“The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.”

While he did not invent the quote; it is predominately attributed to Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning author of Night, a account of his experiences at Auschwitz and Buchenwald, during the Nazis’ regime.

The most fascinating thing about the quote being famously attributed to Wiesel is that he was also well known to be a supporter of Israel and its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. For Wiesel (who left this earth in 2016), his interpretation of ‘indifference’ is sorely lacking in intersectionality; because anyone who is a supporter of Israel- whether ardent or liberal- is practicing indifference to the long-held genocide of Palestinian people.

While it is crucial to value the stories of survivors of particular pogroms within the last century; we should just as strongly critique their contradictions and silence (or cavalier attitudes) when it comes to ongoing pogroms (especially when it is done in their name).

i’ve seen similar modes of indifference and resignation, when it comes to violence upon marginalized and historically (and presently) oppressed groups of people. It’s not until certain events affect someone personally, before they make the connections.

“And you find that what was over there is over here…”

This is not to say that people only catching on now are bad people- that is too simplistic/myopic of an argument, though it is one that would immediately be focused on. The larger factor is that we are conditioned to individualize struggle (or suffering in particular), and to see it as a ‘moral failing’, as opposed to a systemic one.
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i have spoken about my ‘love/hate’ relationship with pop music here in the past.

Pop(ular) music’s purpose in general is set up (by an industry invested in profits) to be a vehicle for escapism. However, there are always going to be artists to belie that objective. Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou was one of those artists.

Wham! was among a select number of British pop groups/artists that were well known in pop circles, but also crossed over into the hood: The Police, Thompson Twins, Robert Palmer, Culture Club, Tears For Fears, Human league, David Bowie and Level 42, among others.

Whether it was the jazz scales, the nods to dub or the Jam and Lewis production, there was something which resonated for many. It was certainly something deeper than what the industry demanded- which musicians such as Terry Bozzio (who originally came out of the Zappa universe before forming Missing Persons) learned the hard way.

After WHAM! (his project with Andrew Ridgeley) disbanded in 1986, George Michael soon gave birth to his solo artistic journey with 1987’s Faith. Despite the album’s success, the centerpiece of the conversation was still his looks. Like many an artist before (and after) him, he aimed to be seen as an authentic artist, as opposed to a ‘pop star’…. hence, his rebirth.

Listen Without Prejudice (Vol. 1), as well as all subsequent albums, became even deeper treatises on interpersonal relations, death/loss, imperialism/war, class inequities and superficiality. He’s even utilized satire and dark humor at his own expense at times.

i personally like some of WHAM!’s music, and i think Faith is a decent collection of well-written songs. But it was Listen Without Prejudice (one of the greatest album titles in the whole world) that made me actually pay attention to what an incredible artist Mr. Panayiotou actually was (is). It’s songs such as ‘Mother’s Pride’ which certainly led him to becoming one of my favorite lyric writers of all time, and i have no problem putting him on a list of favorite vocalists as well.

‘Praying For Time’ (released in August of 1990) was the first single released from the album. i was about to turn 14 years old. i was already a burgeoning angry punk kid by this point, but i still loved a well-written song, regardless of where it came from.

And while Listen Without Prejudice got me to initially pay more attention, it was the anti- Tony Blair/George Bush/Iraq war jam ‘Shoot the Dog’ (initially released as a single, then on his final album (of original songs), 2004’s Patience) which sealed it for me. When i first heard it, i felt it was akin to a Ministry song, with its Twitch-era vocal similarities, the Human League sample, as well as the satirical jabs at Bush. There was also a dig at funds being allocated for imperialism, as opposed to necessary community services.

Nine nine nine gettin’ jiggy
People did you see that fire in the city?
It’s like we’re fresh out of democratic
Gotta get yourself a little something semi-automatic yeah

Mustapha
Mazel Tov
The Gaza Boys
All that holy stuff
I got the feelin’ when it all goes off
They’re gonna shoot the dog

The Ayatollah’s gettin’ bombed yeah
See Sergeant Bilko having fun again
Good puppy, good puppy
Rollin’ on over for The Man

Cherie baby, spliff up
I wanna kick back mama
And watch the World Cup with ya baby
Yeah, that’s right!
We’re getting freaky tonight
Stay with me tonight
Let’s have some fun while Tony’s stateside
It’s gonna be alright
It’s gonna be alright
See Tony dancing with Dubya
Don’t you wanna know why?
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‘Praying for Time”s text-only video was reminiscent of ‘Sign ‘O The Times’, the title track from an album released in 1987 by Prince, an artist who considered his music’s messages to be just as important as the visuals.

Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling off a church and killed everyone inside
You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin’ you somebody died
Sister killed her baby ’cause she couldn’t afford to feed it
And we’re sending people to the moon

But if a night falls and a bomb falls
Will anybody see the dawn?

Is it silly, no?
When a rocket blows up
And everybody still wants to fly
Some say man ain’t happy, truly
Until a man truly dies

Around this time, i was questioning what the concept of God meant to me. Albeit brief, i was also entering a period of misanthropy. There were many factors: seeing so many around me be bullied, as well as being a recipient of bullying myself; seeing how non-human beings were being treated, seeing what seemed like endless war (even then)- and so much more, led me to a form of pessimism regarding humanity. The older i got, the less i engaged in misanthropy; at this point i no longer do. But ‘Praying For Time’ eloquently expressed whatever thoughts and questions that were occurring in my mind at the time.

i go through periods where i listen to it repeatedly. The first song i wrote (after an almost 10-year break) was a song heavily inspired by ‘Praying For Time’ in honor of ‘Buy Nothing Day’, a day i have observed for over two decades.

About the song, George Michael states, “There comes a point where you have to write something which you’d had not written before, and which your interests in any particular topic or subject will inspire you; and that’s why i suppose eventually, most lyricists do approach wider topics than sex and love.”

“And you find that what was over there is over here…”

Hunger, war, criminality, state violence… Those are things that were to be considered ‘over there’- in non-Western areas of the world, and in ‘urban areas’ of the West. We are conditioned to not only compartmentalize calamities as something ‘we’ don’t experience; we’re also conditioned to view ‘giving’ as a competition of sorts. Those who ‘give’ more are viewed as more ‘moral’, regardless of what else they’ve done in life. If “God” has ultimately “stopped keeping score”, then there’s no significant ‘moral compass’ to adhere to; so those who hold the most power create the rules, and we are expected to uncritically follow them.

And charity is a coat you wear twice a year

This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand

People are beginning to realize that the mechanisms of capitalism which drive poverty and war, and decides what levels of criminality can benefit those who hold the most wealth and resources, have ALWAYS been here.

Despite this fact, there are still some who continue to be in denial, and continue to, again, individualize and moralize issues stemmed from larger systemic injustices- “So you scream from behind your door/Say “what’s mine is mine and not yours”.
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i covered ‘Praying For Time’ (somewhat) on acoustic guitar, around the time of George Michael’s passing in 2016. Listening to it again almost ten years later, i got the idea of covering it again. Usually if i am singing lead for these cover songs i tend to record vocals separately, especially if i’m not in the regular ‘studio’. However, as it was an instantaneous thing, i decided to just go for it and record everything on one microphone.

Before i thought of covering it, as i was listening i was crying a lot. i don’t have the greatest singing voice as it is, and in my cover you hear several flat notes (among other things). Even with all that, i hope i paid respect to what i consider to be one of my favorite songs of all time, in positive ways.

This is just myself and ukulele, and one microphone.

Regarding ‘Shoot The Dog’, Mr. Panayiotou said, ”I wrote it to get people talking, not to change the world and certainly not to cause offense. If it stimulates debate and makes people dance and laugh, I think it will have done its job.”

While he is correct that music itself is not going to change the world; he was one of the few of his stature to make decisive statements in his music about certain political figures… So of course this was going to cause offense, and despite the intent, he was clearly aware that it would.

In response to the ‘offense’, he said (in a 2002 ITV interview with Trevor McDonald), “You know, there’s some very big money possibly being waved around in terms of getting what the people in Fleet Street would consider dirt on me… I was not aware that (the song) would become a mainstream enough thing that we’d be sitting here tonight, but i’m delighted it is, because I wanted to do something to help.”

