look up in the sky, see oliver's army yet? the closer they get the more obvious they become, but you still have to at least look up...and even that's almost too much to ask a society of people that are usually in buildings or cars and too distracted by the business of what's on the ground
Well. To you wiki readers it means one thing, to those of us their in 79 as mods or rockers it was something to each and his own, Now i have spent the last part of my life in Asia opening up my own horizons. Those were inspiring days! Suck on that Bieber Baby!!
It's surely about mercenaries. "If you're out of luck or out of work, we can send you to Johannesburg." South Africa was the centre of mercenary outfits back in the 70s and 80s.
The song is about Elvis' first trip to Belfast, Ireland. The murder mile is a strip of road in which the Protestant paramilitary captured Catholics. Check point Charlie is the barricade check points that he passed through. One more widow, one less white nigger, is in reference to the Irish, who are less than human to the Imperial Brit Shits. Careers information.... took the poor kids of England, and put them to war. Elvis was shocked to see young boys with automatic weapons in N.Ireland
"White nigger" is referring to the greek cypriots, the ethnic greek population of Cyprus! It was origionally a racial slur the english used to insult the Irish in the 1800's. The song itself is about English youth joining the army during the 1950s due to unemployment.
The cromwell reference is correct its about sending a well educated but useless and ignorant dickhead overseas as a rep of the govt as the regions mentioned are considered to be of no importance
People get upset about the word nigger and right away scream racist. Understand the meaning of the song before coming to any ignorant conclusions. "Niggers" come in all colors.
I always took it to be about the British army's long tradition of sending Irish soldiers across the globe to die for the glory of England. Costello's family was Irish. Oliver's Army is a reference to Oliver Cromwell, who subjugated Ireland in the 17th century and confiscated large amounts of land. Despite the Irish resentment of the English and the fact that they were treated like dirt and called "white niggers", many Irish were poor and the army was the only opportunity open to them.
thats not quite exactly it, but thank you for being so highly informed. Many Irish soldiers were volunteers aswell as being drafted, e.g WW1 WW11but there wouldn't have been any Catholic Irish in the Cromwellian army . In the U.k people aren't taught of that side of Cromwell, he wasn't just part of the plantations, Cromwell also massacred 100'000s of Irish. The irish were what you might call the original "nigger" so that term doesn't really describe it well, lol. We were also sent as slaves,
@littleXjack -- Thanks, I see what you're saying. To clarify: when I spoke of Irish soldiers in the British Army, I wasn't referring to the actual Cromwellian army, just the British Army of the 19th and 20th centuries (and I guess the 21st c. now too). By talking about the British Army as "Oliver's Army", I think Costello is using a metaphor, referencing a long standing resentment about Cromwell/England and saying, "look, it's 1978, Irish lads are getting killed for English profit, wtf?"
@BlonkyLaRue well they were also receiving the queen's shilling pffft. I remember reading a quote somewhere that said every major war in history was fought with irish on both sides. Irish soldiers are great mercenaries I suppose, probably got that from the vikings. Irish weren't drafted into the british army during the 1900, just volunteered but it was the only option for most considering the poverty of Ireland. The more I listen to the song the more relevant this interpretation becomes
@BlonkyLaRue Actually seems more general. Join the army lads cause the brits are the best and our attitude will beat all! Interferance from our diplomats. Of course to really understand you need to be there at his time. To me it feels like sarcasm cause the BE was gone.
@BlonkyLaRue Costello's song is a general anti-military statement, it's main target is the fact that the only real option that the unemployed have is to join the army (British unemployment figures were at an all-time high when he wrote the song in the early '80s). It doesn''t have anything particular to do with Cromwell, other than the title!
@TraceyMariexx: Agreed. See my comment to littleXjack from a month ago. @highschoolmusical841: um... I'm with you on Cromwell being a horrible guy, but you lost me when you started talking about balsamic vinegar (WTF??).
@MultiBelle22 Oliver's Army does refer to Oliver Cromwell, because he created the "New Model Army" which paved the way for the modern British Army. Also, @BlonkyLaRue, it's not just about the Irish as it mentions the boys from "the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne".
@MultiBelle22 Oliver Cromwell because he was the one that started the modern army, and Churchill because he was prime minister during the second world war, when a lot of our men went abroad to fight.
@BlonkyLaRue The song is about the fact that it's always working class boys on the frontline doing the dying. Hence the line 'With the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne'
@sqrooloose Wow. You know, I bought Armed Forces on LP in 1989, I've listened to this song hundreds of times since then, and I always thought the line was "boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the TIMES"-- as in the London Times or New York Times, i.e. journalists embedded with the troops. Ha! I learn something new every day...
@susansmith44 True. I added some clarification in a response to littleXjack a few months ago. I've heard a saying: the British empire was won by the Irish and administered by the Scots & Welsh for the profit of the English. I think that's the idea here: it's the poor of the "United Kingdom" (Irish, Scots, Welsh, and English too, plus others) on the front lines, but the old English order has always been at the top of the imperial/military food chain, so to speak.
