Broke As Folk: A Singalong for the Peasants?

Music Blog note: Prompted by me; drafted by Duke.

Every so often a song shows up that sounds like it was written about this week. Every week. Kula Shaker’s “Broke As Folk” is that song. It’s a woozy, Doors-flavored singalong, soaked in Hammond organ, for everybody who didn’t get invited to the billionaire’s wedding. Crispian Mills says it’s for anyone “who isn’t part of the 1%,” and that being broke “isn’t just about money, it’s a condition of the soul.” Amen, brother.

The video is gonzo in the best way. Mills wanders the Cornwall cliffs in vintage military gear, bloodied and windblown, like an officer who got lost on the way home from a war nobody remembers starting. Cut in between is what looks like old War and Peace footage, with columns of Napoleonic soldiers marching off into the smoke. By the end he’s planting a red flag on a rock while a ship sails off without him. Some fans see Napoleon in exile. I see a guy who just got the bill.

“Now the king has lost his crown… they are turning up the heat on all the people in the street.” Look across France and the rest of Europe and you can watch that lyric play out live. People are back in the streets over prices, taxes and leaders who stopped listening. Most of them march, chant and go home. A few smash windows and set fires, and they hand the folks in charge the perfect excuse to change the subject. Peaceful protest is a right. Rioting is a gift to the people you’re protesting.

My favorite line: “My mama gave her money to the thief / That’s 94% of everything / That’s all those years of working for the Mouse.” Mills’ mom is Hayley Mills, the Disney star of Pollyanna and The Parent Trap, who famously lost most of her childhood earnings to the British taxman. Mills hasn’t spelled it out, but it seems to point right there. Take from this desk: when the government takes nine out of every ten bucks, you’re allowed to say “thief” in a song.

Then there’s “Hollywood is CIA, they tell me.” Note the “they tell me.” Wink received.

But the heart of the song is the bridge. Sunlight in the trees, buzzing bees, kids running free, “God’s love shining down,” and suddenly he’s “the richest man alive.” That’s the one thing the overlords can’t tax. Crowns come and go. The bees don’t care.

Broke as folk? Sure. Poor? Not even close. Sing along.

About The Author

Blake Walley

Blake Walley is a writer, reporter and producer. An idealist and truth-seeker obsessed with the future. A new media trailblazer and outside-the box-thinker. Former Las Vegas bartender influenced by Gonzo journalism. Inspired, eccentric, and always up for a challenge. Blake has been making waves for over 10 years with his original analysis and creative style.

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