I listen to the BBC occasionally. An array of soft-spoken presenters to ease the pressure of the latest nuclear attack. Anyway, listening to all that grown up stuff, you get an idea as to what's going on. What you don't want to do is write a pop song about it.
Anti-war songs should be impromptu, improvised, a dab of dark here, sarcasm there…
Now allow me to be trivial. One Sandi Thom, directly from her basement 
Are people too ashamed of liking this song to post it? Hm. The debacle on chartreuse.
Sandi Thom – I Wish I Was A Punkrocker mp3
Nerina Pallot. Remember? I actually got her first album for free in a Virgin Store (!) in Oxford. It was unreleased and they had a promo copy they gave me. It had intimacy and the piano was amiable. Fires just doesn't cut it for me.
Nerina Pallot – Gone To War mp3
And a video for VETO's You Are The Knife. (source)
Protest music is getting too conspicuous for its own good.Who started all this? (surpri..!)
Once upon a time people looked to metaphor and analogy for stating their case. I'm not saying they don't still exist. Why, look at Devendra Banhart. Music is antinuclear (antiwar etc.) ex abruptio. Devendra's not telling me he's beautiful cause he already knows he is
Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come mp3
I first heard Sandi Thom, I Wish I Was A Punkrocker on virgin radio. I’m defentaly not ashamed of liking it – a brilant song and very cleaver lyrics!
I first heard Sandi Thom on TV when they where interveiwing her bout doing gigs on the internet!! what a classy way of getting ur self noticed!!!!
I love Sandi Thom’s voice and Lyrics its just amazing!!! Her band members and her are GREAT!!!!!!!! hope they hit the world like a strorm!!! Truely Fab!!!!
The Punk Rocker song is great, heard it today on Radio1. I’ll tell you the 2 tracks preceeding it because it’s quite important: Lapdance by N.E.R.D. and Monsters by the Automatic (I think). Both great songs. So imagine my surprise when Radio1 produced not one, not two, but a hattrick of good songs!!! I would’ve jumped for joy but I was driving.
So I typed the name of the song into my reminders on my mobile so I wouldn’t forget it, with the specific intention of looking it up tonight. And here I’ve stumbled.
Hello.
Hello peeps, I didn’t think this post would get that much attention but thanks for the feedback. People either love or hate this girl. Ironically for an mp3blog I posted Sandi Thom for educational purposes so you could maybe contrast her song with others along the same anti-establishment vein. I probably didn’t highlight Sam Cooke’s subtlety as I would have wanted, not to worry I’ll get the hang of this.
LeAnn the problem at hand with the basement thing is, was this a poorly patched marketing scheme, because to broadcast a live stream you need serious dosh. That’d be like discussing semantics though- it doesn’t necessarily matter in the long run, if it’s good stuff that she’s putting out there. But it might irk you if people lied to you to get your attention.
I’m sorry for the exhaustive comment here, but I needed to put a few things in order.
Oliver if you dig N.E.R.D. you should really check out Spank Rock or Kudu. Thank me later
and be careful not to listen to them while driving, you’ll jump right out the window
Bah what a hippie she is. “77 & 69 revolution was in the air”, Doubt it Sandi, the only thing they achieve in 69 was smoking the most pot in history.
This one really gets my goat though : “I was born to late, to a world that doesn’t care”, get over yourself. If anything the world has become a more caring place with all these groups helping people like the samaritans etc all, being gay is no longer a taboo and politcians finally starting to drop *some* of the debt burdening the african countries. Hardly heard any of this stuff going on in the “Golden Years” of the 60s. What a stereotypical art school student who think that the whole world can live in peace. Such naivety….
yeah, your right Connor The song is really annoying and the lyrics too. She has no songwriting talent. Get a real job “Sandi Thom”
owww, that song really gets on my nerves. It’s not even musically good, all you ever hear is a pathetic drum in the background, a mean what the hell is that meant to stand for the march of the revolution or somthing. Revolution, what god damm revolution, all that happened was that a mass of hippies would turn up listen to some boring typically hippy music and smoke like a bon fire and they thought that by doing that they were making a difference. But, I must say I am angered by the public for going out and buying that album and making it no.1, quite sad really if a song with lyrics that make no sense and has a drum beating in the background to accompony it floats their boat. I pity them!!!!
