2022

Residents in an eastern German town found a novel way of protesting against neo-Nazis – by buying up beer.
Their action at the weekend was aimed at fans attending a far-right German rock festival called Schild und Schwert Festival (Shield and Sword or SS) in Ostritz, a small town in Saxony on the German-Polish border.
Police had seized 4,400 liters of beer from festival-goers after an alcohol ban was imposed by a court near Dresden, which ruled the event had an "aggressive character". The court felt there was a risk that alcohol could make violence more likely.

But locals suspected that fans heading to the festival – known for "Rechtsrock" music, which promotes white nationalism – would head to the supermarket instead to stock up on alcohol.
So they reacted by buying up more than 200 crates of beer, leaving the festival attendees thirsty.
An Ostritz activist, Georg Salditt, told... (continuer)

2012
When Our Grandfathers Said No

The Battle of Stockton, took place on 10 September 1933 at the Market Cross in the High Street of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It was a clash between members of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and anti-fascist demonstrators from the small local Communist Party and National Unemployed Workers Movement (NUWM).

2023
tiny notes

t ends with one last unaccompanied number, Iuventa, which is about the ship belonging to [Jugend Rettet, a Berlin non-governmental organisation dedicated to rescuing drowning people in the Mediterranean. To date she’s saved some 14,000 but was seized in 2017, the crew now awaiting trial accused of colluding with people smugglers. It’s a quietly rousing anthemic reminder that we are one world and one planet, echoing the refrain from the album opener as they declare “We’re not the clothes we wear/We’re not the scars we bear/We are the song we share”.
brightyoungfolk.com

2023
tiny notes

There’s one final real life story of an inspirational figure. Cooney was commissioned to write The Surgeon, a slow waltzing ballad with sweeping strings and sparse, plangent, piano, for the BBC’s 21st Century Folk project, in tribute to David Nott, a British surgeon who, putting his Christian principles into action, has volunteered to work in many war zones. This song is about a time in Aleppo where he found himself operating on “a man in distress/With a bullet hole wound torn in his chest” only to discover when six men “with knives and machine guns and uniforms black” burst in and watched as he worked, that he was saving the life of a young ISIS fighter. Asked later if he regretted saving him, his reply was no, “for life it is precious and life it is rare/And may my arms always be able to bear”.
brightyoungfolk.com

2023
tiny notes

In 2018 Rachel Robertson asked us to write a song for her brother, Tim Burman. Tim was one of 270 people killed in the Lockerbie bombing on 21st December 1988 when flight PanAm 103 broke up above the small Scottish town killing all those on board and 11 people on the ground. He was 24 and on his way to New York to spend Christmas with his girlfriend, Rose. Rachel said she didn’t see it as being a sad song but a love song and a song to keep the Lockerbie families' campaign for justice alive.
genius

2023
tiny notes

Trespassers is the last of the 17 songs written for our theatre show The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff. It’s the story of Johnny’s participation in acts of civil disobedience in the 1930s to advocate the Right to Roam – that ‘the right of walking was free’. The most famous trespass took place at Kinder Scout, Derbyshire in April 1932 and led, eventually, to the creation of the National Parks.

2023
tiny notes

Lyra McKee was an investigative journalist from Belfast. She was killed whilst observing a riot in Derry, Northern Ireland in April 2019. She was 29. In her 2017 TED talk she spoke movingly of the moment she came out to her mum. ‘Don’t tell me there’s no hope,’ she said. Her family are still campaigning for #Justice4Lyra. The first three lines are taken from the traditional song The Croppy Boy.
genius

2023
tiny notes

Richard Moore grew up in Derry, Northern Ireland. He described his childhood as growing up in a war zone. When he was 10 years old in 1972 he was hit by a rubber bullet on his way home from school. He was blinded for life. With the help of his devoted family and community he rebuilt his life and went on to found Children in Crossfire, a charity which has for 30 years helped vulnerable young people in developing nations. In 2007 he found, befriended and forgave the soldier who fired the bullet. The Dalai Lama wrote ‘I preach forgiveness, Richard Moore lives it.’
genius

