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Love and War

by The Four Fathers

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    With full colour 8-page booklet by The Four Fathers' drummer Bren Horstead.
    The two bonus tracks are covers of Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' and a groovy, folky version of Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive.'
    For a live video of 'Masters of War', recorded in January 2023, see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt3F-Zqm3Cs

    Includes unlimited streaming of Love and War via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Song for Shaker Aamer (Andy Worthington) This is a song for Shaker Aamer The last British man in Guantánamo Stuck in a cell alone Though the US says it wants to let him go And half the men still held Are in the same sad situation Prisoners of political games That ought to shame the nation Chorus Shaker Shaker They chain your body but they cannot chain your mind You tell truth to power Even though you are behind the wire Shaker Aamer is no terrorist In fact he cares deeply for his fellow man That's why he took his family To help poor Muslims in Afghanistan But he was sold to the US for money And he's still held with no end in sight He came to be seen as a leader Because he stands up for the prisoners' rights Chorus (repeat) Shaker Aamer lived in London Where he was given indefinite leave to remain The government says it wants him back But they're not trying hard enough that much is plain And Shaker's family They wait so patiently for him to come home He hasn't seen his youngest son Who was born the day he got to Guantánamo Chorus (repeat)
2.
Sweet Love and Ever After (Andy Worthington) Many many years ago I first met you On a crazy weekend in Brixton Crazy weekends were the norm, running from ourselves Or trying to find ourselves but through oblivion Now talk is cheap as I have learned and even lovers lie But you told me I could trust you and your promise never died Many many years ago how could I know That you would be my sweet love and ever after Broken hearts and broken minds line the road of life And I know I could have joined the debris Drinking hard and smoking too like an immortal dream One from which only your love could save me For better or for worse are the words of the marriage vow We never knew how bad things could be - or how good until now Broken hearts and broken minds are not my fate Because you are my sweet love and ever after When the clock struck 35 we thought that it was time To try to turn our love into creation And seven months was all it took till he was in our life That baby boy who arrived without hesitation Those who are born too soon are like chicks falling from the nest You hold them in your hand and your love hides your distress When the clock struck 35 how could we know That he would be our sweet love and ever after
3.
Tory Bullshit Blues (Andy Worthington) Well I woke up this morning Like so many days before Wondering how I got so old Wondering how to even the score 'Cause these men who claim to lead us They're worse than ever before And if there was a revolutionary spirit They'd be up against the wall Well I dreamt I was at the crossroads Back in 1979 Margaret Thatcher took us one way But that way wasn't mine 'Cause I believe in solidarity And the common good I can't stand this I'm-alright-Jack nonsense I'm holding out for Robin Hood Well I went to see the doctor I said can you help me please These wretched politicians They're giving me disease But I don't want to leave the country 'Cause that would be a defeat And I would rather die standing Than live on my knees The doctor checked me out He said you're of sound body and mind In my considered opinion You're absolutely fine So you must be on to something With your interpretation of the news I think you got a bad case Of the Tory Bullshit Blues Well I left my inner city home To see what was going on But all I found was hordes of angry people Getting it wrong They blame the immigrants and the unemployed And the disabled and the poor For the crash caused by the bankers Who haven't paid for it at all And as the madness spreads Fanned by the media People turn to false prophets To make sense of what they fear But these bigots are no answer And their leader is a dangerous fool It's just another version Of the Tory Bullshit Blues
4.
Rebel Soldier (traditional) One morning one morning one morning in May I heard a poor soldier lamenting and say I heard a poor soldier lamenting and mourn I am a rebel soldier and far from my home It's grapeshot and musket and the cannons lumber loud There's many a mangled body, a blanket for their shroud There's many a mangled body left on the field alone I am a rebel soldier and far from my home I'll build me a castle on some green mountain high Where the wild geese can see me as they do pass by Where the wild geese can see me and hear my sad mourn I am a rebel soldier and far from my home
5.
Sea Shanty for Helena (Richard Clare) Life isn't lonely when I've got you along Love is the ocean that we're sailing upon The swell is exciting but provisions are low I don't want to land but we're gonna sink if you don't row We're gonna sink if you don't row And in the night that lasts forever We saw our spirits fly Winter storms may last forever But our love will never die I can feel your pain Now we are lost in sorrow Tears on your face Will you be gone tomorrow Make love under cover and I'll drown in your arms Even the mermaids are now losing their charms The sharks may be hungry but they don't frighten me You are the girl with whom I wish to be lost at sea With whom I wish to be lost at sea And in the night that lasts forever We saw our spirits fly Winter storms may last forever But our love will never die The cover image shows 'The Kiss (Lovers)' (detail) by Gustav Klimt (1907-08).
6.
City of Dreams (Andy Worthington) When I first came to the city From the land where time stood still It was every night a funfair From my bedsit window sill But then the money ran out And I started to revolve Around cheating time and drinking wine That lost me my resolve Chorus City of dreams You give me nightmares Plate glass steel and bloodshot chrome I heard many say that you're the answer But only my dreams are home Only my dreams are home I wrote this song as a young man When my despair was full Thatcher won a third term And seemed unstoppable Finally she crashed and burned But the damage had been done She made this world of unfettered greed That must now be overcome Chorus (repeat)
7.
Fighting Injustice (Andy Worthington) Look at this world in decline Despite all the victories that were fought for Centuries spent struggling for the vote And for our right to healthcare and education But now we're running out of time Our politicians have turned into pimps and whores Our NHS is being choked And there are no jobs for the young in this broken down nation Chorus If you ain't fighting injustice You're living on the dark side oh yeah If you ain't fighting injustice You're living on the dark side oh yeah Our economies have been raped By those who claim that they are the masters We've had 30 years of financial pillage and plunder Since the regulators stepped out of the picture Then came the global crash of '08 But no one expected what would come after Instead of the thieves going under We printed lots of new money to make them all richer Chorus (repeat) Although shelter is a human right Homelessness is increasing Food bank use is on the rise And workers can't afford to live in the capital With no rent controls in sight And one-bedroom flats fetching half a million This is a super-rich paradise But one where the rest of us are disposable Chorus (repeat)
8.
81 Million Dollars (Andy Worthington) Everybody knows that torture doesn't work Unless what you're after is brutality and lies And that's what America wanted After 9/11 And speaking for the Bush administration Dick Cheney promised to take us to the dark side A place of secret prisons And our expulsion from heaven Chorus Did you know you can get 81 million dollars for being torturer? Yeah you can get paid 81 million dollars for being a torturer James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen Worked for the military Teaching US soldiers To resist torture by an enemy They had no experience of interrogation But they had a thirst for government money So they reverse-engineered their program For the so-called "high-value detainees" Chorus And they got 81 million dollars for being torturers Yeah they were paid 81 million dollars for being torturers And let's not forget the torture lawyers Like John Yoo, a law professor at Berkeley Who said that torture wasn't torture So the CIA could use it And Yoo's boss who signed the torture memos A man named Jay S. Bybee Whose reward for this sick sleight of hand Was a prestigious judgeship Chorus You can keep your job as a law professor by being a torturer You can be made a federal appeals court judge for being a torturer But how do we make them pay? To take some of our shame and guilt away How do we make them pay? To give some hint of justice to those whose lives were taken away George W. Bush war criminal Richard B. Cheney war criminal Donald Rumsfeld war criminal Condoleezza Rice war criminal Alberto Gonzales war criminal David Addington war criminal William J. Haynes III war criminal John Yoo war criminal Jay S. Bybee war criminal George Tenet war criminal James Mitchell war criminal Bruce Jessen war criminal John Rizzo war criminal Steven Bradbury war criminal Jack Straw war criminal Tony Blair war criminal