Ho ho Michael, the thing is – the song is, might, be good but it lacks and edge to such an extent that you have to wonder who fucken wrote it.
Here's an article you might appreciate. Sandi Thom for Antichrist
Oh and I'm sorry to hear you guys don't know Woodstock happened in 1969
And it wasn't all about the pot. They had pills too
I'm joking but still.
It’s quite sad that the only thing remembered from Woodstock was a certain guitar solo….. Does that not tell you about how much this “event” actually achieved?
God damn tree hugging hippies! – Eric Cartman
Hippies are being stigmatised in the same way feminists are today – I don’t call myself Rainbow Feather and I didn’t burn my bra. Those are just extremes, and there’s more to any movement than we can discuss here. But a polemic is good for the brain, what can I say.
I can’t be cynical about something like Woodstock since I saw the documentary, and what they achieved or didn’t achieve can’t be quantified. I’d like to see solidarity wherever in whatever form.
And then Kenny dies
That Sandy Thom track didn’t do anything for me.
It well touched me ;p
The main reason I hate this song (and believe me I do), is because of some of the worst lines I’ve heard in a long time. Y’know the ones-”I wish I was a punk-rocker WITH FLOWERS IN MY HAIR”-I haven’t been much into punk until recently discovering The Sex Pistols, but I have never, ever, seen any self-respecting punk wearing flowers-could someone clarify this. But then of course, there’s the whole general message-that no-one cares about rebels anymore because they’ve seen it all before. What Sandi is really asking for is some attention, lucky her, she’s got it. It’s really a pity that the lyrics are so awful, because she has a great voice, and the music doesn’t totally suck either.
I don’t understand the reasons why people hate ‘I wish I was a punk rocker’. I have always liked the song for its simplistic approach with the music. I have never taken the lyrics of political songs literally and I think that is the problem for some people. For example, “I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair”, could simply be a suggestion to break out of stereotypes.
To me, this song is just about how crap our world is getting. And it’s true, it is. The song just basically says we are all, quite frankly turning into a bunch of stereotypical hyprocrites and we should take a look at how things used to be and maybe learn something from it.
hey all…m from pakistan…i simply laaaoooov i wish i was a punk rocker
it is mind blowin song……. specially the lyrics is awesome….. gud work sandy!
Pay back time now though isnt it? the ethics of the song and the ethics of the people involved in the whole sandi thom marketing storm are at complete odds. She is advertised on telly alonside toilet cleaning fluid and cut price settees. The public are being force fed a commodity by the record company because they wanna get as much dosh out of us as possible as it now seems that sandi cant even talk to the press without being suspicious and defensive about the whole debacle that is the Sandi Thom phenonomen Whatever happens now the girl is going to be haunted by the allegations of lying and cheating and as the evidence mounts that is maybe not such a bad thing, The record companies will be more careful next time of making such ridiculous claims as the public arent as stupid as they think
That song is so great. I love it.
Heard that music and loved it. You don’t have background music to hide the imperfections of the singer’s voice.
Now for the content… it’s weird, but the first time I heard:
“I was born too late, to a world that doesn’t care”
I actually heard:
“I was born to live, in a world that doesn’t kill.”
Let’s all meditate.
I totally luv dis song!!!!
Just like Mike J. said how Sandi doesnt use background music 2 hide da imperfections in her voice… i totally agree!!! i even tried 2 sing dis myself and its a really hard song 2 do but she pulls it off so well! i also luv how she isnt afraid 2 say it how it is cos da world really has changed from lik 40 yrs ago but no one actually chooses 2 sing bout dat kinda stuff…. its all bout luv n crap these days so its great that she can go against da flow of the world! I think Sandi Thom has way further 2 go in her singin career i can’t wait 2 hear more of her!
Sandi Thom is marvelous artist and singer, her new song is very nice.
