New vid: Ian Brown - Illegal Attacks

What do you think of the new Ian Brown single? I like it, except for the parts that Sinead O'Connor sings on her own, I'm not really a fan of her voice.

    So what the fuck is this UK
    Gunnin’ with this US of A
    In Iraq and Iran and in Afghanistan

    Does not a day go by
    Without the Israeli Air Force
    Fail to drop it’s bombs from the sky?

    How many mothers to cry?
    How many sons have to die?
    How many missions left to fly over Palestine?
    ‘Cause as a matter of facts
    It’s a pact, it’s an act

    These are illegal attacks
    So bring the soldiers back
    These are illegal attacks
    It’s contracts for contacts
    I’m singing concrete facts
    So bring the soldiers back

    What mean ya that you beat my people
    What mean ya that you beat my people
    And grind the faces of the poor

    So tell me just how come were the Taliban
    Sat burning incense in Texas
    Roaming round in a Lexus
    Sittin’ on six billion oil drums
    Down with the Dow Jones, up on the Nasdaq
    Pushed into the war zones

    It’s a commercial crusade
    ‘Cause all the oil men get paid
    And only so many soldiers come home
    It’s a commando crusade
    A military charade
    And only so many soldiers come home

    Soldiers, soldiers come home
    Soldiers come home

    Through all the blood and sweat
    Nobody can forget
    It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight
    It’s the size of the fight in the dog on the day or the night
    There’s no time to reflect
    On the threat, the situation, the bark nor the bite
    These are commercial crusades
    ‘Cos all the oil men get paid
    These are commando crusades
    Commando tactical rape
    And from the streets of New York and Baghdad to Tehran and Tel Aviv
    Bring forth the prophets of the Lord
    From dirty bastards fillin’ pockets
    With the profits of greed

    These are commercial crusades
    Commando tactical raids
    Playin’ military charades to get paid

    And who got the devils?
    And who got the Lords?
    Build yourself a mountain – Drink up in the fountain
    Soldiers come home

Ian's 5th solo album The World Is Yours will be released in the UK on September 24th and is preceded by "Illegal Attacks" a week earlier. Sinéad also appears on "Some Folks Are Hollow."

Ian collaborated with two sets of producers – Black Ops and Emile (Everlast, Terror Squad) - recording the album in London, then traveling to Windmill Lane studios in Ireland to record the two tracks with O'Connor. Guest spots on the album include the bass work of Andy Rourke (The Smiths) and Paul Ryder (Happy Mondays.) While former members of the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones (guitar) and Paul Cook (drums) appear on two tracks: "Sister Rose" and "Me and You Forever." String arrangements were done by Simon Hale (New Order, Supergrass.) "On Track" previously appeared as an instrumental in the Russian film Paragraph 78, but here takes on full song form.

There is no word on a U.S. release date. Brown's last album (2004's Solarized) was released in the U.S. via Koch Records.

The World Is Yours tracklisting:

1. The World Is Yours
2. On Track
3. Sister Rose
4. Save us
5. Eternal Flame
6. The Feeding Of The 5000
7. Street Children
8. Some Folks Are Hollow
9. Goodbye To The Broken
10. Me and You Forever
11. Illegal Attacks
12. The World Is Yours (Reprise)

 

Comments

[Pete]

I love it! This is one of the best things to come out this year. Huge tune, great swagger and the lyrics are smart enough too! All hail the King Monkey!

[Travis]

Overall first hearing (scale of 5) - 5

Adjustments:
Use of a triple negative!, minus 1
"Does not a day go by
Without the Israeli Air Force
Fail to drop it’s bombs from the sky?"

Reuse of "Soldiers Come Home" lyric, minus .5
(see So Many Soldiers)

Abuse of Cliche (see below), minus .5
"It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight
It’s the size of the fight in the dog"

Use of strings very good, plus 1

Final Evaluation - 4 of 5, great job King Monkey. A return to form? Only the album will tell.

[Matt]

Wow - if Ian wrote the words for that, I am thoroughly impressed.

For a protest song, it's mega.

[Retarded Ken]

Sorry but the lyrics to this song are poor - its like a nursery rhyme.... 'Iran and er.... Afghanistan' Theres's no subtlety - I reckon my daughter could have written those lyrics. The music is not mega, it's weak. And the production is cr*p. I love Ian Brown but this is toss.

[bagz]

top tune.
simple, straight to the point, no nonsense lyrics.
who gives a dam about grammar n all that!
if you understand it, if you get the message, AND you can sing along and enjoy it. whats the problem??? so many protest songs are criptic, half arsed poetic toss. this protest song isn't. it's an important record.