Billy Bragg - Must I Paint You a Picture

Album: Workers Playtime (Go Discs, 1988) Chart pos:N/A



Even though these days he's more famous for ranting at far-right nationalists in Barking, Billy Bragg is still a great songwriter. His 1988 album Workers Playtime was the moment when he shifted from the rough one man with a guitar sound to something much more fleshed out. The highlight from the album Must I Paint You a Picture is possibly one of the finest breakup songs ever written, where Braggs simple guitar based tune backed by a piano accompaniment. Allthough he didn't experiment with a full band until the next album this song (and the album) did manage to push him into new musical terratories.

I went to university near Barking and it's possibly one of the most racially tense places in the UK, and possibly one of the few places a BNP candidate could win a seat. Not long after I left the area a white guy got beated to death by three pakistanis in a racist attack.