Everyone from R.E.M. to A Perfect Circle has been trying recently to sing Bush out of the White House. But credit to Dan Bern, who kept the tradition of protest song alive while it was deeply unfashionable. Subtitled “Music To Beat Bush By”, Bern’s contribution to the current pressing cause consists of eight songs in his usual Dylanesque style, ranging from the didactic (“Bush Must Be Defeated”) to the lyrical (a setting of Pete Seeger’s poem “Torn Flag”) via the satirical (“President”, which sets out Bern’s own programme for his first 10 days in the Oval Office). Angry, comical, justifiably concerned.
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