He's talking about the English involvement in war during specific historical periods...Oliver's Army is the means Oliver Cromwell overthrew the English Monarchy.. other times he mentions other wars from history, china, south africa, palestine... sort of sarcastic statements about how those in power use the little guy to get the dirty work done.... At least that's my interpretation.
If you like this song then we probably have the same taste in music. I’m an independent artist and my band – the good fats - just completed our first album. I’m pretty sure there’s a way to take songs off youtube and put them on a....what are those things called...iPods?!?!?!! So ya have listen, let me know what you think, tell your friends or anyone else and I hope you enjoy...
please! it's a song about mercenaries! LISTEN! do you get pissed at Roland the thompson gunner by Zevon? Yea, Elvis is a racist and i'm a unicorn. lighten up and enjoy, or i'll hunt you down and make you listen to Wham!!!
Leaving aside any controversy about this song's lyrics, Elvis Costello was outed long ago as someone who likes to throw around The N-Word, when in a conversation with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlett he dismissed two of his musical superiors as respectively a "jive-ass nigger [James Brown]" and a "blind, ignorant nigger [Ray Charles]."
@glimmer2158 Nonsense, his crimes in Ireland are a matter of record - but then he was no different in the 1600s to most English who sadly viewed the Irish as less than human - but worse than Hitler? Do you actually read history?
Er.... listen properly. It is doing exactly the opposite. It is slagging off imperial racism. Oliver Cromwell set up the first national English army and called it the New Model Army. The title refers to that. The lyrics list places the British Army were at the time or had been previously involved in, from Palestine to Belfast, and criticises it for offering men a 'professional career'. Then it quite clearly goes on to say 'I would rather be anywhere else than here today'.
@sheeshkebab1711 im irish and i know a thing or two about our history... we weren't called white niggers but "the niggers of europe". however it was a retroactive title given to us looking back at the way we were treated throughout the last thousand years and was never really widespread. i dont think it was ever a common thing to say among the general public of any country.
@sheeshkebab1711 on a bit more research apparently many people have said we were called white niggers at various times, but i cant find a primary or even a credible secondary source to back it up just people saying it happened. so i dont know, maybe.
@imangrynow Wrong. It's a racist term used to refer to Irish immigrants who like black people were viewed as inferior when they first flocked to Britain in the 19th century. I remember studying this.
@Matthew2400 You need to really listen to the song - it's not racist - as many others have pointed out - it is a critique of racism and militarism.....
Re: "White nigger"--the context of the song makes it clear that it refers to a low status white, someone manipulated by economic need to fight--and die--for the interests of others.
The metaphor is clear, historical context notwithstanding.
Further, in Australia the Irish were not considered 'white' and had to fight to not be excluded under the White Australia Act of 1901. White Nigger is and always was an English term for the Irish who also described them as 'monkeys' 'apes' and 'sub humans'. The victors always have the benefit of re-writing history and the way it is taught. Oh and by the way I am an anthropologist, an Australian and what I have written is the truth and by the way I am very, very proud of my Yorkshire heritage
Putting an end to all this talk about white niggers. I first came across the term when doing research a few years ago, it was in an article written in 1895 and published in the British Journal of Anthropology. Evidently the term had been in circulation among occupying forces for some time by then. I also know several members of the British miltiary who have never heard the term with some of them serving time in Northern Ireland.
That's not proof. I"m a born and raised NYC Italian. NYC is the place where the majority of Irish immigrants settled here in the US. I can tell you with 100% certainty. That I have NEVER heard the term "white nigger" refer to an Irish person. And. I have heard lots of ugly racial slangs. Hell. At that time, half the NYPD were Irish. The only derogatory slang I have heard, referring to an Irish person, s "MIC". So. You're wrong on this.. This is UK all the way.
Hey Staceylover, you're joking right. We here in the good old USofA are guilty of a lot of things. But. Not this one that you're implying.
Are you suggesting that a young British song writer in the later 70's, that is penning a song about the unfortunate war between the Irish IRA, and the British army, would borrow a phrase from the good old USoA to include in a song.
Short answer. NO.. This phrase was coined by the good ol people of the UK. WHERE IS YOUR PROOF ?
The British Army never has and never will refer to Irish "Soldiers" (I assume you mean the terrorists) as "white niggers". The term comes from the good old USofA, describing how poor Irish labourers would work for the same low wage, sometimes less, than their black conterparts.
Hello Mr Texan I had no idea that this song was about Oliver Cromwell so thanks for pointing that out - I suppose one of us has made themselves look pretty stupid on here
I have always loved this great song since it was first released in 1979 when I was 14 years old. I know the song was written and recorded in 1978, but not released until 1979.
@MrJeepsters It was written in the late 1970s in response to the British military intervention in Northern Ireland. Its meaning is quite complex but 'Oliver's Army' refers to the occupation of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army in the 1640s and 50s. More generally, however, it was a protest against the militarism, neo-imperialism and bigotry of the period, hence the references to Palestine and Johannesburg.
