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And Finally Artist News Media
Glenn Tilbrook discusses lyrical attack on David Cameron
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 12 January 2016
Squeeze’s Glenn Tilbrook has written about his decision to change the lyrics to the band’s song ‘Cradle To The Grave’ during a performance on ‘The Andrew Marr Show’ this weekend. The switched verse attacked David Cameron’s new housing policy, with the Prime Minister sitting feet away having just given an interview on the subject.
Criticising plans to demolish council estates and replace them with ‘affordable’ housing, Tilbrook switched the third verse of his song to: “I grew up in social housing, part of what made Britain great, there are some here who are hell-bent, on the destruction of the welfare state”.
Both Marr and Cameron applauded heartily at the end, though it’s not clear exactly what either was clapping at. However, Tilbrook has now revealed in an article for The Guardian that while he had entertained the idea of making the protest ahead of time, he had initially dismissed it. He then changed his mind while listening to Cameron discuss the policy, and wrote the new words in direct reaction to what he’d just heard.
“I didn’t write any new lyrics in advance”, he wrote. “But then, just ten minutes or so before we went on, I was listening to the interview he gave to Marr and he was talking about his housing policy. And I felt: ‘I have to say something. I couldn’t look myself in the eye if I didn’t take this opportunity’. I didn’t tell anybody what I was going to do – I didn’t want to make anyone else nervous. But I just knew I’d hate myself if I didn’t say something”.
He added that he wasn’t sure what effect the performance had at the time, but was “surprised” by the reaction afterwards: “There wasn’t really any reaction to the performance in the studio. Cameron applauded – he’s very professional. I suspect only the technicians and the rest of the band heard what I was singing – I think perhaps Marr and Cameron didn’t hear the words at all. I didn’t speak to either of them afterwards – I just made my excuses and left”.
Read Tilbrook’s full article here, and watch the full performance below:
