Endless spare time, the internet and a grasshopper mind leads down some strange wormholes, which is fun if you don't take it too seriously. That's a lead in to explain that I got to thinking about rousing and affecting songs that belong to groups you might not identify with. I went on youtube and listened to Elvis Presley's American Trilogy, on to a few versions of I wish I was In Dixie and then stumbled on this:
Passionate if disturbing and perhaps not new to some of you; it made me realise that the internet is not so uniquely powerful after all. Songs like this from every political perspective have been sustaining, recruiting and resonating for a very long time. Rationality doesn't play much part and the rebel spirit can take root in the Northern States and South Yorkshire.
The rebel myth is much stronger than I realised so I went looking for US Civil War casualty figures. Original reports suggested 600,000 but modern studies make it nearer 750,000 from a population of 31M. Historical events have the half life of a radioactive isotope. Anyway for me it's a part of the answer as to why divisions in the US are so much wider and implacable than over here.
Fado music was tainted by association with the fascist regime in Portugal and a big favourite was this rather wonderful song by Amalia Rodriguez. The cafe on the corner of Balmoral Road and Gillingham road sports a rather fine portrait of her.