Song 7: These Strange Islands (Day 18)

Another day, another song. This is my "political" (with a small 'p') song. It was mostly penned on the train between Belfast and Dublin last week with the Scottish independence referendum swirling in my head. I was thinking about how, though we may deny it, there is something of a subtle UK and Irish persona lurking under the surface of all the identity debates going on across "these strange islands" - none of which have a particular flag attached to them. Musically, it was rushed out in half an hour because I have some catching up to do, but I think it fits well enough! I only ask that it's taken in the jovial sense it's intended; if you're offended by it, you've missed the point.


These Strange Islands

Some say that we're better together,
Some say that we're better apart,
Some say you should vote with your head,
And others with your wallet, and others with your heart,
But if Scotland is set free, along with 50 Labour seats,
You subject the northern English working-class periphery,
To another generation of Tory perpetuity...

These strange islands,
Make no sense to me,
Make so much of little differences,
Instead of all the similarities.
Can't we just agree,
To blame our ancestry?
And the socioeconomics of the 17th century,
And the associated politics of aristocracy?

Some say that there's no surrender,
And some say tiocfaidh ár lá,
Some sing songs about the Billy boys,
Some sing about the 'RA.

Why can't they just agree to drink tea and eat fifteens?

Because they're more like each than anyone else that I can see,

Just two different communities in a consociational democracy...

These strange islands,
Make no sense to me,
Make so much of little differences,
Instead of all the similarities.
Can't we just agree,
To blame our ancestry?
And the prevailing ideologies of the 16th century,
And the different interpretations of Christianity?

Some say let's be part of Europe,
Some say we're the 51st state,
Some say we should close our borders,
Some say we should all emigrate.
These islands in the sea, and their idiosyncrasies,
We conquered a third of the known world,
But we won't take French at GCSE...

These strange islands,
Make no sense to me,
Make so much of little differences,
Instead of all the similarities.
Can't we just agree,
To blame our ancestry?
And the all consuming wars of the 20th century,
And the European project to fight the next one with bureaucracy?

These strange islands.