2023
tiny notes

Jack Merritt ‘lived and breathed fire in pursuit of a better world for all humanity’. He worked for an organisation called Learning Together which put Cambridge undergraduates alongside prison inmates to share their unique perspectives on justice. On 29th November 2019 he was killed, along with his colleague Saskia Jones, in the Fishmonger’s Hall terror attack. He was 25. His dad, David Merritt, wrote an incredible tribute to his son in the Guardian a week later, urging people to ‘borrow his intelligence, share his drive, feel his passion, burn with his anger, and extinguish hatred with his kindness’ and to ‘walk through the door he has booted down with his black Doc Martens’.
genius

Jack was proud. Jack was absorbingly intelligent. Jack was fiercely loyal. Jack loved music, art, eating good food with his family, and having more than one pint with his mates. Oh, and in... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

Over the Ebro was the final song to be completed in March 2018 barely a week before we premiered the show! It was touch and go whether we could arrange and learn yet another new song but we just about managed... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

David Guest was one of the last songs to be completed in March 2018. Dave wrote the tune after we abandoned an earlier version which had a much bluesier feel. The life of David Guest – Mathematician, Philosopher,... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

Lewis Clive was written at home in the summer of 2017. The dashing, athletic Lewis Clive (1910-1938) - Etonian, Oxford Blue, Olympic rowing champion, Labour Councillor - was adored by British volunteers. He... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

Trench Tales was written in February 2018 mainly in the van going to and from primary schools in Cambridgeshire whilst we were working on a project called the Sounds of Identity. In 2014 we recorded a trilogy... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

This song started on a flight to Canada in July 2017 and took a long time to finish. The story Johnny relates in the live show about being served cat meat was going to be its own song but I struggled with... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org
Tune: L'Internationale

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

Written in Calgary in Western Canada in November 2017 it’s a song about a song. The Internationale was possibly the most popular left wing anthem of the 20th century. This famous song... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

I got the idea for this song whilst on a ferry to Prince Edward Island in Canada in July 2017. I scribbled some verses down but only went back to them in November 2017 when we were back in Canada staying at... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

Robson’s Song was written on one day in October 2017 when we were waiting to play the North Wall Arts centre in Oxford. Up until that day I’d never heard the expression ‘gipping’ (vomiting) until Andy Bell our... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

I wrote this whilst we were on tour with The Transports production in January 2018. I never used to be able to write whilst on tour. Most of my earlier songs were written at home with the guitar and the time... (continuer)

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org
Tune: John Brown's Body



Written in November 2015. Johnny explained in his oral testimonies that the hunger marchers with whom he walked to London composed songs as they walked along. Many were put to the tune of the popular marching song John Brown’s Body so it felt right to do the same. 

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny Longstaff, eroe della "working Class", l'avventura di un ragazzo che inizia mendicando per le strade arriva in Spagna nelle Brigate internazionali, passando per la partecipazione alle Hunger Marches e alla battaglia di Cable Street

Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)

This was the first song I wrote about Johnny in November 2015. I wrote it at home in Sheffield. The first two verses and chorus are inspired by passages in Johnny’s unpublished memoirs Any Bread Mister? This... (continuer)

2014
Never Forget

John Hill married Sean's Great Grandmother Mary Jane in Sunderland in 1913. He died a year later with thousands of others in the opening months of the Great War and is buried in the little French town of Bailleul. Mary Jane eventually remarried and gave birth to another 11 children one of whom is Sean's Nana.

2015
Another Man's Ground

On 26th May 2014 Farzana Parveen was murdered by 4 members of her own family in broad daylight outside the High Court of Lahore for marrying without their consent. Days later her grieving husband admitted to strangling his first wife in order to marry her. It has been estimated that 1000 women are the victims of so called ‘honour’ killings every year in Pakistan.

