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Author: admin

…. five die in outbreak of West Bank unrest over Gaza

Posted on August 1, 2014 by admin

They walked to the wall in their thousands
They came like a surge of the sea
They crossed the hard and barren earth
Where their olive groves used to be
They flew flags in freedom’s colours
Sang songs of victory
The Wall carved through the landscape
For as far as the eye can see.

The Wall towered over them
The Wall barred their way
Above them an Apache
Hovered like a bird of prey
Some of them picked up stones and rocks
And hurled them against the Wall
And stood and watched in silence
As if waiting for it to fall.

Uneasy in their watchtowers
Uncertain what to do
The soldiers looked down on the swelling crowds
And their nervousness grew
The Brigadier phoned the General
Who arrived in his APC
‘There’s trouble here,’ said the Brigadier
Said the General, ‘Leave it to me.’

He climbed up into the watchtower
He spoke through a megaphone
‘Go back now where you came from
This is a military zone.’
‘We want justice, we want freedom,’
They chanted in reply.
‘You won’t find them here,’ said the General.
‘Don’t you know they’re in short supply?’

‘We want bread, justice, freedom,’
They sang out with one voice.
‘We are the third intifada
You give us no other choice.
You turn our lives to rubble
You turn our hopes to dust
But you cannot break our resistance
For we know our cause is just.’

Said the General, ‘You’ve had your last warning.’
‘This is our land,’ they said.
The soldiers’ hands gripped their rifles
The gunship buzzed overhead.
They said, ‘Do you think you can kill us all?’
The General said, ‘Why not?’
A woman screamed out to the heavens
When they fired the first shot.

The Minister of Propaganda
Alerted the BBC
‘Terrorists tried to breach the fence
And attack our troops,’ said he.
A hostile mob assembled
Where civilians aren’t allowed
And gangs of armed militants
Hid themselves in the crowd.
Of course any civilian casualties
Are a matter of great regret
But we have the right to defend ourselves
When our soldiers are under threat.’

The white flag the boy was waving
Was a white scarf stained blood red
And the vow he made was a promise
That one day their blood would be shed.
They gathered up their wounded
They gathered up their dead.
‘We will come again tomorrow.’
‘Your choice,’ the General said. 

 

(From A Proper State Fuse CFCD 024 released 2008.)

TONY BLAIR to advise the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi..

Posted on July 12, 2014 by admin
FROM TALKING DEMOCRACY BLUES.
Democracy so fine, so fair
How come it landed us with Blair?
Gave us as our leader one
Who thinks that he is God’s own son
A tricky politician who
Believes what he believes is true.
Some think him bumptious, vain and smug
Regard him as a well-bred thug
But Blair’s an amiable guy
Look he wouldn’t harm a fly
But when he smiles, children die.
I met murder on the stair
He had a mask like Tony Blair
He cracked a smile, he cracked a joke
A pretty straighforward sort of bloke.
And a crusading politician
Democracy, that’s his mission
To spread it here, to spread it there
So everyone can have a share.
Western democracy, the prize
The surest way to civilise
The backward nations, set them free
And if they dare to disagree
They must be bombed for their objections
Until they learn to hold elections.
They call this, I forgot to mention, 
Humanitarian intervention.
And did the slaughter his war brought
Ever give him pause for thought?
And did the chaos he created
A country smashed and devastated
The tortured, the incarcerated
The shattered millions who fled
The maimed, the half a million dead
Cause him to pause or hesitate? 
Or did he simply calculate
That this was a price that was worth paying
And salved his conscience by praying?
Well afterwards you couldn’t get
From Blair a smidgeon of regret.
Indeed this unrepentant man
Declared a wish to bomb Iran
Liar, fantasist and faker
Will answer only to his maker.
Now think on this – for all his crimes
We elected Blair – three times.
Friends and family

Happy Birthday Leon!

Posted on June 27, 2014 by admin

On 22nd June 2014, Leon turned 80!

Friends and family joined him for a day of singing and merry-making  

Singing in the garden 

Leon’s life in records was served up for dessert, in flavours of ginger, date and lemon. Yum!

80th birthday cake 

People’s Assembly Protest

Posted on June 27, 2014 by admin

One day before his 80th birthday, Leon joined forces with Owen Jones, Russell Brand and fifty thousand people to protest against austerity at a rally organised by the People’s Assembly 

We spotted this video of Leon in action on the web.

