Without delving into political history, and of course the past is 'another country' I think Woody Guthrie's political views can be easily understood from the words of his songs.

'This land is your land, this land is my land'

   However, that's not the point of my post- the point is that he well knew the power of music in fighting the extremes of politics and I would go along with that all the way.

   The 'high heid yins' will always seek to stamp out dissent and although it's hardly Putin's style, the current attack on UK musical funding is just another sign of their insecurity.