David Rovics: Rebel Songs | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- “You’re not a folk singer, you’re a journalist.” So went Bob Dylan’s famous put-down to his one-time friend and comrade Phil Ochs. It was not meant as a compliment, but to be fair, Ochs had titled his first album All The News That’s Fit To Sing.

David Rovics has also recorded an album of that name, not to mention performed entire tribute concerts of Phil Ochs material. He also could be described as blurring the line between folk singer and journalist. Rovics has released over 40 albums over the last quarter of a century, always ready to respond in song to the latest issues. In 2020, while most musicians sat frustrated at home, Rovics released three albums. Rebel Songs is his first of this year – 13 songs with a full band, covering current affairs from a variety of angles.

A handful of songs reference the COVID-19 pandemic; including They Lied, a sympathetic portrayal of the often-maligned COVID deniers. The song blames the spread of conspiracy theories on a media and government that has lied to people for years. The Pandemic of 1918 meanwhile looks at the last comparable global event, following a well-worn tradition of David Rovics historical song.

The debate around colonial history that has come up as part of the Black Lives Matter discussion is touched on too, and that movement is also covered in the mournful Say Their Names and the celebratory tribute to protesters With Masks On Their Faces and Leaf Blowers in Their Hands. Behind These Prison Walls is a tribute to fellow unorthodox journalist Julian Assange, while Our Imagination is hopeful and inspiring, singing “our liberation can only be as free as our imagination”.

There’s always a bit of humour in a David Rovics set, and Rebel Songs ends with a tribute to Patreon, the online platform that enables Rovics to keep cranking out the albums. The song mourns for “the way it used to be when people paid for stuff, before all of it was free”.

It is interesting to think about the role of someone like David Rovics in today’s media world – when traditional journalists are struggling, let alone the travelling folk singer kind. It is tempting to think of David Rovics as a bit of an anachronism – a throwback to the 60’s, when Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs were arguing over what constituted folk music; or earlier, when Joe Hill or Woody Guthrie would travel the country spreading the news of struggles and solidarity.

Yet in a way we are more of an oral culture now than we have been in a long time. Youtubers and instragram influencers are the folk singers and soapbox orators of today. David Rovics’ simple and earnest folk songs might not be what the kids these days are listening to, but in other ways his instant response to events and his use of online platforms to share the message is very much in tune with the times. And his compassionate humanity, his folk singer’s belief in bringing people together, and his attempts to cover issues from a variety of angles are things we could probably do with more of from both our musicians and journalists.

“If you want to understand the world you live in / You have to peel back the layers and look beneath the skin” Rovics sings; and “It's at moments like these, everything is in the air / The possibilities are nowhere and everywhere”.

- Andy Paine.
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