Speaking of the possible results of political song - the other week for the first time in many years I stood in the immigration lane at a US airport, and suddenly panicked that they might not let me in on account of my CID file. During the run up to the Gulf War the media told us everybody but me and some pals was gungho for it. We met every week in my city's main square and sang a mixture of old and new songs for peace. Every other week we marched and sang. I eventually heard that in the US there had been much more protest. I'd be astonished if the singers and new songs were not there. Political song is for me of the time, and as much a badge as an instrument of persuasion. It is there to articulate and remind me of what I want and don't want. One Saturday morning as we marched down into the city centre singing a song I'd made / remade two hours earlier I saw a woman begin to have hysterics at the kerbside. Clearly she thought we were Iraqui sympathisers out to get her son Jimmy In The Army killed. I could not stop and talk, and the message of my new song that morning - "Bring them all home alive" - evaded her. For me political song is a support mechanism, or a rallying flag but not a recruiting banner for any party. When the issue gets hot enough, the songs come out. In my experience, anyway.