Talk:Part of the Union

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Songs

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Organized Labour Low‑importance

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Lyrics[edit]

I changed th comment about the "real" meaning of the lyrics. It's more complex than that - they are I think deliberately ambiguous. Johncmullen1960 (talk) 06:37, 4 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There is no source for the claim that the band said it was not parodic or satiric. Lines like "when I show my card to the Scotland Yard" (i.e. the HQ of the Metropolitan Police in London) clearly imply an "I'm above the law" attitude. Moreoever, the lyrics are extremely similar to the pro-Union Woody Guthrie song Union Maid - so much so that it could be considered plagiarism - UNLESS it was parody. David Kessler 20:16, 12 November 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.84.174 (talk)

I'm surprised that there is any doubt in the matter. I remember when the song first came out, everybody assumed that it was an attack on the bloody-mindedness of the trade union movement. When I say everybody, I mean the fashionable Radio 1 disc jockeys like Fluff Freeman, Dave Lee Travis and Noel Edmonds, the unfashionable ones like Tony Blackburn, all the newspapers and all my friends. Try to remember what Britain was like back then. People were coming out on strike at the drop of a hat for 26% pay increases. I remember: I was a teenager whose job at County Hall in Northampton entitled me to every undeserved pay increase that our gallant NALGO shop stewards, with their Noddy Holder sideburns, were able to wring out of the management. Nobody, literally nobody, thought that the Strawbs were praising the unions.

Djwilms (talk) 09:13, 18 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There's nothing wrong with Noddy Holder sideburns, I'll have you know. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:37, 23 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It surprises me that anyone doubts that it is anti-union. Just listen to the lyrics. When this was composed most people were fed up with narrow-minded obstructive and destructive unionism. The reference to "read between the lines", and "some kind of superman" seems pretty conclusive. It is not "parodic or satiric" (incidentally very bad English), but satirical.Royalcourtier (talk) 11:08, 12 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Here's just one source which supports the satirical interpretation of the lyrics. As Royalcourtier says, how "Though I'm not too hard/The sight of my card/Makes me some kind of superman" makes sense in any other interpretation! —Brigade Piron (talk) 19:01, 2 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Top of the Pops[edit]

Their appearance on Top of the Pops [1] clearly shows Hudson on acoustic guitar and Lambert on bass? Was this how it was recorded? Martinevans123 (talk) 21:30, 23 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]