This was another product of having been set a theme at Stanza - in this case violence. After British tourists were gunned down by terrorists in Tunisia I wondered where the bullets had been manufactured. The bullets had only been created for one purpose and a tragic end game was the inevitable result, my childlike reasoning wagered.
The ever inspirational UK Tory Prime Minister David Cameron (he who demanded a big national conversation about seagulls!) talked in Parliament of a culture of violence, referring to the general lawlessness that followed the killing of Mark Duggan in Tottenham, North London (N.17). But wasn’t there other cultures of violence, on which DC and Co. depended for their Balance of Trade? Duggan was found to be carrying a gun - childlike mind thought ‘ah, but who had produced the gun to enable him to even have it?’ These thoughts all came together, and during the period between one Stanza meet and the next, There Ain’t No Arms Factories came to be.An early unaccompanied demo of this piece was featured on the Poetry Jukebox outside The Crescent Arts Centre Belfast in the summer of 2018 part of a
collection installed to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
I had no more finished dotting the last i, hacking out the last rough turn in the script, than the news of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris flooded the airwaves. Sure as shit - in the aftermath of the weeks that followed, I could never, would never, have written these words. My childlike brain had been truly schooled. But, back here, Mr B’s scintillating noir backdrop gets to the words in a way I had dreamed but had never been able to realise.
Until now.
lyrics
NO ARMS FACTORIES IN TOTTENHAM
Out on the streets, not too chicken to try it. Armed assassination in broad daylight Sparks off a riot.
All across the city, the fanning of the flame, The huffing, puffing politician Distributing blame.
These monsters like gargoyles, deluded fools. We beat ploughshares into swords Empowered by military schools.
A new dawn in Egypt. It’s called the Arab Spring. Hail Cameron’s business consortium
And the dealers he’ll bring.
Blessed are these peacemakers,
And among their charms
Is the fundamental right in a democracy
For protectors to bear arms.
Ballistic munitions and the weapons we’ve made Are essential components in the balance of trade. We pray for war’s end and no more into battle, But still we farm tanks and guns
Like we used to do cattle.
There’s a culture of violence involving bullet and gun, But there ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham. There’s a culture of violence involving bullet and gun
But there ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham. There ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham. There ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham.
Back in the city, around N17,
The death of Mark Duggan causes a scene. That’s one less rude boy like Johnny Too Bad,
But death still makes the people angry and sad. The rights and wrongs of ruining your home,
Or making capital from misfortune, it’s best left alone. Look and see if you can find the innocent man, The certified dealer who produced gun in hand. The cold metal, the trigger, the lead that’s within. They spell out an end, and it’s a death-headed grin. The slaughter of innocents, and the guilty too This culture of violence will have me and you. The culture of violence, its played out like a game And we pixilate it on the screen to cover our shame. One day it will be over and our race will be won, But there will still be no arms factories in Tottenham.
No arms factories in Tottenham.
There’s a culture of violence involving bullet and gun, But there ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham. There ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham. There’s a culture of violence involving bullet and gun, But there ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham. There ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham. There ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham. There ain’t no arms factories in Tottenham.
credits
from Utopia,
released February 1, 2019
Gavin Martin - Words, Martin Bell - Music
The Headstrong Mining Company is the latest incarnation of the creative partnership of Multi-Instrumentalist Martin Bell (
Ex. The Wonder Stuff) and Spoken Word Artist / Music Critic Gavin Martin (NME, Daily Mirror). The dashing pair also go under the names "Martin & Bell", as well as "Bell and the Irishman....more
Poet Douglas Kearney and composer/producer/drummer Val Jeanty link up for a a compelling LP that feels like the written word come to life. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 30, 2021
