The Smith Street Band - A Conversation With Billy Bragg About The Purpose Of Art

    

  Nothing's ever gonna kill me

  If I can play guitar and sing

  Ok, so I admit it was the title of today's song that lured me in, but what a great song it is so welcome to the blog to a band that I've seemingly unjustly not paid much attention to but who've just released their 6th album. 

  The Smith Street Band are from Melbourne, they play punk infused indie rock and the name of the new album is Life After Football. It's 11 tracks of well written, lyric heavy songs about life, headed up by a vocalist with a very fine voice. It's an album I can see myself getting plenty of repeat plays from, a gateway album for myself that'll lead to me digging into the band's back catalogue. You can find it here :  https://thesmithstreetband.bandcamp.com/album/life-after-football

  This is the opening track, if this doesn't make you want to hear more than nothing will. It's called A Conversation With Billy Bragg About The Purpose Of Art...

I don’t come here with solutions
I come to you with ideas
I don’t get no retribution
Can’t make the bad thoughts disappear
I want to make great art that doesn’t sell
Tell a couple of contemporaries to go to hell
I don’t know how to save the planet
But complaining doesn’t help

I don’t come here with an answer
Nor do I think that I can
I’m the parties over dancer
Just the cleaners and the band

I’m not trying to present a fiction
And tell you that it is fact
I don’t care who’s wares you’re pitching
I don’t give a fuck about all that
I was poured into this body
For just one important thing
Nothings ever gonna kill me
If I can play guitar and sing

I don’t come her with an answer
Nor do I think that’s my job
I’m the parties over dancer in the car park smoking bongs
I don’t come here with an answer
Nor do I think that I could
I’m the parties over dancer
Pulling shapes I don’t think I should