Paul Weller, David Cameron and the debate over his favourite song by The Jam
The iconic frontman of The Jam, Paul Weller, single-handedly revived mod culture and left an indelible mark on Britain’s transient punk era. From 1977 to ’82, the fashion-conscious Modfather led The Jam to the heights of popularity, producing six studio albums that deftly blended punk with his distinctive style. Surprisingly, Weller boldly decided to disband his formative group at the tender age of 24, following the arrival of their sixth and final studio album, The Gift.
In October 1979, The Jam released ‘The Eton Rifles’ as the only single taken from their imminent fourth studio album, Setting Sons. The track became a huge hit for the band, scoring their first top ten charting position. Evidently, the song struck a chord with the oppressed masses who enjoyed Weller’s satirical portrayal of the haughty elite taught at Eton.
Perhaps less evidently, the single was a huge hit among the elite that it sought to poke fun at. In May 2008, then Prime Minister David Cameron was featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme The Jam Generation, declaring his love for Weller’s formative band and picked out ‘The Eton Rifles’ as one of his favourite songs of all time.
“I was one, in the corps. It meant a lot, some of those early Jam albums we used to listen to,” the Eton alumnus said. “I don’t see why the left should be the only ones allowed to listen to protest songs.”
In reaction to the feature, Weller, who has frequently criticised the Conservative party in the press, told the New Statesman: “It wasn’t intended as a fucking jolly drinking song for the cadet corps.”
“The whole thing with Cameron saying it was one of his favourite songs… I just think, ‘Which bit didn’t you get?'” Weller added in a conversation with Mojo shortly after. “People say, ‘Why don’t you write any more political songs?’ But I would just write exactly the same fucking things I wrote thirty-odd years ago.”
“Every time they fire a missile in the Middle East, that’s £850,000, right? And then they talk about the NHS, fucking selling it off or it crumbling,” he added. “So nothing’s really changed, has it?”
After Weller’s backlash in 2011, the Prime Minister, who had been an Eton student when the song arrived in 1979, was questioned on his seemingly misguided music taste. “You said the Jam’s song ‘Eton Rifles’ was important to you when you were at Eton. Paul Weller, who wrote the song, was pretty incredulous to hear this and claimed you couldn’t have understood the lyrics. What did you think that song was about at the time? Be honest,” The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis asked Cameron.
“I went to Eton in 1979, which was the time when the Jam, The Clash, the Sex Pistols were producing some amazing music, and everyone liked the song because of the title,” Cameron replied. “But of course, I understood what it was about. It was taking the mick out of people running around the cadet force. And he was poking a stick at us. But it was a great song with brilliant lyrics. I’ve always thought that if you can only like music if you agree with the political views of the person who wrote it, well, it’d be rather limiting.”
Listen to The Jam’s ‘The Eton Rifles’ below.