Credit: Garlic Toothpaste on YouTube 

Visit the People’s Assembly website to find an event near you and keep an eye on our Gigs page for Leon’s next performance!

No Masters No Gods DVD Cover

No Masters No Gods – Live in Concert – 2014

Posted on March 10, 2014October 19, 2021 by admin

2 DVD Live Set Now Available!

Leon Rosselson and Robb Johnson 

In this glorious 2 DVD set, Britain’s finest living songwriters are captured
live (on tour in Berkeley, CA), presenting two nights of their original songs,
words, and inimitable performance.

Turning Silence into Song (Disc One) showcases a pair of career-spanning
“greatest hits,” with a suitable sprinkling of new and previously unreleased
material. All introduced and contextualized with a large helping of trade-
mark wit and dry irony.

The Liberty Tree (Disc Two) tells the story of Tom Paine’s extraordinary life,
interweaving Paine’s own words, from his letters and the pamphlets which
made him one of the most influential and dangerous writers of his age, with
extracts from newspaper reports, diaries, letters, and other documents of
the times. The songs of Robb Johnson and Leon Rosselson add another di-
mension to the story, reflecting Paine’s radical ideas and evaluating them
in the context of the 21st century. This unique blend of words and music
challenges received opinion in the same way Paine’s writings did.

Together, herein you’ll find over four hours of the finest contemporary songs,
stories, humor, and observation from the greatest practitioners of the craft.  

 

Price: £15
Postage to the UK included in the price.  
Send a cheque as per Mail Order instructions here or click the Buy Now button below.
 
PayPal — The safer, easier way to pay online.

In the U.S.A. & Canada, this CD can be bought via the PM Press website 

 

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Leon Rosselson has been at the forefront of songwriting in England for 50
years. His songs range from the lyrical to the satirical, from the personal
to the political, from the humorous to the poignant. His best known song,
“The World Turned Upside Down,” has been recorded by, amongst oth-
ers, Dick Gaughan, John McCutcheon, and Billy Bragg (who took it into
the pop charts in 1985) and has been sung on numerous demonstrations
in Britain and the U.S.

Robb Johnson is now widely recognized as one of the finest songwriters
working in the UK today. His songs feature in the repertoires of a wide va-
riety of musicians, from folk legend Roy Bailey to acclaimed cabaret diva
Barb Jungr, and he enjoys a similarly diverse spectrum of critical acclaim.

ACCOLADES

“. . . some of the most literate and well-made topical songs now being
written” 
—The New York Times [on Leon Rosselson]

“Britain’s finest songwriter since Richard Thompson.” —Venue [on Robb Johnson]

“A highly subversive pairing of two of the left’s most eloquent songwriters.” —Daily Telegraph 

  

Sixty Quid A Week

Posted on March 6, 2014August 27, 2023 by admin
A live recording by Reel News of Leon Rosselson, February 2014 
 
Don’t you feel guilty when you meet some poor sod begging in the street? 
 
 

Lyrics

Don’t you feel guilty when you meet
Some poor soul begging in the street?
The other night I’m hurrying home
From Waterloo when from the gloom
An apparition gaunt and grey
Limped towards me, barred my way.
He wanted money, yes, but worse
This stranger wanted to converse.
.He spoke to me as to a friend
And laid his life out end to end.

He’d been a window cleaner all
his life until he’d had a fall
Broke both his legs, was still in pain
They said he’d never work again.
His wife was dead, his children gone
Abroad somewhere, he lived alone
On sixty quid a week, ’That’s what
I get,’  he said,  ‘My friend it’s not
Enough to keep a  man alive.
See how I’m struggling to survive.’

‘Ive always worked, I’m proud to say,
I’ve paid my taxes, paid my way
But now I’m on the scrapheap so
I must be punished, pushed so low
They’ve taken everything from me
My self-respect, my dignity –
On 60 quid a week, I try
To manage but there’s food to buy
And heating bills, it goes so fast
My two weeks’ money doesn’t last.’