@thomaswakley1823 Quite possibly, but I agree more with chymist66 at the top there. 'neo-imperialism' eh? WTF is that? EC is quoted on wpedia as saying, 'The song was based on the premise that 'they always get a working class boy to do the killing'.
Why have nine people disliked this? You'd have to be a fucking lobotomy patient to actively dislike this song. Not just not enjoy the song, but go out of your way to hit the dislike button. Morons
@stejhour That bugs the shit out of me. When I dislike a song on youtube...I tend to just hit the back button. I don't think I have ever disliked a video on youtube...I simply stop watching it.
It's Oliver bloody Cromwell he's referring to. The ultimate fat controller. It would be nice if people learnt (calm down - English spelling) -history before spouting off. They could look up sardonic while they are at it. If that's too hard - the expression "taking the piss" would do.
Actually it's others that have suggested the title refers to Oliver Cromwell thought I have to agree. Elvis himself said that going to Belfast in 1978 "inspired" him to write the song.
BTW...loved the..calm down english spelling bit...lol Grammar nazi's do get old don't they...lol
Funny, I'm a yank and knew it was the English Spelling...
@guitarslinger48 Eek - I am a grammar Nazi (blush). Came to the convo late so didn't notice the previous references to Ollie. Think I reacted (perhaps over reacted) to the thinly veiled race focus in the thread. Mind you, just got miffed with a vegan calling everybody animal abusers yet she owns a cat. A finely honed killer. maybe I should just have a nice glass of wine and chill out......
@ScotsLyon So let me get this straight... Its a moronic thing for an individual to dislike something that doesn't appeal to the individual in any way while its OK for you to dislike them for it?
@101Volts I'll set it straight for you, the moronic thing to do is chose to watch something on YT that you don't like, with the vast amount of stuff on here why don't they just look up something that does appeal to them.
In answer to your question yes i don't like them for it coz its just plain stupid,
@ScotsLyon I see where you're going with this. And in response to that, What can I say - Some people try to give something a chance but still can't like it. And although I rarely use the video suggestion bar on the main page I'm sure a few do and if they don't like something perhaps using the dislike bar stops related videos from popping up?
No one... NO ONE ... has the right to not be offended. See that little button over on the right? No, the other one. Yes, that one. Feeling a bit miffed or peeved? Push that button and the evil goes away. It's just that simple. Sheesh...
No on... NO ONE ... has the right to not be offended. See that little button over on the right? No, the other one. Yes, that one. Feeling a bit miffed or peeved? Push that button and the evil goes away. It's just that simple. Sheesh...
cromwells had the first professionally trained army...called the new model army, white niggers referring to northern irish, lol considering were part of great britain. great song though..murder mile where most people were killed in belfast. check out my vids please..especially alternative ulster..
cromwells had the first professionally trained army...called the new model army, white niggers referring to northern irish, lol considering were part of great britain. great song though..murder mile where most people were killed in belfast.
cromwells had the first professionally trained army...called the new model army, white niggers referring to northern irish, lol considering were part of great britain. great song though..
cromwells had the first professionally trained army...called the new model army, white niggers referring to northern irish, lol considering were part of great britain.
thats how you make a music video though you lip sync back in the day the technology wasnt so great so i doubt they could really get the timing right...plus it adds something to the video at least for me
I used to sing it about Oliver North!
SweetSweetWaldo 2 weeks ago
Watching the Detectives got me interested in EC, Oliver's Army got me hooked.
musoshi 2 weeks ago
look up in the sky, see oliver's army yet? the closer they get the more obvious they become, but you still have to at least look up...and even that's almost too much to ask a society of people that are usually in buildings or cars and too distracted by the business of what's on the ground
ziggyziggybridge 2 weeks ago
Sounds like the Zephyr Song.
MrKungfucarrot123 3 weeks ago
@MrKungfucarrot123 Zephyr Song sounds like Oliver's Army.
Eleutherarch 1 week ago
Well. To you wiki readers it means one thing, to those of us their in 79 as mods or rockers it was something to each and his own, Now i have spent the last part of my life in Asia opening up my own horizons. Those were inspiring days! Suck on that Bieber Baby!!
ancell711 1 month ago
They ought to do a pastiche of this in Horrible Histories about Cromwell!
MultiBelle22 1 month ago
the piano sounds very ABBA!
bourlivak88 1 month ago
It's surely about mercenaries. "If you're out of luck or out of work, we can send you to Johannesburg." South Africa was the centre of mercenary outfits back in the 70s and 80s.
geoff2204 1 month ago
You're absolutely right, man!!!
NEWAVERS 1 month ago
best song ever made
sidecrusher 2 months ago
g8 song
MsFanmail 2 months ago
@highschoolmusical841 Oh thank you so much!
mrwells111 2 months ago
The song is about Elvis' first trip to Belfast, Ireland. The murder mile is a strip of road in which the Protestant paramilitary captured Catholics. Check point Charlie is the barricade check points that he passed through. One more widow, one less white nigger, is in reference to the Irish, who are less than human to the Imperial Brit Shits. Careers information.... took the poor kids of England, and put them to war. Elvis was shocked to see young boys with automatic weapons in N.Ireland
lvosmik 2 months ago 2
its about england in 20th century trouble spots
2815andy 2 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
This is a great song but if you like this you may like to search:
THE VINYLS-GET IT OUT OF YOUR HEAD
It'll only take 3mins and this band are AMAZING!
