The Sound of the Working Class

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Eton Rifles // The Jam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJRmrlkYdsQ

A rallying cry for the working class protesting against a society which neglects the poor in favour of the bourgeoise, ‘Eton Rifles’ is Paul Weller’s finest statement of proletarian angst – amongst many. Whilst being a vitriolic slur aimed at the Eton college cadets (synonymous with the ‘ruling class’), its lyric also recounts a group of ‘right to work’ protesters marching through Slough and violently attacking a group of heckling Eton pupils in 1978 – a perfect parable to convey Weller’s feelings on class conflict.

His political stance lies in the alienation felt by working class people under capitalism, and how the upper classes have dominated society with their ‘look after your own’ mentality, leaving the poor to get poorer: “What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?” Its message rang hauntingly true in the years following the song’s release in 1979 – the year Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister.

Three decades later, in a bizarre and catastrophic missing of points, former Eton student and (*shudder*) current PM David Cameron cited ‘Eton Rifles’ as his favourite song, to which a baffled Weller rightly wondered “Which part didn’t he get?”

Quite.

Words by Matthew Smith

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