When asked why he thought he was “equipped to make these points now,” George Michael responded, “Well, I’d say why do you think I’m not? That would be my question.” He mentioned that he sat and watched the news like any other person, but due to his status as a celebrity, he is being told that he needs to shut up and simply entertain. There’s also the expectation, celebrity or not, that you aren’t supposed to have a voice, if you’re not directly involved in the ‘political world’: “And if we’re not supposed to know and not supposed to get involved in the discussion, then that’s why I made the record, you know, because i don’t believe that.” When told that the song is being looked at as a “publicity stunt” due to his “career (not being) what it was,” he responded, “This would be the most stupid publicity stunt anyone ever pulled. I mean, look at the publicity I’ve got out of it. I’m not stupid. i knew I was gonna walk into a wall of criticism because these are very reactionary times, but they’re also very urgent times. And i felt that I had to do this.”

i don’t know if i’d call George Michael a big ‘ol lefty (since i’m not aware of the full scope of his ideological leanings); however, given the scope of his lyrical content, i’d make a safe bet that, if he were still here on earth he’d still be fairly critical regarding the mechanisms of capitalism and imperialism on some level.

What is clear is that he certainly lacked indifference… as did Chumbawamba.

Along the lines of what was said regarding “stimulat(ing) debate and making people dance and laugh,” Chumbawamba said something similar, but much more specific. The cover of Revolution, their 7″ EP released in 1985, stated: “If our music makes you happy, but content, it has failed. If our music entertains, but doesn’t inspire, it has failed. The music’s not a threat. Action that music inspires can be a threat.”
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i don’t remember when it was exactly i first heard Chumbawamba; given that i hung out with Anarchists (and other folks on the left), i was exposed to Revolution and songs from their earlier period, (especially since i loved bands like Crass). i also loved Anarchist (and adjacent) artists, multimedia artists/culture jammers such as The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Emergency Broadcast Network and Negativeland, and Chumbawamba did a split with them called The ABCs Of Anarchism, inspired by the Alexander Berkman book of the same title, and released in 1999.

i feel like i was living under a rock, because i honestly don’t remember much about Tubthumper at the time of its release in 1997. i don’t remember hearing the song (and of course, purchasing the album) until much later. What i do remember was that in the early 2000s i lived with a housemate who was obsessed with both Zounds and Chumbawamba, and she played the Singsong And A Scrap album, repeatedly. Interestingly, i don’t remember if she played much Crass, or early Chumbawamba.

Chumbawamba in many cases, were location and time specific; even with that, there have been certain songs which have surpassed time and space. Aside from ‘Tubthumping’, the only other song i can think of which has reached the public outside of the hardcore fans (and choirs), is ‘Nazi’ (aka ‘On The Day The Nazi Died’), which was released on 1994’s Showbusiness! There were several remixes and reworkings of the song as well. This was another song i was sitting around listening to, then decided i would attempt to cover it.

A sea shanty-type song, it was inspired after the death of Nazi Rudolph Hess, and the commemorations of him which followed. Given that nazism was inspired by many of the laws and tactics done in the U.S. (which was written about in books such as Hitler’s American Model), i changed the lyrics up a bit, as well as updated them to match more recent events.

We’re told that after ’45
The numbers met with dips
But we’ve seen the files for miles and miles
held together with Paperclips

The preferred history they sell
With evidence clear that they lied
‘Cause they continue to come out the woodwork
Even after the Nazis died

They thought the prisoner at Metropolitan         
Was a symbol of defeat
But accountability was not met
And so Epstein kept his seat

And his hope of a “superior gene pool”
Would never materialize
Because on the 10th of August in 2019
Was the day the Nazi died

The society’s riddled with gluttons
Eating at humanity
They’re making a tasty meal of all
The petit-bourgeoisie

In spreading their ideology
Behind social media they hide
Which gave people the illusion
That every Nazi died

So if you meet with an historian
I’ll tell you what to say
Tell them that the Nazis
Never ever went away

They’re out there murdering protesters
And peddling racist lies

And we’ll never rest again…
Until every Nazi dies.

This is just lil ‘ol me, acapella style.