JonnyMcCraine22 2 months ago
"one less white nigger" refers to Lawrence of Arabia ... The first wigger
alphasnerd 3 months ago
4ckin irish winging as usual!!!
mrwells111 3 months ago
Bob on. One of my faves.
mopbrush1 3 months ago
Class!
jibeson 3 months ago
@jibeson: You name it, class - just class !
MrSKINFLICK 2 months ago
Oh No He Didn't!!! LOL!!!
lazyassbum 3 months ago
"White nigger" is referring to the greek cypriots, the ethnic greek population of Cyprus! It was origionally a racial slur the english used to insult the Irish in the 1800's. The song itself is about English youth joining the army during the 1950s due to unemployment.
77jasonw 3 months ago
call careers information
Jemmer1000 3 months ago
One of his best tunes.
ZLUGGO 3 months ago
The cromwell reference is correct its about sending a well educated but useless and ignorant dickhead overseas as a rep of the govt as the regions mentioned are considered to be of no importance
kathrine5678 3 months ago
@kathrine5678
or, in short, he is essentially calling Oliver Cromwell a massive cock who persecuted anyone unfortunate enough to get on his bad side.
sc0tt10 3 months ago
Great song :)
CrusaderBeach 3 months ago
People get upset about the word nigger and right away scream racist. Understand the meaning of the song before coming to any ignorant conclusions. "Niggers" come in all colors.
pucksterz12 3 months ago
I always took it to be about the British army's long tradition of sending Irish soldiers across the globe to die for the glory of England. Costello's family was Irish. Oliver's Army is a reference to Oliver Cromwell, who subjugated Ireland in the 17th century and confiscated large amounts of land. Despite the Irish resentment of the English and the fact that they were treated like dirt and called "white niggers", many Irish were poor and the army was the only opportunity open to them.
BlonkyLaRue 4 months ago 23
Comment removed
littleXjack 3 months ago
thats not quite exactly it, but thank you for being so highly informed. Many Irish soldiers were volunteers aswell as being drafted, e.g WW1 WW11but there wouldn't have been any Catholic Irish in the Cromwellian army . In the U.k people aren't taught of that side of Cromwell, he wasn't just part of the plantations, Cromwell also massacred 100'000s of Irish. The irish were what you might call the original "nigger" so that term doesn't really describe it well, lol. We were also sent as slaves,
littleXjack 3 months ago
@littleXjack -- Thanks, I see what you're saying. To clarify: when I spoke of Irish soldiers in the British Army, I wasn't referring to the actual Cromwellian army, just the British Army of the 19th and 20th centuries (and I guess the 21st c. now too). By talking about the British Army as "Oliver's Army", I think Costello is using a metaphor, referencing a long standing resentment about Cromwell/England and saying, "look, it's 1978, Irish lads are getting killed for English profit, wtf?"
BlonkyLaRue 3 months ago
@BlonkyLaRue well they were also receiving the queen's shilling pffft. I remember reading a quote somewhere that said every major war in history was fought with irish on both sides. Irish soldiers are great mercenaries I suppose, probably got that from the vikings. Irish weren't drafted into the british army during the 1900, just volunteered but it was the only option for most considering the poverty of Ireland. The more I listen to the song the more relevant this interpretation becomes
littleXjack 3 months ago
@BlonkyLaRue Have you seen Michaels last video.Check Philcoool to view you maybe amazed.
philcoool 2 months ago
@BlonkyLaRue Actually seems more general. Join the army lads cause the brits are the best and our attitude will beat all! Interferance from our diplomats. Of course to really understand you need to be there at his time. To me it feels like sarcasm cause the BE was gone.
mrwells111 2 months ago
@BlonkyLaRue Costello's song is a general anti-military statement, it's main target is the fact that the only real option that the unemployed have is to join the army (British unemployment figures were at an all-time high when he wrote the song in the early '80s). It doesn''t have anything particular to do with Cromwell, other than the title!
TraceyMariexx 2 months ago 3
@TraceyMariexx: Agreed. See my comment to littleXjack from a month ago. @highschoolmusical841: um... I'm with you on Cromwell being a horrible guy, but you lost me when you started talking about balsamic vinegar (WTF??).
BlonkyLaRue 2 months ago
@BlonkyLaRue If it's about Ollie Cromwell - why does he mention Churchill? They never existed in the same time line!
MultiBelle22 1 month ago
@MultiBelle22 Oliver's Army does refer to Oliver Cromwell, because he created the "New Model Army" which paved the way for the modern British Army. Also, @BlonkyLaRue, it's not just about the Irish as it mentions the boys from "the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne".
dbkerr88 1 month ago
@dbkerr88 Yes, but I'm saying why mention Churchill when they weren't around at the same time?
