Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. New England
2. The Man In The Iron Mask
3. Milkman Of Human Kindness
4. To Have And Have Not
5. A Lover Sings
6. St. Swithins Day
7. The Saturday Boy
8. Between The Wars
9. The World Turned Upside Down
10. Levi Stubbs Tears
11. Walk Away Renee
12. Greetings To The New Brunette
13. There Is Power In A Union
14. Help Save The Youth Of America
15. The Warmest Room
16. Must I Paint You A Picture
17. She's Got A New Spell
18. The Price I Pay
19. Valentines Day Is Over
20. Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards

Disc 2:

1. Sexuality
2. Cindy Of 1000 Lives
3. Moving The Goalposts
4. Tank Park Salute
5. You Woke Up My Neighbourhood
6. Accident Waiting To Happen
7. Sulk
8. Upfield
9. The Fourteenth Of February
10. Brickbat
11. The Space Race Is Over
12. The Boy Done Good
13. Ingrid Bergman
14. Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key
15. My Flying Saucer
16. All You Fascists Bound To Lose
17. NPWA
18. St. Monday
19. Somedays I See The Point
20. Take Down The Union Jack

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4327 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-06
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Must I Paint You a Picture is a generous, two-disc, 40-track survey of Bragg's career to date. The tracklisting was apparently assembled with the help of Bragg's fans, who were asked to vote for their favourites on Bragg's website, but this democratic initiative has only been taken so far: while "Little Time Bomb", for example, was a more popular choice than, say, "The Boy Done Good", the latter is included and the former isn't. It would, of course, be uncharitable to suggest that this is reflective of the authoritarian instincts that lurk inside most socialists.

At any rate, though Bragg has always been chiefly characterised as a political songwriter, his best work has always been that which deals with the politics of the personal: there are few more acute summations of the eternal failure of the male and female to make sense to each other than his "How can you lie there and think of England when you don't even know who's in the team?" Bragg's superb love songs and love-gone-wrong songs are well represented here, from the angry, naive scratchings of "The Milkman of Human Kindness" to such older, if no wiser, musings as "Moving the Goalposts" and "Sulk". Curiously, his older, politically motivated songs now feel like they've reacquired an urgency they lacked during a 1990s largely devoid of stark ideological boundaries, when they sounded rather like quaint period pieces. The so-called war on terror and the increasing discomfort about global trade both have ready made soundtracks in "Between the Wars" and "There is Power in a Union". --Andrew Mueller

CD Description
"Essential" collection from staunch left-wing punk-folk stalwart well known for his support of trade unions and anti-racist groups. Whilst none of these songs can really be calleda "hit" - except 'A New England' which was a top ten singlefor Kirsty MacColl - this presents a selection of his best tracks including 'Sexuality', 'The Saturday Boy', 'Moving The Goalposts', 'Help Save The Youth Of America', 'The World Turned Upside Down' and the vitriolic 'Take Down The Union Jack'.

Customer Reviews

Billy is the bloke
He has inspired me with his fresh approach to guitar, more so than punk....i am 41 this year....his lyrics inspired me to write better. A gem of an album.
Listen to tank park salute or his cover of walk away renee truly underrated. My favourites and in itself is the moving levi stubbs tears and greetings to the new brunette....what a title.....just wish i'd wrote it.
Billy really is the bloke!

The Definitive!
Like the Blurb in the CD says, it really is the definitive Portrait of Billy Bragg. From the earlier dark days of Thatcher and Reagan, to the similarly poor days we experienced recently, it's all there! A great collection of satire, and passion from a great Singer/Songwriter. And it's not just politics, is it! Buy it if you like any fun and passion in your music! Great entertainment and at a great price! Can't give it enough praise.

All of Bragg's best (and too much of the rest)
Like so many politically committed acts (the Pink Fairies, Edgar Broughton, The Crass), Billy Bragg is sometimes better imagined than heard. Of course, when he's good he's fabulous - Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards is one of the finest songs ever - but it really does stand out from some of this excessive collection.

Bragg made his name in the era of vinyl, and this collection is the equivalent of four vinyl albums. That's not a 'Best Of'; it's the 'Collected Works', slightly edited.

CD1 opens with another classic: New England, which is followed by a fine selection of minimalist busks. The hand of a producer would have improved some of them but they're still pretty good, from gentle personal paeans (Man In The Iron Mask) to sharp political anthems (Between The Wars).

There's nothing really wrong with any of them (except of course the unlistenable spoken-word love song 'Walk Away Renee'), but there is just too little variation to sustain a whole 60 minutes of listening.

The second CD starts with 'Sexuality', which has the hallmark of a song written to please the right-ons. And as the music grows in maturity, the naivety and awkwardness of some of the lyrics seems less forgiveable (notably 'Boy Done Good'). As he becomes more and more a member of the establishment, Bragg is less and less dangerous and so less interesting. But he can still move you with the beautiful 'Tank Park Salute' and 'Brickbat', while his versions of Woody Guthrie's unrecorded songs are among his (and Guthrie's!) best.

The real criticism here is that anyone who wants over two hours of Billy Bragg probably has it already. This should have been a single CD, because it simply goes on too long. Rather like this review.