In Defence of the Manchester Pirates

In Defence of the Manchester Pirates*

Surely there can be no real rhyme or reason
Why music is in the hands of soulless suits
Capable only to judge art by the pound
While genus and talent is left to drown

Charting success by raising their sales
With the sound of cash tills ringing in their ears
Art sold down the river note by ten pound note
To line their pockets and keep themselves afloat

     Yet back in the days of yore
     We understood what art was for
     No-one person owned a song
     To share music was not wrong
     What everyone expected
     A tradition well respected
     Art shared as stories were told
     By all the troubadours of old

Who really suffers when music is downloaded
Not the poor artist or their masterpiece
But the cash flow of the profit hungry bankers
And the pockets of music industry ...

It’s time to take a stand and sing our song out loud
A song to bring real pirates to their knees
Once a song is sung it’s in the public domain
To lift the souls of all, here it must remain

     Face up to the soulless suits
     Reclaim music at it’s roots
     Put punk back in our nation
     And pop into population
     Art always for the masses
     Not just the money’d classes
     Tell those who got rich of rock
     That they can go and folk right off

© David Hardman 2012

* In 2012 a report claimed Manchester was the illegal download capital of the UK for music. Manchester music lovers were branded pirates. My understanding of pirates are unscrupulous criminals who steal what is not theirs for their own gain - my understanding of the music industry is....