MultiBelle22 1 month ago
@MultiBelle22 Oliver Cromwell because he was the one that started the modern army, and Churchill because he was prime minister during the second world war, when a lot of our men went abroad to fight.
dbkerr88 1 month ago
@BlonkyLaRue That may be mostly accurate. Although they certainly didn't have the term "nigger" in 17th century England.
AceSkepTik 1 month ago
@BlonkyLaRue The song is about the fact that it's always working class boys on the frontline doing the dying. Hence the line 'With the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne'
sqrooloose 1 month ago 5
@sqrooloose Wow. You know, I bought Armed Forces on LP in 1989, I've listened to this song hundreds of times since then, and I always thought the line was "boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the TIMES"-- as in the London Times or New York Times, i.e. journalists embedded with the troops. Ha! I learn something new every day...
BlonkyLaRue 4 weeks ago
@BlonkyLaRue why does it say the tyne
judgedreed2000ad 2 weeks ago
@BlonkyLaRue Glory and all the best to the brillant IRELAND!
I´m portuguese/brazilian, and living in Ireland. I love this country.
And I like to know that above all circunstances, they "kicked" the queen´s ass and all this bullshit about UK.
CHEERS!
;)
blablablablasable 1 week ago
@BlonkyLaRue how come u start out saying British then refer to the English...the Scots were persecuted along with the Irish
susansmith44 4 days ago
@susansmith44 True. I added some clarification in a response to littleXjack a few months ago. I've heard a saying: the British empire was won by the Irish and administered by the Scots & Welsh for the profit of the English. I think that's the idea here: it's the poor of the "United Kingdom" (Irish, Scots, Welsh, and English too, plus others) on the front lines, but the old English order has always been at the top of the imperial/military food chain, so to speak.
BlonkyLaRue 4 days ago
He's talking about the English involvement in war during specific historical periods...Oliver's Army is the means Oliver Cromwell overthrew the English Monarchy.. other times he mentions other wars from history, china, south africa, palestine... sort of sarcastic statements about how those in power use the little guy to get the dirty work done.... At least that's my interpretation.
curiousdebois 4 months ago
There is an element of hyperbole in my five-month old comment up there, I should probably say...
stejhour 4 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
If you like this song then we probably have the same taste in music. I’m an independent artist and my band – the good fats - just completed our first album. I’m pretty sure there’s a way to take songs off youtube and put them on a....what are those things called...iPods?!?!?!! So ya have listen, let me know what you think, tell your friends or anyone else and I hope you enjoy...
thegoodfats 4 months ago
Great!
fbooth100 4 months ago
One of the best provocative, political songs! A piece of art!
It´s all about the poor working class making a living! As a tool for the British Empire!
GRiDLoK2008 4 months ago
Elvis getting some serious Aloha!
cowperson37 4 months ago
Our colours are Pink, Gold and Gray!
cowperson37 4 months ago
thats it costello 1 less nigga = no niggas!!!!!!!! olivers army wot a context pure talent
2701soulassassin 4 months ago
He looks like Charlie Adam!!
Bobster1996 4 months ago
I never knew Elvis Presley looked liked that ????
JEM4JS 5 months ago
@JEM4JS he did
gerrard808 4 months ago
@JEM4JS obvious troll is obvious
ninjaclone09 4 months ago
sabian que el fragmento de piano que se escucha es de dancing queen de abba
donivans 5 months ago
15 people would rather be anywhere else than here today.
iw32 5 months ago 2
are his teeth really like that???
Msjackiejackie123 5 months ago
Shame the end was cut of.
thegeezerdan 5 months ago
1:25 lol
glimmer2158 5 months ago
i love this song and my mum :)
unitedben14 5 months ago
Just to lighten the mood, thanks to all the ignoramus's (?) All of the zombies are on their way??????? :O
schoey100 5 months ago
please! it's a song about mercenaries! LISTEN! do you get pissed at Roland the thompson gunner by Zevon? Yea, Elvis is a racist and i'm a unicorn. lighten up and enjoy, or i'll hunt you down and make you listen to Wham!!!
viper877 5 months ago
Comment removed
bettyfelon1 5 months ago
Leaving aside any controversy about this song's lyrics, Elvis Costello was outed long ago as someone who likes to throw around The N-Word, when in a conversation with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlett he dismissed two of his musical superiors as respectively a "jive-ass nigger [James Brown]" and a "blind, ignorant nigger [Ray Charles]."
773SleepyHollow 5 months ago
did someone seriously claim this was racist? Can't you tell the difference between a racist song and a song about racism?
lamuella 5 months ago
That bass player is hired! Don't you think so?
X0TangoX0 5 months ago
It used to make my Dad mad as hell. "He's never been on the Murder Mile!". God I miss him, and Elvis.
zilvafish 5 months ago
Comment removed
ThatCrazyDotty 6 months ago
Olivers Army? Cromwell????
Fezzer5050 6 months ago
Comment removed
BloomfieldsGuitar 6 months ago 15
@BloomfieldsGuitar I wonder if you ever searched the meaning of this song on wikipedia
vinice0 3 months ago
@BloomfieldsGuitar its not about racism its about imperalism , do your homework
relco72 3 months ago 17
@relco72 please explain?
allgoonersaregay 2 months ago
@relco72
shanelilyrory 3 weeks ago
@BloomfieldsGuitar How is it about racism?
