STEVE JOHNSON recommends that you catch an unforgettable tribute to Woody Guthrie
Where is the 21st-century protest song?
JOHN NEWSHAM draws attention to the uncompromising path of US singer/songwriter CONOR OBERST
MARJORIE MAYO recommends a punchy demonstration of the the way class politics are being fragmented by the right
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a deliciously dark thriller that explores the complex loyalties within a marriage
JOHN GREEN surveys the remarkable career of screenwriter Malcolm Hulke and the essential part played by his membership of the Communist Party
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Last Breath, Sister Midnight, Opus, and The Electric State
HENRY BELL is moved by the account of scientists under seige in Leningrad who preferred to starve rather than sacrifice their life-saving work
RUTH AYLETT recommends two anthologies: one that bears witness to refugee and immigrant experiences, and the other to our political relationship to water
IN 2005, Conor Oberst was hard to categorise. Bright Eyes, the band he led with Nate Walcott and Mike Mogis, had just released two albums on the same day: I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning, which prompted “new Dylan” comparisons, and the electronic Digital Ash In A Digital Urn. Signed only to his brother’s DIY label, and having started out recording in his bedroom, the 25-year-old had somehow just become the first artist in eight years to occupy both top spots on the Billboard charts.
Performing on NBC’s Jay Leno should have been an easy task. But Oberst used his platform to play neither one of his chart-topping singles. Instead, he appeared solo, armed with just an acoustic guitar, to play a song he had never released. What followed was one of the bluntest and most overt protest songs of the 21st century.
In the censored clip (the song was removed from YouTube and iTunes without explanation), Oberst appeared on stage wearing a cowboy hat, seeming to parody a country musician and folk protest singer, all at once. But there was no folk earnestness in the lyrics, which drew more from the lacerating anger of Masters of War than Blowin’ in the Wind:
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