Thanks for the link and this blog. In Lebanon there’s many youths hearing the song and they are in love with it.
Keep up the excellent work.
were can i lisen 2 i wish i waz a punk roker free?btw lads add me on fay_nightingale@hotmail.co.uk
i was thinking about the line “77 and 69 revolution was in the air”
well i thought was she really sainging about 1977 and 1969? i looked on wiki and it said:
“Most historians agree that the revolutionary era began in 1763, when Britain defeated France in the French and Indian War and the military threat to the colonies from France ended. The end of the Revolution is usually marked by the Treaty of Paris in 1783.”
it fits both 77 and 69
for got to say that was the american revolution
I don’t understand why some of you hate “I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker” so much. It’s a song that she (Sandi Thom) obviously put a lot of time into, and she sings it beautifully. For those of you who seem to believe it is a “Anti-war” song, well, I can’t say whether or not it is and thus, neither can you. Nobody really can. She put her own thoughts and feelings into the lyrics and the music and maybe feels that she belongs not in this era, but in one that has passed.
No, I don’t happen to be a “naive tree-hugger” or an “anti-war protester” I love my commodities of the present time and am glad that my country’s soldiers are doing what they can to end terrorism. I just happen to like the song and wish ya’ll weren’t making such a big deal out of HER lyrics. I don’t know where this web-site is from and I don’t know where ya’ll are from, but I am from America where we happen to have this thing called “Freedom of Speech” which even covers us when we sing songs with questionable lyrics…
But that’s all I have to say. So have fun exercising your Freedom of Speech rights, ya’ll!
Actually, where I am it’s January 31st at 6:12 P.M.
That’s the coolest ever. But seriously, where is this blog from?
Seriously, Romania
I don’t know why people don’t like this song. I’m especially happy that she did it from her basement since it’s showing that if you have a dream, you can do it if you’re good enough. There’s no reason for issues like money to set people back.
Also, in a way she was born too late, like many of us since there are now so many diseases and its such a bad world now with war etc and yet people then caused “revolutions”. I think I know what I’m talking about. Anyway, they had more power to change things then I suppose but now it’s like we’re totally cut off. We choose who we want to lead us but then they don’t want OUR opinion.
This is a good song, with good lyrics. The simple music shows that she’s not covering up a bad voice like many stars today.
well this song reached all the way too Dennmark too ;P. and already it’s quite well known. i like al in the song. but most the lyrics. special the part “i was born to late intro a world that dosen’t care” i’l make a fast analyse of the text XD you just hit the spot. we may understand much,about drugs and such stuff, but at least we knew about the nature. right now we keep on making bigger ans bigger stuff. more cars new drugs and so ever. all we do is as tolden in the song “a world that dosen’t care. so i hope somehow that we’l enter a new 60 n the 2000 heh ^^ imagine us then. a world who understand al about body security and drugs. and know that it’s bad
but then we also know about mother earth’s security 
that would be world peace ;D so sandi! keep on the hard work 
we need you’r songs and the nwe fashion to bring up the meaning of the 60 
Freedom of speech. Yes Chelsea…. we have it in Africa as well. We can even criticise the president if we want. Don’t get all Amerian on us. I absolutely adore the song. It’s old but still makes me frilly inside.
Freedom of speech. Yes Chelsea…. we have it in Africa as well. We can even criticise the president if we want. Don’t get all American on us. I absolutely adore the song. It’s old but still makes me frilly inside.
Sorry, aber das bezweifel ich ganz stark…Baer
Das htte ich nun gar nicht gedacht. Hast du dazu weitere Quellen? Gru Wschbeckenunterschrank
You think sandi meant it all so factual , wrong , punk rock began late 70′s hence “77″ rev. Was in the air, and as for the fact of flowers resem the hippie era of carefree living. And if you want fact many rev occured in both “77′ n “69″ there was a cultral rev in China which saw a band on Beethoven until 77. Not to mention at homosexual rev ppl get over it its about her ideals not yours and it made her rich, she aint complaing stop hating . (World that doesn’t care) so true