A week ago I was spending a lovely day in surprisingly sunny London. By chance I was passing the Royal Albert Hall and started to reminisce how much my life – as a fan of Frank Turner and through that also my life in general – had changed in the last decade. I had become a fan in 2013 and in 2015 I travelled to London to see Frank play a show at the Royal Albert Hall (as part of a week of charity gigs).That day by chance I bumped into Frank in the area around the Albert Hall. Remembering all that while I was strolling from Kensington Gardens to the Albert Memorial felt like a lifetime ago. Memories are a weird beast sometimes, eh?
Last Friday and Sunday I had been to see Frank play “Campfire Punkrock 20” shows, the first in Brighton, the second one in London. I had such a great time at both shows. The tour support this time were Katacombs and Dave Hause. Both good addition to a Frank Turner line up. Folk on the one hand (Kat), rock on the other (Dave). Both very engaging with the crowd and both seemed like really nice, lovely people.
Frank was amazing both nights, as he usually is. Of course on each night he played (most of) the songs from his debut EP “Campfire Punkrock” from 2006. That was the point of the whole tour. He also played a few other old ones, the ‘greatest hits’ and everything in between. Sunday night was the first time in ages, that I heard him play “Brave Face”, which is one of my favourites from “Be More Kind” and it made me so happy. He also played “Journey of the Magi” that night, wich also often is such a magical moment.
On both nights I was also very impressed that the crowd knew and sang along to all the words to the very rare song from the EP like “….Gap Year”. But both nights this also left me a bit… baffled, maybe is a word for it. The contrast of a crowd very loudly almost cheeringly singing along to lyrics which are not really about cheerful times. I didn’t mind it at all, I was singing along as well, but it made me pause and think. I haven’t really figured out what to think oft it all to be honest. I never might…
The one song I was most looking forward to and most enjoyed singing along to had been “Thatcher Fucked the Kids” [lyrics / a live version in 2023], which is from the Campfire Punkrock EP as well and thus I was pretty sure I’d hear it on both nights.
In 2022, when Frank started to bring this song out of retirement for a bit and played it on a few ocassions I had already put down some of my thoughts in a post. This time I was determined to write a proper long explanatory piece about why I can relate to that song SO much these days. It was supposed to be titled
“Thatcher Fucked the Kids (Germany 2026 Remix)”
Today I spent the whole afternoon on it. I had already gotten a draft of about 1.500 words and still was only half way through everything I thought I wanted to say. I stopped, reconsidered my approach and realized I’d never be able to be as clear and concise in my interpretation as this clear and concise song deserves. (That’s why Frank is the successful songwriter and I’m… not)
Let’s just say the song definitely still holds up, as Frank stated on stage each night. It holds up in the sense that governments – as in Germany at the moment – are too often run by folks who
[….] just closed your eyes to the other side
[are] a guy in a suit who wouldn’t lift a finger for anybody else.
[….] as soon as they were settled as the richest of the rich,
They kicked away the ladder, told the rest of us that life’s a bitch.[….] sold the future for the highest bid
If you’re interested in my take on the last one I could now easily give you a 30 minute rant on how our current Minister of Energy seems to neither care about the climate crisis nor about how to decarbonize the energy industries, because she used be a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry. My rant would include terms like subsidies and electrical grid. What can I say? I’ve been working in the climate action field since 2012. Ranting about these current policies is kind of in my job description.
But that was the point in the 1.500 words draft when I realized: nope, a detailed dissection of the lyrics is not going to work.
My frustration with the current German government is based on all the lyrics quoted above. It’s based on the government’s ongoing tendency to protect the interests of the rich and wealthy while at at the same time punch down and make life harder for the working class, for single mums, for people who are a bit less fortunate and who haven’t been as privileged as most of the people in charge.
My frustration is based on the ongoing accusatory implication that anyone, who is in need of financial or other aid from the government is lazy, stupid and just needs to be taught a lesson by tightening the screws of the benefits system.
My frustration is very much based on the ongoing – often not even veiled – xenophobia or plain racism from our chancellor Friedrich Merz.
And anyone who looks [different] than me
Makes me check for my wallet and my phone and my keys,
They all really are fucking most of us over at the moment.
I have no idea how we will ever be able to bridge the rift they seem to very purposefully create with their policies and their “them vs us” narrative which only feeds into the neo fascist AfD party playbook.
But when no one ever smiles or ever helps a stranger,
Is it any fucking wonder our society’s in danger of collapse?
In a different context – the intro to “Be More Kind” – Frank talked about all of that each night as well. How we need to fight the fascist who are out there marching. But he also said the following (and I was determined to record it at my 2nd gig so I could remember and quote him on it)
Let us not become angry,
Let us not become hateful,
Let us not become small,
Let us not become incurious.Let us stay loving and kind and funny and joyous and human
And all of those good things.
Singing along to “Thatcher….” in a room full of like minded people helps me to handle my frustration.
Having Frank remind me to stay hopeful and joyous and human in this world we live in actually helps me to stay hopeful.
And that’s two of the many reasons why I will keep coming back to Frank Turner shows again and again and again. (Probably not this year anymore though. But we’ll see….).