‘Before the fortnight’s up, my friend
I’m skint, I’ve nothing left to spend.
Can’t even buy a loaf of bread
On sixty quid a week,’ he said.
I’d like to see that Tory prat
That arrogant slimeball live on that.’
He looked at me and clutched my arm
He said ‘I don’t mean any harm
But could you spare a coin or two?’
‘No change,’  I said,  which wasn’t true.

But,look, there’s no use blaming me
I’m not a walking charity.

‘Blame the government,’ I said.
‘I do,’he said. ’That lot, they’ve bled
Me dry, they must have hearts of stone.
Their cuts have cut me to the bone.
I hate that Cameron,rat-faced  phoney.
Tell me, how did he get his money?
Talks like he’s Lord God on high
And every word’s a fucking lie.
And Osborne, evil little git
And him, that useless piece of shit –
What’s his name? Clegg. Rich bastards all
I’d line them up against the wall
And shoot them. They should rot in hell.
They think they have the right to tell
People  like us how we should live.
And that, my friend, I can’t forgive.’

I reached into my pocket found
Two coins, twenty P, one pound.
Her took the money, thanked me.  ‘When
This money’s gone,’ I said.  ‘What then?’
‘When you’re living on the edge,’  he said,
‘It doesn’t do to look ahead.
But if prices go up any higher
I might just set myself on fire.
He limped away into the gloom.
I wished him luck and hurried home.

Don’t you feel guilty when you meet
Some poor sod begging in the street?

No Masters No Gods DVD Cover

AVAILABLE NOW – 2 DVD Live Set

Posted on January 28, 2014October 19, 2021 by admin
In this glorious 2 DVD set, Britain’s finest living songwriters are captured
live (on tour in Berkeley, CA), presenting two nights of their original songs,
words, and inimitable performance.

Click here to read more and purchase 

5th January – Concert at Walthamstow Folk Club

Posted on December 27, 2013 by admin

Leon’s first gig of the new year will be on Sunday 5th January at 7.30pm at Walthamstow Folk Club.

Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub,
53 Hoe St., London E17.

Call 07740 612607 for more details or visit www.walthamstowfolk.co.uk

London Lucumi Choir

Leon performs with London Lucumi Choir

Posted on October 28, 2013 by admin

On the 10th November, Leon will join forces with the London Lucumi Choir, which counts his daughter Daniela Rosselson amongst its singers, for a performance at Jamboree.

Click here for more information.

 

Lullaby for Naila CD cover

Lullaby for Naila

Posted on October 27, 2013 by admin

Lullaby for Naila is a collection of lullabies & children’s songs put together for Naila, Leon’s granddaughter, by his daughter Daniela Rosselson. The collection is made up of songs from countries with which Naila has a connection and features the London Lucumi Choir, Juwon Ogungbe & Reem Kelani.

The CD is not yet available but songs can be downloaded here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thelondonlucumichoir3

Anti-Capitalist Roadshow Flyer for 29th September 2013

Anticapitalist Roadshow, 29th September

Posted on September 18, 2013 by admin
A new addition to Leon’s gig list this month, please see below the flyer for an AntiCapitalist Roadshow event in Manchester. 

ROYALTY SPEAKS TO THE NATION on the occasion of another royal birth

Posted on July 29, 2013 by admin
NOW BRITAIN IS NO LONGER GREAT AND TIMES ARE GRIM AND SOMBRE, STILL
ALL IS NOT LOST AS LONG AS WE OUR ROYAL FUNCTION CAN FULFIL
WITH APPLICATION WE’LL BEGET
A HOST OF ROYAL BABIES YET
TO SHED A LITTLE JOY UPON OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS EVERYONE.
GIVE HEED YOU UNEMPLOYED AND DO
CHEER UP AND GIVE A SMILE OR TWO
WE’RE ONLY DOING IT FOR YOU.
PROCREATION, PROCREATION
HELPING TO BOOST THE MORALE OF THE NATION
TRADITIONALLY WE SPEND OUR TIME PERPETUATING THE ROYAL LINE.
PROCREATION, PROCREATION
THERE’S NOTHING SO ROYAL AS PROCREATION.