The poor safety and health conditions workers endured in the chemical industry are the theme of "The ICI Song", also known as 
"The Chemical Worker's Song" and "Process Man".  The song was written and recorded in 1964 by Ron Angel in Cleveland, UK, an 
area known for its chemical industry.
Recorded a few years ago by the Canadian group, Great Big Sea on their album "Up". Lorre Wyatt recorded it on his Roots and Branches for Folk-Legacy. Recorded also by The Young'uns

2017
Strangers

I nostri non si fanno mancare una verve ironica nella storia narrata in “Bob Cooney’s Miracle”, un anti-fascista scozzese che partecipò alla Guerra civile di Spagna nel 1936, capace di sfamare cinquantasette persone con un tozzo di pane e una lattina di carne in scatola. Gli Aldeburgh Young Musicians si uniscono ai tre cantori.
blogfoolk.com

No relation to Sean, Bob Cooney hailed from Aberdeen and was a noted anti-Fascist leader when he joined the British Battalion of the International Brigade in the fight against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. In a modern “feeding of the 5000” miracle he managed to feed 57 hungry men with a small loaf of bread and a tin of corned beef.
theyounguns.co.uk

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

Lyrics taken from mudcat.org

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff è un concept album preso da uno spettacolo di teatro folk che narra la storia di Johnny... (continuer)

2017
Strangers



Scava nella memoria libertaria “Cable Street”, imperniata sul coraggio di Johnny Longstaff, sedicenne conterraneo del trio, il quale prese parte alla famosa marcia di londinesi che sfidò la polizia in appoggio agli ebrei dell’East End, opponendosi alla feccia fascista in camicia bruna di Oswald Mosley nel 1936. Johnny combatté in Spagna dalla parte repubblicana e poi non cessò mai di essere in prima linea nelle rivendicazioni sociali. È il passato, ma è anche un monito per la realtà sempre più oscura del nostro presente.
blogfoolk.com

Told through the words of 16 year-old Stockton-born Johnny Longstaff who was one of an estimated 100,000 people who defied the police to stand in solidarity with the Jewish people of London’s East End, blocking the route of a British Union of Fascists march on October 4, 1936.
theyounguns.co.uk

2019
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff

The... (continuer)

2017
Strangers

In “Be The Man”, incontriamo Matthew Ogston, il cui compagno Nazeem Mahmood si tolse la vita dopo che la sua famiglia omofobica aveva rifiutato di accettare il suo legame affettivo. Qui, il violoncello di Rachael McShane (già Bellowhead), il piano di Hughes e il flicorno di Jude Abbott aggiungono pathos alla qualità emozionale del brano.
blogfoolk.com

A beautiful song inspired by Matthew Ogston who founded the Naz & Matt Foundation to tackle religious and cultural homophobia following the tragic death of his fiancé.
theyounguns.co.uk

2017
Strangers

In “Ghafoor’s Bus” facciamo la conoscenza di Ghafoor Hussain, il nonno partito da Stockton con un bus, acquistato a sue spese e riconvertito in una cucina da campo, con cui ha portato cibo ai migranti e richiedenti asilo di Dunkerque.
blogfoolk.com



Ghafoor’s Bus celebrates the inspirational humanitarian work of Teesside grandad Ghafoor Hussain who spent thousands of pounds of his own money buying a bus and converting it into a travelling kitchen to feed refugees and immigrants across Europe. In refugee camps in Dunkirk he was serving 3,000 hot meals and 10,000 cups of tea a day.
theyounguns.co.uk

[1995]
Parole e musica di Graham Moore
La canzone che dà il titolo al suo album del 1995
Interpretata anche da Dick Gaughan nel suo album “Outlaws & Dreamers” del 2001
I The Young'uns l'hanno reinterpretata nel loro album Another Man's Ground (2015).

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) è considerato uno dei Padri Fondatori degli Stati Uniti d’America.

Quacchero, radicale, non conformista, rivoluzionario tanto in America quanto in Francia (dove fu arrestato durante il Terrore e rischiò il collo), autore di opere come “The Age of Reason” (1790, dove difendeva la religiosità, insita nell’uomo, dalla religione consolidata, dal potere ecclesiastico) e “Rights of Man” (1791, in difesa della Rivoluzione francese e dell’egualitarismo), Thomas Paine combattè tutta la vita e morì in povertà e quasi dimenticato. Soltanto sei persone attesero al suo funerale, due di esse erano schiavi neri da lui liberati. I suoi resti vennero in seguito esumati per essere trasportati e sepolti nel natale Norfolk ma andarono dispersi.