A weird listening moment while walking jetlagged round Seattle, listening to “Same Old Brand New You” by A1 and realising OMG it’s about BLAIR!!!!!
Here’s proof!
I can still remember the time you were there
When I needed to hold you, feel you
Everytime I ask you to find a new way
You lie a new way
Is it gone, gone, gone, gone, gone
A neat summation of the euphoria of 1997 and the bitter disappointment of post-Iraq Blairism.
You’ll change
You’ll never change
You’re never never gonna keep your promises x 2
Contradictory messages have erased public trust.
You said you’d change
But I’m afraid
It’s something I won’t live to see
The slow pace of change in the public services has proved one of the thorniest points of the Labour campaign – how to persuade people that things are getting better in the face of tabloid smear campaigns?
It’s seems so strange
That sometimes fate
Can appear to be so real
And yet turn out to be a fantasy
The disappointment extends to Brownites who believed that their man was destined for the top job by now.
Same old line, one more time
Say you’re gonna be, there for me
Say you’ll change, change your ways
Never gonna keep your promises
The “pretty straight guys” portrayal has worn thin, perhaps even by 2001 when this nakedly political song was written.
Same old game (You know it doesn’t turn me on)
Brand new day (You’re singing that same old song)
No more lies (If you don’t wanna find me gone, gone, gone, gone, gone)
A stark ultimatum for New Labour.
Another night, another day
What can I say
You’re still the same old brand new you
The problem with “New” branding is that it can’t stay New – this as much as policy detail has been a strategic error for Labour.
You break your promises in two
What can I do
But here’s the rub – the alternatives may not be any better.
When you’re the same old brand new you
The result, alas, is apathy.