Billy Bragg - Greetings to the New Brunette (Shirley)

[mattfaurot]

johnny marr adds such sweet sound to an already great song

[CountryQuestion]

"How can you lie there and think of England when you don't even know who's in the team?" - great, great line

[barneytravers]

Poignant stuff..makes me forgive West Ham for beating us in 75 for some strange reason.

[bakopotato]

i'm a hammer but bitter sweet that year as the legend was playing for you boys r.i.p. sir bob

[snakehissken]

The last time I saw this song performed live everyone yelled out loud "would the leaves fall from the trees if I was your old man / and you was my missus.." god bless you billy

[camillacreamy]

God, when I listen to this song, I am back to being a 16-year-old in the late 80s, going to see Billy Bragg in concert while wearing my Smiths t-shirt.

Thank you, Billy Bragg, for a trip down memory lane, and one of my favorite songs EVER.

[bakopotato]

my cement is wet right now!

[reubenleach]

This is a tune. I had Now 8 over twenty years ago when I was about 9 and this was on it. Never knew it was by Billy Bragg until today.

[arejay72]

Love the footage of Barking Abbey Steve.

[t3hpwner3r]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 30k views, this really has been an unprecedented success

[DAWNHILLS]

Celebrating my love for you with a pint of beer and a new tattoo. Bill you are a legend.

[DAWNHILLS]

Legendary.

[robertodowneso]

you can hear mr johnny marr throughout.

[exproggo]

Billy Bragg's an amazing writer. This is one of my favourite songs of his.

[ulula19]

Shirley,

what did you say about running before we were walking

Sometimes when we're as close as this

It's like we're in a dream i love this song !!

[ngfxoxo]

Me too....such a pretty little song and filled with all that passion and magic of when you first fall in love with someone and anything under the sun is possible. :)

[sweetsilverdew]

how i love those evening classes... ^__^

[Linguist29]

never seen the video, althought seen the song. It reminds me of days gone by. sentimental. cheers

[UsualMike]

I don't have a digital file -- it's in CD format. Sorry for the confusion.

[UsualMike]

I like this song more every time I hear it. I have the version on the "Reaching to the Converted" record, but I think this one has a more simple, clear sound to it.

[targetscooter88]

i quite like that other version better..this is good too..but the other one seems much more...marresque...

[hefferwiezen]

"I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet" clever, clever, clever!

[dylexgirl]

THis is such a pretty little song and I love the guitar riffs~

[todaysc]

WOOPS there goes another year, WOOPS there goes another PINT OF BEER!

[DAWNHILLS]

The Bard of Barking rules. Not one bad track on the Taxman album. How can you lie there and thing of England, one of the greatest lines ever...

[HELTERFUCKINGSKELTER]

Hello Billy luv.Don`t Bragg about your fucking thieving.

Doggie do.

[t3hpwner3r]

Another day in the pantomime... of your life!

[HELTERFUCKINGSKELTER]

Fucken brilliant!

[arghhh2006]

I can't believe that was 20 years ago! I got old fast.

[snakehissken]

How can you lie there and think of England

When you don't even knwo who's in the team?

[citizengood]

Fantastic. Beautiful. What a great love song.

[imbolcday]

thanks a lot. What a perfect song with brilliant lyrics!

And, 1986 was definitely the year when some everlasting miracles happened. Would give almost everything to go back then...

[andantehead]

Billy opened for the pogues in NYC two Sundays ago....like 45 minutes of him on an electric guitar.....it was amazing.

[ferriswheel2]

Wow

[itsmeyoufool37]

aaah man, been looking for this all over, thanks for posting

[AbsurdlySane]

Wasn't this song, at least in part, aimed as a bit of a dig at Shirley Williams? The line "How can you lie there and think of England when you don't even know who's in the team?" I think was a response to her not knowing anything about the national team.

[kalamikid]

Corr, I forgot how good this song was. Just pure brilliant.

[PaulfromHackney]

I know he comes across as a bit of a new Labour tosser these days - playing gigs for the prison service (for fucks sake) - in front of prisoners who don't know who he was - but in his day- yeah he had it!

[jenton70]

Here we are in our summer years

living on ice cream and chocolate kisses

would the leaves fall from the trees

if I was your old man and you was my misses?

Best proposal ever. One of my favorite tunes.

[vanillaorchid]

Beautiful song with wonderful lyrics.

[jakebickerton]

Brilliant, brilliant tune and, for once, an exceptionally good video to match. Thanks for posting.

[PforPanchetta]

Loved this song for ... a loooooooong time, and now 1st time seeing the video. Wow, that is REALLY good! Love the blending of the wide ranging footage. Very well done and VERY cool. I'm usually not a fan of "music videos", but this one brings out a big smile. Bravo and Billy rocks!

Cheers!

[nobodysgirlforever]

Pretty little song!

[superfreakmc]

r.sorry :)

[superfreakmc]

odddiooo da quanto non sentivo questo pezzo!!! grande billy btagg!!!

[DrHoldowicz]

Thanks so much for this video -I love this song, and this is the first time I've seen the video. Which is also brilliant. Billy is a gem...

[Quezziman]

woops there goes another year,

woops there goes another pint of beer...

and the new brunette was my first girlfriend, and how I loved her..

and, yes, this song is perfect..

[arejay72]

"Shirley - you really know how to make a young man angry,

Shirley - can we get though the night without mentioning family?"

Two of the most deftly written lines in the history of popular music. I love this song to bits.

[idle80]

I just ADORE this

[franklymike]

Know I have posted already but listening again I have to say that this song is just perfect.

[franklymike]

Magnificent

[bigtusa2]

Que saudades dos meus anos 80, grande musica...

[astrophell]

I love Mr Johnny Marr's stunning guitar playing on this great song. Is that Johnny in the studio with Billy near the end?

[sjlondonuk]

Great song, and yes he is from Barking...

[davidmaguire82]

Billy Bragg's from Barking! But he does have a big nose!

[24165897]

cheers top track

[FoxyFreddie]

Achingly brilliant. For touching a nerve there can be few who can match Billy. So many brilliant brilliant lines.

[justlikeitsounds]

I used loved this video when i was a kid and used to watch it over and over. I haven't seen it for probably 15 years, so it really brought back some memories. Thanks so much.

[Tangoratsfan]

Fucking brilliant guy, thanks for posting, legend and then some.

[pippopiar]

will billy be happy about capello as coach of england ?

[franklymike]

probably he is quite intelligent but good question

[kenster26]

love this tune, "here we are in our summer years, living on icecream and chocolate kisses" quality.

[pete3dh]

the big nosed boy from peckham still rules.

[babu6]

How can you lie there and think about England when you don't even know who's in the team.

Brilliant line, brilliant man.

I learnt to play guitar from the Billy Bragg book 'Learn to play...in a day...the Billy Bragg way.'

[NewPaltzIndie]

"I'm celebrating my love for you

With a pint of beer and a new tattoo"

most excellent!

[psbarrera]

thanks for posting this (i kno it sounds repetitive)

[Fudgestar]

Brilliant, thanks a million for posting this. I didn't realise that was MacColl (RIP) on backing vox!

[sallygal7]

Wow!

[ranidekoning]

best song ever and ever!!! thanks for posting

[nycdude999]

Definitely one of the best videos of the 1980s, amazing imagery. Love the Shirley theme. For the record, Johnny Marr is on guitar, and the beautiful Kirsty MacColl sings backup. Thank you so much for posting this!

[swanstep]

Thanks for posting this..... I've been looking for this vid. for a while! Top song.