The Sunday song

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I thought I’d write about a song that changed my life when I was a student.

The Pogues’ Streets of Sorrow/ Birmingham Six is technically two songs tied together, but the first need not detain us long. A short, mournful acoustic piece from Terry Woods, Streets of Sorrow is pleasant but, in itself, forgettable.

But I’ll never forget the thundering fury of Birmingham Six. Shane MacGowan arrives like a feral dog from hell, spitting angry lyrics about the real-life injustice suffered by the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four, who were wrongly imprisoned in the 1970s after being framed for IRA pub bombings.

A curse on the judges, the coppers, the screws

Who tortured the innocent, wrongly accused

For the price of promotion

And justice to sell

May the judged be their judges when they rot down in hell

The wondrous fury of it!

I was 16 years old when this song captured my imagination. After hearing it I studied carefully the facts of the cases and then joined the campaigns to have the convictions overturned. I visited some of the guys in prison and I was at the Old Bailey on that glorious day when the Guildford Four walked free. I later became involved in the campaign to exonerate Winston Silcott.

The wonder of music: artists eloquently exposing a horrendous injustice, and galvanising their listeners into working together to redress it.

Have a happy and fiery week!