OUTLINE OF INTERNAL FASCISM
/ THIS IS THE AGE OF THE TRAIN
This is the age of the train,
in Playschool they train you
to control your bodily functions
so later you will discipline your anger.
They train you not to touch yourself,
or others, in those places
that please most, so that later
you will breed in convenient Family units
This is the age of the train,
in School they train you
that world history is
the history of the white ruling class.
They train you in religion
so you will accept suffering passively
and accept authority gratefully.
They train you to love Royalty
so you will accept hierarchy
and respect those who exploit you
This is the age of the train.
In life they train you to accept
the limitations they assign to you
and the role to which you must conform.
They train you to accept your own worthlessness
in games you are not intended to win
This is the age of the train
in which they train you
to train your children in subservience,
in which they train you to contribute
through taxes and votes
to the manufacture of instruments
of your own annihilation.
THIS is the age of the train…
THIS is the age of the train…
THIS is the age of the train…
Reared on Adrian Mitchell and the Folk-Protest tradition of Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, to the underappreciated Chumbawamba, that poetry should not be divorced from a political context – while also aware of the ineffectiveness of the ‘I disagree with government policy on Iraq, so I’m gonna write an angry poem about it that’ll really scare the shit out of them’ aspect, it’s surely just about possible to get a well-targeted point across, particularly if working directly to a live audience? The other potential hazard is the tendency to reduce complex issues down to bullet-point sloganeering. By extracting and manipulating a caption from popular culture – a British rail TV-ad, this poem managed to yield positive audience reactions across a space of years…
Published in:-
‘NORTHERN STAR no.2’ (UK – October 1981)
‘START’ (UK – March 1982)
‘ZIP no.11’ (UK – November 1983)
‘R.S.V.P. no.1’ (UK – August 1986)
‘WRITERS AGAINST VICTORIAN VALUES: LET THEM
EAT CAKE’ (‘Sepia’ anthology) (UK – October 1986)
‘SISTER no.1’ (UK – December 1988)
‘TEENAGE SOCIAL DEATH no.2’ (UK – February 1996)
also in collection:-
‘SUBVERSIVE ART AT POPULAR PRICES’
(Purple Heather Publications) (UK – January 1988)
in Playschool they train you
to control your bodily functions
so later you will discipline your anger.
They train you not to touch yourself,
or others, in those places
that please most, so that later
you will breed in convenient Family units
This is the age of the train,
in School they train you
that world history is
the history of the white ruling class.
They train you in religion
so you will accept suffering passively
and accept authority gratefully.
They train you to love Royalty
so you will accept hierarchy
and respect those who exploit you
This is the age of the train.
In life they train you to accept
the limitations they assign to you
and the role to which you must conform.
They train you to accept your own worthlessness
in games you are not intended to win
This is the age of the train
in which they train you
to train your children in subservience,
in which they train you to contribute
through taxes and votes
to the manufacture of instruments
of your own annihilation.
THIS is the age of the train…
THIS is the age of the train…
THIS is the age of the train…
Reared on Adrian Mitchell and the Folk-Protest tradition of Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, to the underappreciated Chumbawamba, that poetry should not be divorced from a political context – while also aware of the ineffectiveness of the ‘I disagree with government policy on Iraq, so I’m gonna write an angry poem about it that’ll really scare the shit out of them’ aspect, it’s surely just about possible to get a well-targeted point across, particularly if working directly to a live audience? The other potential hazard is the tendency to reduce complex issues down to bullet-point sloganeering. By extracting and manipulating a caption from popular culture – a British rail TV-ad, this poem managed to yield positive audience reactions across a space of years…
Published in:-
‘NORTHERN STAR no.2’ (UK – October 1981)
‘START’ (UK – March 1982)
‘ZIP no.11’ (UK – November 1983)
‘R.S.V.P. no.1’ (UK – August 1986)
‘WRITERS AGAINST VICTORIAN VALUES: LET THEM
EAT CAKE’ (‘Sepia’ anthology) (UK – October 1986)
‘SISTER no.1’ (UK – December 1988)
‘TEENAGE SOCIAL DEATH no.2’ (UK – February 1996)
also in collection:-
‘SUBVERSIVE ART AT POPULAR PRICES’
(Purple Heather Publications) (UK – January 1988)
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