There are so many reasons why I have never been as embarrassed to be British as I am today. So many reasons why I will be dumping my British citizenship as soon as I am eligible to apply for and, hopefully, receive Austrian citizenship.
Brexit, at this point, being the prime one.
But one thing that has bothered me for decades about being British is the British government’s insistence on selling weapons to the corrupt leaders of countries that have no business being sold them. Leaders and countries that then use those weapons in wars they should never be fighting, or against their own citizens.
It’s just good old British imperialism in a different form. Designed to keep the U.K. up on top to the detriment of anyone else. But in particular to the detriment of hundreds of millions of people in less developed countries, who often have this weaponry used against them.
Which is why I didn’t care what Declan McKenna‘s new single ‘British Bombs‘ sounded like when I first heard about it.
All I knew was that it was anti-war and anti-the-British-arms-trade, and I was all for that.
Declan McKenna’s ‘British Bombs’ is a bop
Then I heard Declan McKenna’s ‘British Bombs’ and watched the accompanying music video. A music video that also showcases the general apathy of the British public about what their country’s government is doing their own name.
And how, even if they do know what’s going on and feel bad about it, the vast majority will just keep their mouths shut anyway.
And, yep,’British Bombs‘ was just as brilliant as I wanted it to be.
Because, while ‘British Bombs’ has a powerful anti-war, anti-arms trade message that more people should be listening to, the song is also as catchy as hell.
McKenna himself had this to say about ‘British Bombs‘ and what is pissing him off.
 “British Bombs” is a tune I wrote about the hypocrisy of the British arms trade and the weapons convention in London. I think too often it’s implied that matters in the world are too complex to not end up with war, or to not possess and sell weapons, and I just think it is pure bullshit. Not only do we still engage in wars far away from our homes, which settle nothing and fuel extremism in the aftermath, we sell weapons to other countries full well knowing where they end up.
I wanted to write a song that was outright against war, in any form. Violence breeds violence and I just don’t think the world is too complex to set a peaceful precedent, but it seems the business of war is what keeps happening. To say it’s a shame feels like a huge understatement.”
Watch the music video for Declan McKenna’s ‘British Bombs‘ below.
The track is the English singer songwriter’s first singles release since his early 2018 release ‘Listen To Your Friends‘.
Let’s hope this means we’ll soon be getting a lot more.
Related reading: Did you see Declan McKenna kick some major ass on Conan performing ‘Brazil’? No? Well, watch him here