Chris Knox must be having a laugh. He’s just been commissioned and paid to write and perform a lightweight party political jingle for the Labour Party entitled “It’s a Better Way with Labour”. Knowing that Chris has some sort of decent political background, I’m hoping that he’s pulled the wool over the Government's eyes, and is about to publicly release the real version: “It’s a Bitter Way with Labour”. [Read more below]
The alternative (or “real”) version of “It’s a Bitter Way with Labour” will probably deal with how the Labour Party is still part of the Establishment that Chris has railed against for three decades, and how Labour has not actually given up on Rogernomics at all but has instead entrenched all the neoliberal economic reforms, that the party still doesn’t really believe in anything except being in power, that it’s still big on law and order, and how this Labour Government has sent NZ troops to more wars than previous National governments.
If, of course, Chris feels unsure about criticizing his new paymasters, maybe Neil Finn could have a crack. Finn has been fairly forthright in criticizing musicians with a kiss-ass attitude to government – see: A bouquet for Neil Finn. Failing that I hope that the Wellington leftwing activist and musician Don Franks will write and perform “It’s a Better Way with Labour”. He’s already written an excellent song that more accurately portrays the Labour Party than Chris Knox’s effort. He’s the lyrics:
I HATE THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT
I hate the Labour government I know that ain't PC
I hate the Labour government I know that ain't PC
But I hate the Labour government,
Because of all the things I see
I hate the Labour government, coz they shit on the refugee
hate the Labour government, coz they shit on the refugee
They deported Thakshila and locked up Zaoui
I hate the Labour government, some say what about the Nats?
I hate the Labour government, some say what about the Nats?
I've seen Rogernomics and Ruthenasia
to me they¹re both just antiworker rats
I hate the Labour government - the way they use their SAS
I hate the Labour government - the way they use their SAS
Send them over to Afghanistan
Helping Bush prop up his mess
I hate the Labour government, their ERA law stops our strike
I hate the Labour government, their ERA law stops our strike
if they were really worker friendly
they'd let us do what we like!
I hate the Labour government,some say they¹re better than John Key
I hate the Labour government,some say they¹re better than John Key
They both support the capitalist system
They both smell the same to me
UPDATE: It seems that Chris Knox has indeed sold out and is under the influence of some sort of new found respectability and moderation. He actually leads the prosecution against himself in a self-authored Dominion Post article entitled These lyrics don't make me cringe. He says: ‘Could I possibly be the same Chris Knox who has consistently railed against all forms of conformity, intellectual blandness and political complacency over the last three decades or so?’ The answer seems to be ‘yes’. Chris says that although he’s not a Labour Party member or even necessarily a voter, he’s been tricked into their cause by the philosophy of ‘lesser evilism’ – he says: ‘I cannot stand the new centrist, “Trust us” face of the National Party’.
This just goes to show that being an ‘alternative musician’ and self-styled maverick anarchist punk doesn’t mean you can’t sing nationalistic songs for the Government. Or maybe Chris has just mellowed and moderated. His music from when his politics were more radical (pre-2000, particularly the 1980s) is certainly much better than anything he’s putting out today.
Yet funnily enough, in another article about Bitter Way with Labour (It's you that I love... Helen), Chris says ‘I do believe in the Left cause. I still think it's relevant. I think helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves which is the basis of socialism, is a viable idea and I'm happy to support it’. This makes you wonder what Chris thinks that socialism is. Inequality has worsened under the Labour government, so it’s hard to see how Labour could even be considered ‘a step in the right direction’.
Chris says that he’s evolved and is now merely ‘sceptical’ about governments rather than ‘cynical’. I say, bring back the old Chris Knox who’s last overtly political song was released under the previous Labour Government. His bitingly satirical 'Song For 1990' about racial unrest, although not perfect, was a huge improvement over his current silly liberal nationalistic song.
