The Strawbs were a strange band. Dave Cousins' first two albums were noted for extremely long fake mediaeval ballads (The Battle and The Boatman) which had great clunking lines of bathos every verse or three. Hudson and Ford joined the band and took it in a more 'commercial' direction and of course Rick Wakeman cut his teeth with the band.

The irony of Part of the Union was overtaken by events and it has been taken over by the trade union movement and sung with gusto because oddly enough it expresses a truth in the confidence that being part of a union can bring to workers. Seeing as that was the opposite of what Hudson and Ford intended I find that doubly amusing. Having said that, I can't stick the song.