music must make the sound of the cash registers ring loudly in your ears.

Bragg, what has all of your left-wing posturing ever achieved? You know the answer, NOTHING. You are neither a global star nor a figurehead of social change. You remind me of Ben Elton and his faux-lefty comedy who soon showed his true colours once his place in high-society was assured.

You state your beef with the Monarchy is constitutional, not personal, yet having someone else's over-privilaged fingers in wallet is a personal concern - it would certainly promote political dissidence in anyone with an ounce of integrity.

Admit it Billy, you are a Lovey in working class denim.

"I argued that it would make a much greater contribution to altering the balance of power in this country if we abolished the House of Lords and replaced it with a democratically elected upper chamber" - From the article.

AND YET ... Did you notice that the hereditary House of Lords frustrated some of Blair's nastier laws? And did you notice now that half the house of Lords is now elected, Blair had less trouble getting what he wanted. Could it be that the people who inherited those positions were half decent?

Who gets to be born into the hereditary position is God's Lottery. The filter of our electoral system, where honest people havent a chance, did not come into play for their selection. The pandering to those rich (including AIPAC) who provide campaign funds also did not come into play. The people who had the heredetary positions were half decent - by the laws of chance and probability.

Hear Ye Hear Ye Hear Ye!!

The electoral system that we have is much worse than a lottery. It almost guarantees that we cannot have decent people in government. If you doubt this, then look at how the Democrats and Republicans are lying us into another war. They know the game only too well. They know who they must please. They MUST please the media barons and those who provide campaign funds. And to us, they MUST be able to lie effectively.

I argued that it would make a much greater contribution to altering the balance of power in this country if we abolished the House of Lords and replaced it with a democratically elected upper chamber

Why manipulate the people's dependence on hierarchy when you can simply eliminate it?

The queen may readily be accommodated - as a perfect equal to everyone else. The people will know they are finally emancipated when the more "productive" members of society work the hardest to place themselves at the same level as the least "productive". Until you see this, you should know that you are oppressed.

Talk about sell outs. I came to the U.S. 35 years ago and don't know a great deal about Billy Bragg but like his song about Unions and him singing the internationale.

But it just shows you how feeble his principles were when put to the test. It's the same as that phony mother Theresa who stood next to Bush senior, one of the orchestrators of global misery and said not one word about his role in perpetuating the system that is at the root of the poverty she claimed to oppose.

An English writer of Afro Carribean descent was recently awarded one of those order of the British Empire doo dahs and had the integrity to refuse it and tell them why. His family were victims of the British Empire as the British working class has been the victims of it also.

Braggs ingratiating comments are also totally insensitive when it comes to the millions of immigrants who have made their homes in Britain, ancestors of colonial people's. He gives not a thought to the fact that for young people, particularly descendents of Irish, Indian or West Indian "subjects" this woman and her incestuous breed are nothing but a bad dream.

And where was this welfare recipient during the miners strike? Bragg should be ashamed of himself.

Way to go, Billy! Up the Queen!

it proves that just about anyone can be seduced.

Oh dear Billy. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Starts down in Wapping there ain't no stopping all the way to sycophant royal arse licking in the Daily Mail. I'm surprised you didn't point out that tourists mean money. What's next? A musical with Andrew Lloyd Webber?

As Roger Daltry once sang "I hope I die before I do American Express commercials."

God Save Billy Bragg!

I'm not a 'Rocker', nor a 'punk-rocker' but I think he's great. We need many more Socialists with a sense of humor, than we need sanctimonious whiners who want the revolution to be painted in dreary shades of gray!

Btw, Kalia, what's wrong with being seduced? Properly done, it can be a good time. It doesn't often lead to a lifetime commitment!

Thanks Braggy for a delightful bit of writing. I must concur with you, my auld mum was of that wartime generation who thought highly of QEII. Over here there is an underlying want for some form of royalty that would transcend the political swamp, who can remember JFK and "Camelot". And the title of First Lady, first lady of what, fuzzy meaningless titles but there they are in public useage? Considering the republican Presidents we have had I wouldn't mind QEII as the american head of state.

The new lyrics to Beethoven's 9th aren't too bad, but I'm afraid nothing can beat Schiller's poem.

The song going through my head reading this, though, is the Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen".

I couldn't care less about meeting the queen, or Prince Charles, or William, or Harry. But for Royal farce, it might have been near priceless to have been a fly on the wall (sworn to sacred secrecy, of course) back in Diana's & Fergie's (Sarah Ferguson) early days. You gotta know listening to the two of them banter as young women to each other about the absurdities of the royal life must have been an endearing hoot. And then, maybe something to admire, too, as both of them (when acting in proper decorum) were more interested in throwing their real suuport to better causes, especially so, Diana. That's why we miss her, even a decade later.

As for American royalty, I'm sick to death of President Bush being his own spokesman for everything. It over-shadows every one of his cabinet members, and it's one reason he can't keep any good ones. I'd love to have an introspective president who respected citizens, stayed low-key, spoke less and sent out the real experts to articulate good policy. Obama might act like that, so might Hillary, a little bit anyway.. Certainly Giuliani (the speechmaster) or Thompson (the actor) would again insist on always being center stage.

How Absurd... My grandmother did not Extract her Wealth (she had none) from the Misery of Millions - It's All Blood Money ! Fuck the Queen and all that She represents.

If that longing that the public seems to have for royalty was satisfied with a "royal family" maybe we would have politicians who were really there to do work..and not to be glamorous or fake moral leaders like that liar Bush and his perversion of a good religion...christianity

People seem to want a King (or Queen)..they want that solitary leader.

But imo it is skilled teams of people that really can make a difference in our lives and in helping the world.

I really liked Princess Diana and actually miss her..strange how a person I never met can have an effect like that..but I am not alone in that search for a person/leader who represents some of the better features of human nature.

The Queen? pfft! All "royals"? pfft! We don't need no stinkin' "royals" among us. And all that obsessive bloodline shite!

They're all beneficiaries of centuries of colonialization, slavery, serfdom, including all the monies, wealth, resources, etc. taken/stolen during the lofty days of the Empire.

The queen sucks, and so do you Billy Bragg, you pissant manipulative little shite!

A nice piece on balance and understanding, and definately the kind of thoughtful matter I'd like to see more of on Commondreams (rather than some of the more redundant Bush-Cheney-war-criminal stuff).

As a Yankee, I'm inclined not to agree. I must say I get rather irritated when U.S. news programs spend time on the British royals. I don't know any Americans who give a damn, and yet there's often some anchor going on about how fascinated Americans are with Di, the princes, etc. It really is as if they TRYING to get us hooked on a patently un-American fixation. Makes me want to throw a tea bag into the nearest harbor. I pause to consider. If I had to choose a royal house, of course, my ethnicity would dictate the Swedish royal family. Despite their charm (and they are a charming bunch) the idea repulses me. One poor child in Sweden (or Britain) ought to be enough to demand the pawning of the throne, the jewels, and the castle. That one child's as good as any royalty, whether or not they've got the refinement of Her Majesty. All the good manners in the world won't keep a little tummy from growling. Mr. Bragg, from way over here in western America, I see images of such pomp and endless security detail and can only wonder who the hell pays for it all. I doubt the answer would satisfy.