about

The debut album by South East London-based band The Four Fathers. Rock, roots reggae and political engagement. Songs about Guantánamo, the US torture program, the Tories' cynical age of austerity - and love!

credits

released September 21, 2015

All songs copyright Andy Worthington, except 'Sea Shanty for Helena', copyright Richard Clare.

The Four Fathers are:

Andy Worthington (lead vocals, guitar)
Richard Clare (guitar, backing vocals - lead vocals on 'Sea Shanty for Helena')
Bren Horstead (drums and percussion)
Andrew Fifield (flute and harmonica)
Louis Sills-Clare (bass)

Recorded and mixed at Perry Vale Studios by Pat Collier.

In November 2015, Andy was interviewed by US journalist Kevin Gosztola for his influential website Shadowproof about his interest in protest music. Kevin played excerpts from 'Song for Shaker Aamer', '81 Million Dollars', 'Tory Bullshit Blues' and 'Fighting Injustice.' The show followed Kevin's nomination of 'Song for Shaker Aamer' as Shadowproof's 'Protest Song of the Week.'
See: shadowproof.com/2015/11/13/protest-music-project-andy-worthington-interviewed-on-songwriting-and-his-influences/
and: shadowproof.com/2015/11/02/protest-song-of-the-week-song-for-shaker-aamer-by-the-four-fathers/

Reviews

“It’s a great CD. My daughter and I have been dancing to Tory Bullshit Blues! Well done all involved.”
Rachel Taylor-Beales, singer-songwriter

“Your album not only met with my full, enthusiastic, approval, it also exceeded my expectations — the writing strong, passionate and beautiful; the performance tight and pretty damned good.”
Jan Strain, Seattle

“Two thumbs up, Andy. I enjoyed your CD, especially the final song, 81 Million Dollars!”
Michael S. Kearns, former U.S. Air Force SERE instructor (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape), anti-torture activist and author of the novel Broken! (with Ronald Solomon)

“I am ordering some extra copies of your CD immediately and hope others do as well. Unfortunately, music and art have been so self-neutered or self-censored that one no longer hears outrage against the perpetual warfare now carried out by the U.S. and Israel — with all the war crimes they are committing as tactics to terrorize civilian populations — so that your own excellent work must be especially appreciated. Andy, you’re right there with Roger Waters in raising consciousness of the crimes we are committing with our wars of aggression, which are made even worse with the sanctimonious motives we claim for them.”
Todd Pierce, former military defense attorney for prisoners at Guantánamo facing military commission trials

“I was listening to your CD today for the first time, ironically while writing a letter to Fayiz [al-Kandari, the last Kuwaiti prisoner] in GTMO. I just wanted to tell you that your CD is pretty damned good, albeit a bit on the dark side.”
Barry Wingard, military defense attorney for Guantánamo prisoner Fayiz al-Kandari

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The Four Fathers London, UK

Militant, melodic rock & roots reggae band, based in SE London, mostly playing original protest music. Journalist and activist Andy Worthington (lead vocals, electro-acoustic guitar), Richard Clare (electric guitar, vocals), Bren Horstead (drums, percussion), Andrew Fifield (flute, harmonica), Paul Rooke (bass). ... more

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