The Eton Rifles

The Eton Rifles

Infobox Single
Name = The Eton Rifles


Artist = The Jam
from Album = Setting Sons
B-side = See Saw
Released = 3 November 1979
Format = 7" vinyl
Recorded =
Genre = Mod revival
Length =
Label = Polydor (UK)
Writer =
Producer =
Chart position = * #3 (UK Singles Chart)
Last single = When You're Young
(1979)
This single = The Eton Rifles
(1979)
Next single = Going Underground
(1980)

"The Eton Rifles" was the only single to be released from the album "Setting Sons" by The Jam. Released on 3 November 1979, it became the band's first top ten hit when it entered the United Kingdom singles chart at #3.

The song was inspired by a newspaper article that singer Paul Weller read about unemployed demonstrators on a socialist 'Right to Work' march being heckled by what he later described as "a bunch of tossers" from the prestigious Eton College. [ [http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/articles/classictracks_0307.htm CLASSIC TRACKS: The Jam 'The Eton Rifles' ] ]

Ironically, in 1997, Iago Foxton, the son of The Jam vocalist and bassist Bruce Foxton, entered Eton College as a new pupil.

The song was produced by Adam Langely, and was backed by the B-side "See Saw".

Lyrics

"The Eton Rifles" are a cadet corps of Eton College, an English public school in Berkshire. The song itself is a sarcastic homage to class war and the rivalry between boys at Eton and neighbouring working class schoolboys, as perceived in the 1970s.

The song's lyrics, in common with many Jam tracks, contain colloquial references to life in England, including:

"Sup up your beer and collect your fags,""There's a row going on down near Slough"

Literally, "drink up your beer and collect your cigarettes" - likely referring to a group of friends hurriedly leaving a pub for a street-fight, though 'fag' is also public school slang for a younger boy who acts as a servant (see Fagging).Slough is a town near to Eton. The two districts have a history of class conflict.

"What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?"

A reference to school uniform and badges, particularly the influence of the "old school tie".

"Tore down the House of Commons in your brand new shoes"

The House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, contains many public school alumni, including those of Eton.

The song recounts a street-fight in which working-class youths from Slough are defeated by the Eton Rifles. The anecdote is used as a political metaphor for well-meaning but unsuccessful rebellion against entrenched privilege.

David Cameron

In May 2008, Conservative leader and Old Etonian David Cameron named The Eton Rifles as one of his favourite songs. Cameron is reported to have said "I was one, in the corps. It meant a lot, some of those early Jam albums we used to listen to. I don't see why the left should be the only ones allowed to listen to protest songs."

Cameron's comments earned a scathing rejection from Paul Weller, who said, "Which part of it didn't he get? It wasn't intended as a fucking jolly drinking song for the cadet corps."

He added, "I think I pretty much nailed where I was at to the mast. But people come to gigs for different reasons: it isn't necessarily about what the person on stage is singing. But at the same time, you do think, 'Well, maybe this'll change their minds.'" [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music-gigs/news/article3706795.ece?service=print] [ [http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2266213,00.html David Cameron's Tories are trying to claim anti-Thatcherite rockers such as The Smiths and Paul Weller as their own | Music | The Guardian ] ]

Notes


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