The history and politics of the English protest song

1977

Don't Back the Front

Tune: Original
Lyrics: Desperate Bicycles
Composer: Desperate Bicycles

One of several punk songs that responded to the rise of the National Front (NF) and its racist politics. The Desperate Bicycles combined musical experimentation (two minutes of insistent organ riff) with punk’s DIY practices (‘cut it, press it, distribute it’, as this song says). Its main focus may be on the NF, but its argument is that it is ‘capital [not immigration, that] takes your jobs’.

Cause: Anti-racist | Anti-capitalist
Theme: Political Process | Identity
Addressed to: General Public
Target of Protest: Bigots
Proposal/Solution: Common Sense