Protest Songs is the fourth album by English pop band Prefab Sprout

Prefab Sprout

Prefab Sprout are an alternative English pop rock band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham, England who rose to fame during the 1980s. Eight of their albums have reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, and one of their singles, "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", peaked at number seven in the UK...

 (though the third recorded). It was recorded in 1985, but was not released until 1989; it's not clear whether, at the time of recording, the band had intended it as the main follow-up to their breakthrough album Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen (album)

Steve McQueen is the second album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released in June 1985. It was released in the United States as Two Wheels Good due to a legal conflict with the estate of American actor Steve McQueen...

, released earlier in 1985. The back cover of Protest Songs positions the album as a stage in their musical evolution, offering a middle ground between the sound and songwriting of Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen (album)

Steve McQueen is the second album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released in June 1985. It was released in the United States as Two Wheels Good due to a legal conflict with the estate of American actor Steve McQueen...

and that of From Langley Park to Memphis. The album's promotion was low-key and no singles were released from it at the time (though "Life of Surprises" was issued as a single three years later to promote the group's greatest hits album

A Life of Surprises

A Life of Surprises is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Paul Cornell, featuring Bernice Summerfield, a character from the spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Stories:...

).

Critic Jason Ankeny wrote of Protest Songs: "It's a wonderful record, but perhaps too close in sound and spirit to Steve McQueen for comfort..." [])

Themes

Some of the songs relate lyrically to nostalgia and change in 1980s England, a sphere central to McAloon's songwriting before and since, and often with subdued, ironic twists. Till The Cows Come Home appears to contrast old and new English values, while Diana looks at the stardom of Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...

, then at its peak, and makes some pointed near-predictions about the fate of her marriage and about her relationship to the media. Many of the lyrics sketch tales of love, jealousy and betrayal.

The ballad Dublin questions the use of old historical myths for violent ends by the IRA

Ira

IRA most commonly refers to:*Irish Republican Army, which has existed in various forms since 1916**List of organisations known as the Irish Republican Army**Provisional Irish Republican Army...

 and its supporters.

Protest Songs closes with Pearly Gates, a long song about human mortality--a recurring theme in Paddy McAloon

Paddy McAloon

Paddy McAloon is an English singer-songwriter and member of the band Prefab Sprout. Allmusic describes him as "one of the most underrated lyricists of the '80s".-Career:...

's songwriting.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Paddy McAloon

1. "The World Awake"
2. "Life of Surprises"
3. "Horse Chimes"
4. "Wicked Things"
5. "Dublin"
6. "Tiffanys"
7. "Diana"
8. "Talkin' Scarlet"
9. "Till the Cows Come Home"
10. "Pearly Gates"