Review of The World Turned Upside Down in ILR

Posted on June 11, 2013 by admin

The Irish Left Review listens to The World Turned Upside Down and compares Leon to “an anarchist Noel Coward”

Read the full text here

Gigs for 2013

Posted on January 1, 2013October 19, 2021 by admin

Go to the gig calendar to see Leon’s performances in 2013, including concerts in Lewes and Islington, the Doncaster Folk Festival and an Anti Capitalist Roadshow performance in April, for which you can now buy tickets online.

Click here to see the gig calendar. 

Purchasing Tickets Online

Posted on December 29, 2012October 19, 2021 by admin

For some gigs, such as the Anti-Capitalist Roadshow concert in Oxford, you can now purchase tickets in advance from this website. Payment is securely handled by PayPal and tickets will be waiting for you under your name at the door.

Hope to see you at a gig soon!

Thank You

Posted on November 12, 2012 by admin

 

Thank you!

We have received your order and will be shipping it to you promptly!

The Anti-Capitalist Roadshow CD Now Available

Posted on November 8, 2012October 19, 2021 by admin
THE ANTI-CAPITALIST ROADSHOW DOUBLE CD CELEBRATING SUBVERSION IS NOW AVAILABLE.
 
 
Twenty nine songs and one visionary poem on 2 CDs from singers & songwriters Frankie Armstrong, Roy Bailey, Robb Johnson, Reem Kelani,  Sandra Kerr,  Grace Petrie, Leon Rosselson, Janet Russell, Peggy Seeger, Jim Woodland and socialist magician Ian Saville.  
 
Eleven different voices with one aim – to challenge the narrative that says, There is no alternative.
Order it online from Fuse Records
 
 
 

Review in Counterpunch

Posted on September 28, 2012October 19, 2021 by admin

A piece on Leon and the World Turned Upside Down by Scott Borchert was recently published at Counterpunch.org.

“Most of all, he’s thought about what it means to be a radical songwriter, someone who accepts the foolish challenge of channeling their critical perspective on society through their artistic impulses. I say “foolish” because we’ve all seen the sort of aesthetic train wrecks that often result from the best-intentioned “political” art. It’s a risky thing to be a serious, radical artist—but I think Leon Rosselson pretty much nailed it.”

Read the full piece here. 

The Anti Capitalist Roadshow

Posted on July 30, 2012 by admin

You may have noticed a few gigs in the calendar entitled “The AntiCapitalist Roadshow”. If you’re wondering what it’s all about, read on!

The Anti-Capitalist Roadshow….

     … is a collective of singers and songwriters Frankie Armstrong, Roy Bailey, Robb Johnson, Reem Kelani, Sandra Kerr, Grace Petrie, Leon Rosselson, Janet Russell, Peggy Seeger, Jim Woodland plus one (there is only one) socialist magician, Ian Saville.  

We have brought our songs and magic to enthusiastic audiences in Leicester, Leeds, Hebden Bridge, London, Portsmouth, Shoreham and St Albans. In November & December we will be celebrating subversion in Halifax, Wellingborough, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and William Morris’s home town of Walthamstow, raising spirits and giving hope and heart and a smile or two to those angry at the ideologically driven austerity programme imposed by this millionaire government on all but the elite, and in particular on the poor, the vulnerable and  the disabled.  
We are part of the resistance to a capitalism that functions only on behalf of the wealthy, that aims to shrink the public sphere and privatise public services, including the NHS, and that is destructive to the planet.  We are part of another way of looking at the world. 
 
You can read more here: http://www.anticapitalistroadshow.co.uk 
 
Here’s the grand finale (The World Turned Upside Down) from the recent show at Cecil Sharp House in Camden, bolstered by more than a little involvement from the audience!
 
 

New gigs in the calendar

Posted on July 27, 2012 by admin

Six new gigs have been added to the calendar for the next few months, including three Anti-Capitalist Roadshow performances, two concerts in London and a workshop in Wales.

Click here to see the calendar. 

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This is my letter to the Guardian which it refused to publish though it had well over 100 signatories:

"Since Gaza is uninhabitable, because Israel has made it so, and since most of Gaza’s citizens are refugees or the children of refugees, because Israel has made them so, the only just and humane solution is for them to be allowed to return to their homes in what was Palestine until Israel usurped it. Another Great March of Return, only this time without the violence inflicted on the marchers by Israeli snipers."

Leon Rosselson is a singer, songwriter and children's book author.
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