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Overview |
History of CPSThe world's only Centre for Political Song was established in January 2001 and is part of Glasgow Caledonian University. The Centre assists the University in the delivery of teaching support, external research, community involvement, and in the documentation of our social, political and cultural heritage.
The original concept was conceived by Janey Buchan, a former MEP, great friend of, and benefactor to, Glasgow Caledonian University. Janey, and her late husband Norman Buchan, were lifelong collectors of political song, developing a significant personal collection which formed the basis of the original collection donated to the University. The Centre exists to promote and foster an awareness of all forms of political song and collects, conserves and disseminates material from throughout the world, across the political spectrum and from all musical genres. Our collection spans the political spectrum from the far left to the far right and contains material from almost all musical genres: popular music, punk, folk, hip hop, reggae, opera, world music and jazz. Woody Guthrie, Riot Grrrl and Verdi exist side by side. The Centre offers a programme of events including lectures, workshops, exhibitions, film screenings and performances. Previous events have included a lecture by the archetypal British protest singer Billy Bragg, performances from Tom Paxton, hero of the American folk revival and Roy Bailey, a veteran of the British folk scene. Developing a definition of ‘political song’ is at the heart of our research. However, the eclectic, dynamic and often personal nature of political song precludes the conception of a definitive definition. We regard ‘political song’ as an umbrella term, which incorporates a variety of different, and often quite disparate, strands. Essentially, the term refers to any song containing a political thread. The genre includes, for example, protest songs, campaign songs, songs providing a social commentary or supporting a historical narrative, songs of the Labour movement, traditional patriotic songs and political parodies. Political song has been an important tool throughout all ages and all cultures. Songs can be enduring and well known or ephemeral and obscure. And they need not have overtly political lyrics: some political songs are politicised by context. Political songs can serve a multitude of functions such as to sustain a campaign, express discontent, generate support, motivate, provoke, educate and mock. Reviews of CPS
Guardian review Reviews of Them And Us: Scottish Political Song at Edinburgh International Festival 2002Scotsman
review of Them And Us For World Service Favourite Political Song SeriesArticle
by the Development Officer MiscellaneousRebel songs
article on Guardian political website |