If anything it's about British Imperialism and sending off working class men to die in needless foreign conflicts.
rcwells27 3 months ago
it's a really cool song with a great beat,thats all,it makes youwant tojump up and dance so why the fuss
TheAnitamul 6 months ago
Racist or no, still a brilliant song. Everyone should just enjoy the music
BTysall 6 months ago
London is full of apps 1:34 hahahahaaaa
Wernerandreasli 6 months ago
I hate when they speed up a song so that its pitch is too high (sharp). VH1 & MTV did this a lot.
mjstillman 6 months ago
Great rockin song.
wolfsblood07 6 months ago
Cromwell was worse than Hitler.
glimmer2158 6 months ago
@glimmer2158 Nonsense, his crimes in Ireland are a matter of record - but then he was no different in the 1600s to most English who sadly viewed the Irish as less than human - but worse than Hitler? Do you actually read history?
TimRenouxBowler 5 months ago
Not stop war . WAR is BIG business.
bmgfl 6 months ago
THIS IS NOT A RACSIT SONG!!!!!!! He's a lyricist making a social comment.
omygodiducthat 6 months ago 4
They might not like it because it's supposed to be about Oliver Cromwell?
gamecritter 6 months ago
If ANYONE thinks this is a racist song ...YOU are racist. Listen with your ears not your prejudice.
bullasbullas 6 months ago 52
@bullasbullas Thank you!
Warriorqueen107 5 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I had to dislike this song because it was racist. I enjoyed listening to it, but I will not endorse racism.
Matthew2400 6 months ago
@Matthew2400
Er.... listen properly. It is doing exactly the opposite. It is slagging off imperial racism. Oliver Cromwell set up the first national English army and called it the New Model Army. The title refers to that. The lyrics list places the British Army were at the time or had been previously involved in, from Palestine to Belfast, and criticises it for offering men a 'professional career'. Then it quite clearly goes on to say 'I would rather be anywhere else than here today'.
lontok11 6 months ago
@Matthew2400 dude, "white nigger" is British slang for an irish person. Dont be so damn ignorant PLEASE
XClearXTearsX 6 months ago
@XClearXTearsX Never once have I heard that, you're talking shit.
sheeshkebab1711 6 months ago
@sheeshkebab1711 I'm not. go look it up.
XClearXTearsX 6 months ago
@XClearXTearsX No-one says that about Irish people, you clown.
sheeshkebab1711 6 months ago
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@sheeshkebab1711 okay. whatever. go ahead and live your life being ignorant.
XClearXTearsX 6 months ago
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t00117598 6 months ago
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@sheeshkebab1711 im irish and i know a thing or two about our history... we weren't called white niggers but "the niggers of europe". however it was a retroactive title given to us looking back at the way we were treated throughout the last thousand years and was never really widespread. i dont think it was ever a common thing to say among the general public of any country.
t00117598 6 months ago
@sheeshkebab1711 on a bit more research apparently many people have said we were called white niggers at various times, but i cant find a primary or even a credible secondary source to back it up just people saying it happened. so i dont know, maybe.
t00117598 6 months ago
@t00117598 If people said it, it must be true!
sheeshkebab1711 6 months ago
@XClearXTearsX No it isn't. It means white person that empathises with black people & fights colonial oppression.
imangrynow 6 months ago
@imangrynow Wrong. It's a racist term used to refer to Irish immigrants who like black people were viewed as inferior when they first flocked to Britain in the 19th century. I remember studying this.
MrMurky28 6 months ago
@imangrynow
Consider the context of the song, it's about the North Ireland Troubles, which Elvis saw first hand on a visit to Northern Ireland.
feckingtediousgoogl 6 months ago
@Matthew2400 You need to really listen to the song - it's not racist - as many others have pointed out - it is a critique of racism and militarism.....
TimRenouxBowler 5 months ago
Re: "White nigger"--the context of the song makes it clear that it refers to a low status white, someone manipulated by economic need to fight--and die--for the interests of others.
The metaphor is clear, historical context notwithstanding.
jsj909 6 months ago 4
@jsj909 It might refer to the Irish Catholics as well. Either way the song is clearly not using it in a derogatory fashion.
ifeeltiredsleepy 6 months ago
Quite good track but doesn't compere to "Pump it Up" for a really classic , great beat!
