Green Suede Shoes
By Larry Kirwan
Thunder's Mouth Press, 2005
BY BILL NEVINS
Larry Kirwan despises US President George Bush's war policy. "Our troops have been betrayed by a bunch of grasping politicians who have cast them into this morally indefensible, vanity war ... For rock musicians, this war may well be a last chance to redeem our particular art form and grant it some needed relevance and credibility", Kirwan declares in the final pages of his just-published musical autobiography, Green Suede Shoes. Kirwan and his band Black 47 have also just released the anti-war song "Downtown Baghdad Blues".
Black 47, also known as The House Band of New York City for their 15-year career of playing up to 120 shows a year in their Manhattan base and beyond, have challenged fans to stay with them as they openly confront the US regime's policies in their shows, turning each performance into a protest rally. "Yeah, we do Downtown Baghdad Blues live every night now, and it splits the audience. Causes quite a stir", Kirwan matter-of-factly stated in a March 31 interview.
In his book, the Black 47 leader explains the song's context, and his band's fierce anti-war stance. "Black 47 has always had a considerable body of its fans in the armed services; we support them wholeheartedly, yet question why they have been sent halfway around the world to get trapped in this quagmire. And we refuse to be browbeaten into silence by chicken hawks and armchair patriots who cry treason at the first sign of dissent."
Black 47 takes its name from the awful year 1847 when brutal government policy killed hundreds of thousands of Irish people, and survivors cursed those rulers and fought back any way they could. Kirwan recounts in Green Suede Shoes how he long ago vowed never to witness injustice in silence. Black 47's stance today is unflinching: "We've spoken out against this travesty from the beginning, and suffered the loss of many a fan and friend as a consequence. That's as it should be. The purpose of a band like ours is to speak its mind, regardless. Iraq is the defining issue of our time."
Black 47 is the US's most raucous working-class band, and its packed shows are wild, dancing affairs. "Take it to the streets if you're looking for redemption!", they roar in one of their signature songs as drums, brass, bagpipes, brass and Fender Strat explode.
Kirwan's rock 'n' roll faith takes fire as he raises his fist onstage, and in Green Suede Shoes he is serious about solidarity: "Music and the right songs, if played with conviction, can still galvanize large and small audiences and propel them toward activism. And what a need the United States has for a broader-based opposition to this disastrous war in Iraq!"
[Visit <http://www.black47.com>.]
From Green Left Weekly, June 22, 2005.
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