"You're paying for prisons. You're paying for war. You're paying for
lobotomies. You're paying for the law. You're paying for their order.You're paying for their murders. You're paying for your ticket to
witness the farce. Knowing you've contributed to the fucking solution to
the system. To their political pollution. No chance of revolution. No
chance of change. You have no autonomy. Don't just take it. Don't take
their shit. Don't play their game. Don't take their blame. USE YOUR HEAD."
This is an excerpt from the lyrics "You Pay," a song by Crass, an
anarchist punk band formed in Essex, England, in 1977 and active for
seven years. They didn't just describe anarchy in their lyrics, they put
its principles into practice. They lived together in Dial House, the
country home of Penny Rimbaud, the group's drummer. Everyone could
express their creativity, helping one another, united by respect for the
environment (organic farming) and animals (vegetarian diet). "It was a
dream of universality; the idea of having no locks on the door is
expressed most profoundly by saying there are no locks on the heart."
Rimbaud. This demonstrates that it is possible to create a place far
removed from the logic of capital and state power. Their concerts took
place in small venues, where posters with the anarchist symbol and the
slogan "There is no authority but yourself" were hung: "You must learn
to live with your conscience, your morality, your decisions, with
yourself. Only you can do it. There is no authority but yourself" (from
the song "Yes Sir, I Will"). The release of their first album, "The
Feeding of the 5000," was a difficult one: Small Wonder Records, an
independent label, censored the opening track "Asylum," and Crass
replaced it with a two-minute silence, deliberately titled "The Sound of
Free Speech." You're "free" to speak, only if you speak the way they
want. Censorship and frequent police raids on Small Wonder's owner's
record store prompted Crass to create their own record label: Crass
Records. Only after their second album was the collective able to buy
back the rights and release "The Feeding of the 5000" with the censored
track. The proceeds from their album sales and concerts, which were much
lower than those of other bands, were used to help comrades in need,
such as publishing fanzines, purchasing equipment, and supporting
imprisoned anarchists. With the funds raised from the release of "Bloody
Revolutions" and "Persons Unknown" with the group Poison Girls, an
anarchist center was opened. "This made us realize our power, not only
to generate new ideas, but also to somehow manage to realize them. A lot
of people were coming to our concerts, so the best way to exploit the
situation was to decide that we would only play concerts in support of
something," Rimbaud said. The third album, "Penis Envy," focused on
feminism, featured the face of a blow-up doll on the cover: the song
"Bata Motel" criticizes the power and exploitation of men over women,
"Systematic Death" opposes the roles that the system imposes on society,
and finally "Our Wedding" focuses on a criticism of marriage. Crass
presented this last song to the offices of Loving, a pink magazine for
teenagers, saying it was a love song. The editorial staff published it
on a Flexi-Disc with their magazine, but realized the deception too
late, when it was already on newsstands. "Those magazines promote an
idea of romantic love that is impossible, unrealistic, unachievable, and
ultimately even undesirable. The gesture, therefore, had a very strong
political and feminist value, but it also made us laugh. They
immediately fell for Loving." Rimbaud. Crass also participated in direct
actions, such as squats, sabotage of vivisection laboratories, vandalism
in butcher shops, and graffiti. The theme of antimilitarism was central
to their songs, especially when the Falklands War broke out in 1982.
Here too, Crass missed no opportunity to clash with the powerful. They
anonymously sent a fake phone call to newspapers, created with excerpts
from speeches by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan: Thatcher was
responsible for the Sheffield bombing and Reagan for causing a nuclear
conflict in Europe. The U.S. State Department claimed that the recording
had been released by the KGB with the intent of attacking America. A
British journalist from The Observer subsequently contacted Crass, who
admitted to having made the recording on the condition that they publish
confidential information about the war, obtained from a sailor they
knew. In 1983, they released their final album, "Yes Sir, I Will." The
title is taken from a conversation between Charles, Prince of Wales, and
a badly burned soldier returning from the Falklands: the prince told
him, "Get well soon," and the soldier replied, "Yes Sir, I Will." (When
you're so enslaved to the state that you sacrifice your own life.) The
album consists of just one track; the music is heavy and difficult to
listen to, but the message is important: "Are we really so stupid, so
cowered in submission that we are not only ready to eat shit, but also
ready to say thank you for the privilege! Why accept this theft of
life?... From birth we are threatened and subjugated by family, church,
school, and the state. From then on, we are easy prey for the powerful.
War can only exist through passive acceptance... The government
strengthens its powers daily. Anyone who opposes it is ridiculed,
discredited, or abused and punished. Raise your eyes and see. Raise your
ears and listen. Raise your mind and think. Raise your life and act." 42
years have passed, but unfortunately the content is still relevant
today. The cruelty of the war of the powerful is also described in the
song "How Does It Feel":
"How does it feel to be the mother of a thousand deaths? The boys now
lie in rest, cold graves in the cold earth. How does it feel to be the
mother of a thousand deaths?" The "mother" in question was Margaret
Thatcher, but the question can be addressed to other "mothers" and
"fathers."
When will we find the courage to put an end to all this and transform
our indignation into anger and action?
(A)
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
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