MikeMuk1 7 months ago
White nigger is a term that racists used to describe a white person sympathetic to blacks
Dadelus 7 months ago
My thoughts as well Stejhour
Dogging1 7 months ago
one on the all time classics!!
ghumanharj 7 months ago
kinda reminds me of some of the Fox Fagan stuff.
muzikdan1 7 months ago 4
@sharkycwb hahahahahahahahahaha
JanusThe1st 7 months ago
i would like to hear Rancid covering this song
sharkycwb 7 months ago
Further, in Australia the Irish were not considered 'white' and had to fight to not be excluded under the White Australia Act of 1901. White Nigger is and always was an English term for the Irish who also described them as 'monkeys' 'apes' and 'sub humans'. The victors always have the benefit of re-writing history and the way it is taught. Oh and by the way I am an anthropologist, an Australian and what I have written is the truth and by the way I am very, very proud of my Yorkshire heritage
franny1765 7 months ago 3
Putting an end to all this talk about white niggers. I first came across the term when doing research a few years ago, it was in an article written in 1895 and published in the British Journal of Anthropology. Evidently the term had been in circulation among occupying forces for some time by then. I also know several members of the British miltiary who have never heard the term with some of them serving time in Northern Ireland.
franny1765 7 months ago
That's not proof. I"m a born and raised NYC Italian. NYC is the place where the majority of Irish immigrants settled here in the US. I can tell you with 100% certainty. That I have NEVER heard the term "white nigger" refer to an Irish person. And. I have heard lots of ugly racial slangs. Hell. At that time, half the NYPD were Irish. The only derogatory slang I have heard, referring to an Irish person, s "MIC". So. You're wrong on this.. This is UK all the way.
thenewmexican64 7 months ago
Hey Staceylover, you're joking right. We here in the good old USofA are guilty of a lot of things. But. Not this one that you're implying.
Are you suggesting that a young British song writer in the later 70's, that is penning a song about the unfortunate war between the Irish IRA, and the British army, would borrow a phrase from the good old USoA to include in a song.
Short answer. NO.. This phrase was coined by the good ol people of the UK. WHERE IS YOUR PROOF ?
thenewmexican64 7 months ago
@thenewmexican64
I'm half Irish, my wifes IS Irish. I've served 15 years in the British Army 2 of which were spent in Belfast.
and NEVER have I, my wife, or either of our families or work collegues ever heard of the expresion "white nigger".
Quite why Mr Costello used the phrase in his song i have no Idea, but as he's way bigger in the states than the UK that might explain it.
staceylover77 7 months ago
"White Nigger" is how the British soldiers referred to the Irish soldiers
thenewmexican64 7 months ago 2
@thenewmexican64
The British Army never has and never will refer to Irish "Soldiers" (I assume you mean the terrorists) as "white niggers". The term comes from the good old USofA, describing how poor Irish labourers would work for the same low wage, sometimes less, than their black conterparts.
staceylover77 7 months ago
Hey SALFORDSUM, or whatever.
The Oliver, EC is referring to in the song, was Oliver Cromwell. You imbecile.
thenewmexican64 7 months ago
@thenewmexican64
Hello Mr Texan I had no idea that this song was about Oliver Cromwell so thanks for pointing that out - I suppose one of us has made themselves look pretty stupid on here
SALFORDSCUM 7 months ago
@thenewmexican64 LMAO
DougM63 7 months ago
why didnt he say "white nigger"
CounterThreat 7 months ago
Did he say 'White Nigger'?
themooddisorders 7 months ago
one of elvis' best,mine favorite too.......
auggdogrules 8 months ago
I'm dancing and I'm white....but it's VERY good.
BewareTheBeast 8 months ago
I have always loved this great song since it was first released in 1979 when I was 14 years old. I know the song was written and recorded in 1978, but not released until 1979.
Davewise1965 8 months ago
White nigger.
apcreed 8 months ago
This is a beautiful song! It even makes my lead feet start moving.
geiramk 8 months ago in playlist 80s Stuff (more or less... Give or take a decade or so...)
oliver cromwell you dick
smncowardyahoo 8 months ago
Whenever I see the Army recruiters at my school I want to sing this song. Very loudly. Playing my guitar. Right next to them.
toolongforyoutoread6 9 months ago 2
What is this song talk about ?
MrJeepsters 9 months ago
@MrJeepsters It was written in the late 1970s in response to the British military intervention in Northern Ireland. Its meaning is quite complex but 'Oliver's Army' refers to the occupation of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army in the 1640s and 50s. More generally, however, it was a protest against the militarism, neo-imperialism and bigotry of the period, hence the references to Palestine and Johannesburg.
thomaswakley1823 9 months ago 2
@thomaswakley1823 Quite possibly, but I agree more with chymist66 at the top there. 'neo-imperialism' eh? WTF is that? EC is quoted on wpedia as saying, 'The song was based on the premise that 'they always get a working class boy to do the killing'.
johnny2o2o 8 months ago
@thomaswakley1823 I was about to explain the background to the song before I came across your comment.Thank you. Well done.
montpelier42d 7 months ago
Why have nine people disliked this? You'd have to be a fucking lobotomy patient to actively dislike this song. Not just not enjoy the song, but go out of your way to hit the dislike button. Morons
stejhour 9 months ago 60
@stejhour They probably don't understand this song 'cause he's not rapping about urban gangs, dance clubs, & slutty women.
