Today is Remembrance Day. I think it's important. If you've ever been to Tyne Cot, Passchendale, Ypres or the Somme you can't help but be moved by the horror and unnecessary carnage of the First World War, and the selflessness of the millions of ordinary men who did their bit. At Victoria Station in Manchester there's a door which doesn't go anywhere now, but used to lead to a southbound platform. Above the door is a plaque which reads 'Dedicated to the thousands of men who passed through this door 1914-1918 and who did not return', which never fails to catch my eye,and tug a little. Remembrance Day and the selling of poppies started in 1919, as a way to mark the lives of the fallen, help the families left behind and to work for peace, to ensure such a conflict wouldn't happen again. Not that that last bit worked. I'm not comfortable with the way recently poppies and Remembrance Day seem to be an attempt to justify current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is the traditional 19th century song The Bold Fusilier, a recruitment song, sung by Billy Childish acapella at a radio session a few years ago.
The_Bold_Fusilier_traditional.mp3
This is the traditional 19th century song The Bold Fusilier, a recruitment song, sung by Billy Childish acapella at a radio session a few years ago.
The_Bold_Fusilier_traditional.mp3