“It’s easy to think nothing will change”

Billy Bragg hoisted his guitar as if it were a picket sign, before marching onstage to rally a crowd. The audience was from a southern St. Louis suburb, and they had plenty of reason to protest. In nearby Ferguson, police and citizens were mired in a civil rights standoff. Bragg had no answers to their burning questions—after all, he’s a British singer who just happened to be in the region this past August while on tour. But when an activist in the area reached out to the outspoken songwriter, Bragg saw an opportunity to try and help. He and touring partner Joe Purdy put on a small impromptu gig to raise donations for one of Ferguson’s key food banks, which was rendered inoperable by all the recent turmoil.

Bragg tells us more about it, in advance of his Thursday night Halifax show.

Aside from your donation to the Ferguson food bank, what did your gig offer the people of St. Louis?

In the suburb where we played, people wanted to gather, and not feel alone about their anger at the killing of Mike Brown and the subsequent crackdown.

How do you react to people saying musicians should just play their songs, instead of dabbling in activism?

If you just want to hear music, that’s fine, go listen to Mumford and Sons. But I still think of music as the greatest social medium. Music doesn’t solve the problem in Ferguson. But it helps to inspire those who can play a part to change the situation.

Will you write a song about what you saw in St. Louis?

If I’d had a great idea for a Ferguson song, I would’ve gone straight to the hotel, recorded it and put it up online. You could look at my last album—2013’s Tooth & Nail—and say there’s no topical songs on there. But that’s because I’d already posted my song about the phone hacking scandal. I once wrote a song about the 1984 miner’s strike, but the strike had ended by the time my record came out. Now if I write a topical song, I always put it online as quick as I can. But in St. Louis, we just sang civil rights-era songs like “Crying In the Streets.” It made sense to reach back, sing old songs about this old struggle that we’re all involved with.

Why do you think it’s important for people to get involved in activism?

When I was a kid in Essex, all my co-workers were older than me. They made racist, homophobic, sexist jokes all day that I hated. But I never objected, it seemed like no one cared. Then the Rock Against Racism gigs started. That’s the first time I saw people chant against racism, the first time I saw gay men kissing, the first time I saw anything progressive. Rallies like that are inspiring. I’ve come to the conclusion that our enemy isn’t capitalism or conservatism, but cynicism. It’s easy to think nothing will change, no one cares. But that’s a soft option. It’s much harder to keep yourself involved, and keep your ideas sharpened. But we have to fight that fight.

Billy Bragg plays w/Billy the Kid
Thursday, September 25 at 8pm
Rebecca Cohn
Auditorium, $46

This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2014.