Benefits
Making the political personal, this song outlines the life of Jim, a character who lives with his mum, supported by the benefits system. Jim though is far from idle, working his days on his allotment, cultivating flowers instead of fruit and veg. Labelled a skiver by welfare inspectors, who say he's making a 'lifestyle choice', Jim is called in for assessment and declared a cheat.
The lyric though has wider application than just the affairs of Jim; it calls into question the whole matter of what constitutes work and moreover, what constitutes useful work. In the eyes of the system, work is purely something which generates money, whether useful or not, whereas in the eyes of individuals like Jim, work is something done for creative and personal fulfillment, regardless of whether one is paid for it. (This line of debate reminds us of William Morris, who published essays such as Useful Work vs Useless Toil around 1890.)
Unusually, the story has a positive ending (of sorts), Jim winning out against the bureaucrats and returning happily to his allotment.
Before the song had been properly recorded, Leon performed it at a private show in Berkeley, California, as included on the later DVD, No Gods No Masters.
The lyric though has wider application than just the affairs of Jim; it calls into question the whole matter of what constitutes work and moreover, what constitutes useful work. In the eyes of the system, work is purely something which generates money, whether useful or not, whereas in the eyes of individuals like Jim, work is something done for creative and personal fulfillment, regardless of whether one is paid for it. (This line of debate reminds us of William Morris, who published essays such as Useful Work vs Useless Toil around 1890.)
Unusually, the story has a positive ending (of sorts), Jim winning out against the bureaucrats and returning happily to his allotment.
Before the song had been properly recorded, Leon performed it at a private show in Berkeley, California, as included on the later DVD, No Gods No Masters.
"The chorus of this song was inspired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Last October he said that it was no longer going to be a lifestyle choice to sit at home and live on benefits - like people who weren't working were just sitting there, staring!" - LR (introduction to the song on the DVD, No Gods No Masters (2014))
Recordings
Version 1 (2011) Live performance, released in 2014
Version 2 (2012)
Version 3 (2016)
Version 2 (2012)
- Celebrating Subversion Studio recording on a various artists compilation for the Anti-Capitalist Roadshow
Version 3 (2016)
- Where Are The Barricades? This version has no guitar intro