MishuTaste 6 months ago
@stejhour to hit the 'dislike' button, all it takes is one itchy trigger (finger), and...voilà! one more widow, one less white n!gger.
stooge81 6 months ago
"Do you covet racism?" HAHAHAHA
ARCHANGEL4900 6 months ago
@stejhour
True... so very true.
lukequixotesanjose 6 months ago
@stejhour That bugs the shit out of me. When I dislike a song on youtube...I tend to just hit the back button. I don't think I have ever disliked a video on youtube...I simply stop watching it.
ProudAtheist90 6 months ago
@stejhour
It's Oliver bloody Cromwell he's referring to. The ultimate fat controller. It would be nice if people learnt (calm down - English spelling) -history before spouting off. They could look up sardonic while they are at it. If that's too hard - the expression "taking the piss" would do.
harrisroyal 5 months ago
@harrisroyal
Actually it's others that have suggested the title refers to Oliver Cromwell thought I have to agree. Elvis himself said that going to Belfast in 1978 "inspired" him to write the song.
BTW...loved the..calm down english spelling bit...lol Grammar nazi's do get old don't they...lol
Funny, I'm a yank and knew it was the English Spelling...
guitarslinger48 5 months ago
@guitarslinger48 Eek - I am a grammar Nazi (blush). Came to the convo late so didn't notice the previous references to Ollie. Think I reacted (perhaps over reacted) to the thinly veiled race focus in the thread. Mind you, just got miffed with a vegan calling everybody animal abusers yet she owns a cat. A finely honed killer. maybe I should just have a nice glass of wine and chill out......
harrisroyal 5 months ago
@stejhour Totally agree only fucking morons would do this.
sad cunts
ScotsLyon 4 months ago
@ScotsLyon So let me get this straight... Its a moronic thing for an individual to dislike something that doesn't appeal to the individual in any way while its OK for you to dislike them for it?
You sure that's not the least bit hypocritical?
101Volts 4 months ago
@101Volts I'll set it straight for you, the moronic thing to do is chose to watch something on YT that you don't like, with the vast amount of stuff on here why don't they just look up something that does appeal to them.
In answer to your question yes i don't like them for it coz its just plain stupid,
ScotsLyon 4 months ago
@ScotsLyon I see where you're going with this. And in response to that, What can I say - Some people try to give something a chance but still can't like it. And although I rarely use the video suggestion bar on the main page I'm sure a few do and if they don't like something perhaps using the dislike bar stops related videos from popping up?
101Volts 4 months ago
@stejhour i think there disliking the vid not the song. the song is a classic but this video is complete crap
Grazmataz37 4 months ago
coooool
SuperNikkirose 9 months ago
Gotta love the ABBA riffin' on the keyboard there... Great song!
jensj2 9 months ago
Its a shame it doesn't have more views.
LeeRoy5804 9 months ago
Great song, but bear in mind this was written before Costello even knew about Dumbledores Army
MrNickmooremusics 9 months ago
Best song - worst video contender and absolutelty brilliant for that, I love both!!!
MACHAWK123 9 months ago
My Army :)
TheOllie2009 9 months ago
I love the way he runs along the beach ! funny !
Brilliant song by the way !
karatefella 9 months ago
Great song, me dad got the vinyl down from the loft. Any one offended with White nigger.
samhep01 9 months ago
@samhep01
67squat 9 months ago
@samhep01 white niggers are what they used to call the irish
67squat 9 months ago
Why filmed at a beach?
babybear1026 10 months ago
when i was born my parents gave me and my sisters songs, this was my song
oliverstack 10 months ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
No one... NO ONE ... has the right to not be offended. See that little button over on the right? No, the other one. Yes, that one. Feeling a bit miffed or peeved? Push that button and the evil goes away. It's just that simple. Sheesh...
Weaselboy77 10 months ago
No on... NO ONE ... has the right to not be offended. See that little button over on the right? No, the other one. Yes, that one. Feeling a bit miffed or peeved? Push that button and the evil goes away. It's just that simple. Sheesh...
Weaselboy77 10 months ago
cromwells had the first professionally trained army...called the new model army, white niggers referring to northern irish, lol considering were part of great britain. great song though..murder mile where most people were killed in belfast. check out my vids please..especially alternative ulster..
eddboy1 10 months ago
cromwells had the first professionally trained army...called the new model army, white niggers referring to northern irish, lol considering were part of great britain. great song though..murder mile where most people were killed in belfast.
eddboy1 10 months ago
cromwells had the first professionally trained army...called the new model army, white niggers referring to northern irish, lol considering were part of great britain. great song though..
eddboy1 10 months ago
cromwells had the first professionally trained army...called the new model army, white niggers referring to northern irish, lol considering were part of great britain.
eddboy1 10 months ago
Elvis Costello is the man, seriously. I can't think of a time where I don't have an album of his in the rotation
viewtifuljoe99 10 months ago
Great song; this guy is refreshingly different, ain't it great!
mcarman150 10 months ago
Great song; this guy is refreshingly different, ain't it great!
mcarman150 10 months ago
hes abviously lipsinkin
zachsqared 10 months ago
@zachsqared obviously
thats how you make a music video though you lip sync back in the day the technology wasnt so great so i doubt they could really get the timing right...plus it adds something to the video at least for me