
Originally published in ‘zine issue #31, 2005
Napalm Death went on tour for their latest album, and when they came to Virginia, vocalist and lyricist Barney Greenway agreed to sit down after the band’s set and speak about a few aspects of British and American politics, which one could say wasn’t a problem for him, as the members of Napalm Death are no strangers to taking stands on political issues. Taryn Wilkinson contributed to this interview.
To begin, the British Parliament took Prime Minister Tony Blair to task for a period in late 2004 for what they felt was Blair’s misleading the body on WMD in Iraq, the stated reasoning for the invasion and occupation.
“Yeah yeah yeah, people went fucking nuts over it,” said Barney. And that wasn’t the only issue over which Prime Minister Blair was in hot water.
“Yeah, he wanted to send more troops. That was recently. And of course, people said, ‘What the fuck are you doing? It’s already a disaster.’ It’s a funny old situation because I’m sure you’re probably aware that 90 percent––90 percent––of the British people were against, opposed, to the war. Yet still Britain sent troops to Iraq. How the fuck does that figure, you know? I mean, my god, could it be any more clear? And you know, the craziest thing is that Bush has been reelected. I didn’t see it, so I can’t quote per se, but I heard that Bush and Blair were on television … saying that they were going to clean up the Middle East. Now, what the fuck? What are you talking about?”
“People are fucking pissed, man. There are a lot of people against the war.”
Tony Blair was the first foreign dignitary to visit President Bush after the U.S. presidential election in November 2004.
“Well, Bush came over to England, and I think it’s safe to say he got a very hot reception,” recalled Barney. “I mean, people were throwing shit at him everywhere he went.” And this fed into the British discourse over Tony Blair’s handling of U.S.-British relations.
“There’s gonna be a general election I think within the next couple of years, but what they’re talking about is that they were actually trying to raise the point: should Blair still be the leader of the Labor party? ‘Cause I think what main traditional Labor members want, and I used to be one of those, they want someone that’s gonna be less subservient to Bush. Figure it this way. Blair comes from a party traditionally that comes from the left. Bush comes from a party––and Bush in particular couldn’t really be much more right, you know? We’re kinda curious as to where this kind of crossover comes, that Blair so willingly is led by the hand. It really angers a lot of people traditionally in the Labor party. People are fucking pissed, man. There are a lot of people against the war. I mean, you gotta figure, it’s not like the Democrats over here who were like, once all the smoke had cleared, like, I dunno, 85 percent of them came out in favor of the war. In England, you could reverse that figure, and 85 percent of them were fuckin’ against the war, so go figure.”
An important issue in Britain is that of the national press’ coverage of politics in its reporting, the British Broadcasting Corporation being discussed here.
“There was a BBC scandal where the BBC reported about the doctor that supposedly committed suicide. Very sinister thing,” Barney explained. “But you know what? The guy that investigated it found very little fault with the government and so it got white washed, you know what I mean? It got papered over … I’m not exactly sure how the BBC’s being run at the moment. But yeah, it seems that the very fact that the BBC was left with egg on its face after that would mean that they would be reluctant to be so ultra critical of the government again over such matters. You know how things are, man. Once you’re kinda blackballed or whatever, it’s very difficult to convince people that they should again speak for themselves.”

Barney has paid attention to the press in America as well.
“There is some good regional press over here that I’ve seen. And you know, in this sphere you get the free magazines which are always very good, you have the local culture magazines; they’re always very good. Every magazine I saw in the week of the election had anti-Bush covers and stuff like that. ‘Ten reasons why you shouldn’t vote Bush’ in fucking big letters on the inside cover. It all helps, man. Sadly, it wasn’t to be, but then a week before the election it kinda was looking that Bush was going to win.”
Napalm Death is conscious of the political climate in the areas in which they tour, and yet Barney had strong words about the new American president in between songs while the band was performing.
“You know what, man? I’ve got to say, and I’m really happy to say this, that every night––I mean, I couldn’t have made it much plainer from the stage, really, and no one heckled, man, no one said anything. Whether people are just keeping quiet––but usually people aren’t afraid to speak up. The reaction’s been really good everywhere. One guy after Dallas came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Don’t talk shit about my president.’ And I just said to him, ‘I really don’t need to talk shit about the president. He’s doing it for himself. I don’t need to enter the fucking debate.’ I said, ‘We’ll agree to disagree.’ You know, Bush has gone into his second term now, and I truly believe that people are starting to realize––it may have taken a term for them to realize––you get people coming to this gig in here tonight; do you think Bush gives a shit about them? I fucking don’t think so. He’ll take away their jobs, he’ll fuckin’ deny them basic healthcare, stuff like that. He don’t give a shit about them. He’s already proved it. I saw him on TV today. His new anti-terrorism initiatives involve cutting down on social plans and education.”
In America the population is 30 to 40 percent poor but one wouldn’t know that because of the way the government structures the tax system.
“Well exactly. And you’ve also got to think where you’ve still got increasing ghetto-ization in this country, and they kinda talk about social plans and stuff like that. They don’t want the ghettos cleaned up. Certainly the Republicans don’t, because it helps to create a division in society, where it’s almost a distraction to have this gap between haves and have fucking nothings, you know what I mean? So it’s good because they’re always going to fight against each other and it’s a great distraction for the government. They haven’t got to deal with as many people bitching at them.”
Sobering talk. To hear more of what Napalm Death has to say, look for their back catalog. Their new album, Leaders Not Followers: Part 2, is out on Century Media. Their next album on the same label will be released in April. ■
Photo: Barney Greenway (by Claire Whelpton, courtesy Century Media)




