Words: Kieran Clark | Header Image: Davidbutmore
As the UK has yet again gone through another Brexit Day, still remaining in the EU for the time being, Sapphire Blues have offered up ‘Good Morning Britain’.
The cover, depicting Boris Johnson looking his usual disheveled self with a four pack of lager in his hands, gives us a real flavour of how this song will sound even before listening to it. I am a big fan of well made song artwork, and this is one of my favourite so far. It’s budget look, with someone who is considered a mess to those outside of the Conservative party, more concerned in buying alcohol from the shop than sorting out the UK, perfectly summarises how this song is going to go.
The title itself, ‘Good Morning Britain’, leads us to think of another distasteful individual in Piers Morgan, a man who lives his life in controversy. Morgan is regularly vocal online in voicing his right wing and conservative views, that recently led to a petition for him to be sacked from Good Morning Britain. The fact the news show he hosts is the namesake for Sapphire Blues’ latest song could be a point to the “horror” they reference in the opening lines.
“I wanted to watch a horror, so I turned on the News… No one had a clue, I hear your mixed reviews, good morning Britain you’re hopeless, good morning Britain I lost my dreams”. Thirty-four words that summarise how most of the UK have felt after a decade of Tory government and Brexit being the headline daily since 2016. An unapologetic punk tune, which combines the joy of old school rock n roll riffs and psychedelic guitar tones at points, matched with the honest lyrical content from vocalist Sam Jones, this song has a twinge of anger to it’s bite, but relies on the fast pumping beat to drive the songs message home. Sam Jones lyrics take this song from a song I’d happily bop along to, to an exuberant masterpiece that will get any pit moving at a show. “I want to leave the country… ‘cause it’s pissing it down, it’s always pissing it down”, I would think most of us have thought about leaving the country the past few years, and there has been a rise in people applying for second passports within the EU from family connections. The UK is famous for the idea that it always rains here, but using that as the chorus hook is perfect, as it is metaphor for how bad the state of the country has become; there’s no longer any sun, it’s just constantly raining on us now.
Sapphire Blues describe themselves as a ‘Pre-Brexit trio’, and it’s easy to see what side of the vote they landed on. UK Punk is back on the rise within popular music, and not necessarily within the ‘punk music’ genre, with artists hitting back at the years of being pushed down. Hopefully we’ll hear more from bands like Sapphire Blues in the future, and hopefully they’ll lead us into a progressive new world, or be the soundtrack of protest down a darker route. ‘Good Morning Britain’ is a beautiful release that will be stuck in your head for days.
Listen to ‘Good Morning Britain’ here:
Catch Sapphire Blues at the following:
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