By Isle of Wight Observer
Emerging rock stars sing of love and loss, until they become super successful. At that point they turn their attention to the bigger picture. In 1980, ‘The Police’ had a massive hit with ‘De Do, Do, Do, De Da Da Da’, apparently a song about simple songs. Sting also wrote ‘Every Breath you Take,’ a creepy love song that he wouldn’t write now for fear of being cancelled. By 1985, he’d gone solo with the single ‘Russians,’ a commentary on the Cold War and mutually assured destruction.
When Phil Collins emerged, from Genesis in 1981, his first single was ‘In the Air Tonight.’ You’ll remember him on ‘Top of the Pops,’ sat at a piano with an incongruously placed pot of paint and a brush. He was going through a divorce at the time, and his ex-wife had allegedly fallen for the decorator. It made a great story, even if untrue.
Eight years later, Phil released ‘Paradise’, a song about American homelessness, poverty and a ghetto kid threatening another man with a gun. You see over time, their perspectives changed.
When most adults aren’t thinking about love, they focus on keeping the roof over their head and feeding their families for as little as possible. They don’t worry too much about climate change and the threat of nuclear war.
Nor do they think about Putin, Kim Jong Un and the various old waxworks running the People’s Republic of China. They don’t fret about their health or diet either; that’s possibly why most of us carry niggles, aches and pains, and why we become morbidly obese.
Working people prioritise housing, work, bills and transport. They don’t have the head space for much else, nor do they usually have much money in reserve. They do realise that they should be concerned with the wider world, but they simply have more pressing priorities. When it comes to politics, no-one cares what their favourite rock stars, actors, chat show hosts, or even Gary Lineker thinks.
American superstars seemed united in the belief that Donald Trump is a very bad man indeed. They seemed blissfully ignorant about how real people live and have no understanding of how much recent years’ increases in housing, food and fuel have hurt those on low incomes. Celebrities couldn’t comprehend how the American public could put a convicted felon back in the White House. They were so focussed on what they thought, they couldn’t even allow the possibility that Trump might actually win again. These lovies were so stunned when he did win and win so well; some are now in a state of mourning.
In 1983, Kenny Everett appeared at the Conservative Party Conference to endorse Margaret Thatcher. He appeared on stage and hilariously said, “Let’s bomb Russia.” The delegates roared with laughter, so he quickly followed that with, “Let’s kick Michael Foot’s stick away!” Needless to say, the left were furious and accused him of encouraging violence against the elderly.
If you thought humour bypasses were a modern invention, think again. The left never finds anything remotely funny; they’re too busy being angry and woke! Showbiz types should never ever endorse specific candidates or parties. American voters know that mass immigration there drives down wages. That’s why so many black and Hispanic voters backed Trump.
Our new government has no answer at all to our migrant crisis. American voters believe Trump will frack and drill for cheaper energy; ours is hell bent on going green as quickly as possible, regardless of cost. Trump will deregulate business, while ours just slapped a national insurance hike on them that’s guaranteed to depress workers’ pay.
To protect American jobs, Trump will introduce global trade tariffs. If our government had any sense, they’d appoint his good pal, Nigel Farage, as Ambassador to Washington, sharpish.