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My Musical Poetry
NEW: This website is considerably out-of-date, since I have made very few changes since the general election, after which a coalition government between the Tories and Liberal Democrats has been formed. I have only recorded one new song since then, called "Sexuality", which I did completely improvised and unaccompanied. You can download it by clicking
here, or listen to it on my brand new SoundCloud site, which seems very good for sharing and commenting on music tracks. I will put other stuff there soon. You can also listen to a musical poem about the new foreign secretary called William Hague is Vague; you can download it in MP3 format by clicking here.
I have written dozens of songs/musical poems. It was quite a while after first setting up a band in Manchester (called Galaxia) that I became involved in a new band in Glasgow (Red Day); on returning to Manchester I did a couple more recordings with a new line-up of Galaxia and I am currently looking for new band members. In the meantime and afterwards, I recorded some musical poems (unaccompanied songs, some with spoken parts).
As an alternative to clicking on links below in order to download my musical poetry, you can visit my MySpace pages (Socialist Steve of Red Day/Galaxia contains videos of some of my musical poetry; there is music on the pages of Steve Wallis, Steven Wallis and Stephen Kim Wallis with the latter dedicated to football). You may also like to visit the MySpace pages of Galaxia and Red Day or the websites of Galaxia and Red Day. For explanations of songs I have written, including a few that I have not yet recorded versions of, go to the lyrics page of the Galaxia website. Recordings of songs can also be downloaded from that page or the lyrics pages of particular songs. Details of musical poems, in which there are also some spoken lyrics, are provided towards the bottom of this page.
I recorded my first collection of musical poetry in February/March 2007, in time for the Scottish parliamentary elections (which took place on the 3rd of May). I made two further sets of recordings in December 2007, as listed further down this page. Very importantly, I corrected what is probably my most important song, that was initially too fatalistic, in the new recording of
I had the further motivation, in making the later recordings, of publicising the supposed situation of Priya Reddy (warcry), who I believed was a political prisoner in a psychiatric institution in the United States that she has compared to Auschwitz concentration camp;
You’re A Rebel, On My Own, Fairytale of New York (which is fictional and I recorded using a karaoke CD for background music) and I Know Her Quite Well, as well as my earlier recording Belly Of The Beast in which I predicted such a predicament, are dedicated to her. She finally emailed me to say that she has never been in such a place. I have recorded new versions of the first two of those songs with Red Day, and placed new MP3 files on top of the originals to correct this false information about her.
Fast Car is based on Tracy Chapman’s song of the same name that I loathe because it reminds me of the assassination of someone I was in love with (Nathalie Monier). Note that my understanding that she was killed by two black drug dealers in Moss Side, reflected in this song that I wrote to mark the tenth anniversary of her death, was disinformation, probably by infiltrators on the side of big business to try to increase racism within the Socialist Party. They did not succeed, but the party now has an even smaller proportion of black or Asian members than it did at the time. I later discovered, from newspaper reports on the internet, that the two assassins were from leafy suburbs of Manchester, one of whom had a German surname (Schultz).
Sometimes people comment that I should get singing lessons, which I never have, and I admit to some of my singing being a bit out-of-tune. I can’t read music or identify musical notes, but my singing has improved considerably over the years, even if some of the notes I hit aren’t on the usual scales! My singing is also usually better for songs that have better lyrics, with my subconscious helping me recognise political mistakes! Additionally, many of my songs don’t scan, and when I do drumming, as I do using African drums (bongos) in the Red Day song Think Of Me, which has my most tuneful singing with the possible exception of the Galaxia song Things Can Only Get Bitter, I generally hit a drum once per syllable rather than drum out a repetitive beat; I suppose I am pioneering a different kind of music!
Different web browers treat MP3 files differently; if you are using Internet Explorer, clicking on such a file with the left mouse button should play it and clicking with the right button should display a menu that enables you to save it. MP3 files should be compatible with iPods, MP3 players (obviously) and mobile phones.
My first collection of recordings, in Windows Media Audio (WMA) and MP3 formats, is listed below (note that some of these songs are quite long and the WMA files are a bit shorter than the MP3 ones):
I wish Cath was a folk rocker (with flowers in her hair)–WMA, MP3, lyrics
My Life (part 1) formerly known as I Walk The Earth – WMA, MP3, lyrics
I made the following recordings in MP3 format (these are less than three minutes long and the files are around 1MB in size, except for the second and third which are Red Day recordings) in early December 2007:
I also made the following recordings in MP3 format (these are all less than five minutes long and all files are below 2.4MB in size, with the exception of the final song which is a Red Day recording) in late December 2007:
In 2009, I put videos of some of my musical poems on YouTube and MySpace Video, most of which are recordings of me singing them unaccompanied on demonstrations. Find the videos on my MySpace page
The following is a list of musical poems I have written so far (most of which I have made recordings of). Note that the following list consists of those with some spoken sections; information about songs (including those I have performed with Red Day or as musical poems) can be found on
9/11 Inside Job – A poem (later recorded by my new band Red Day, an MP3 file of which can be downloaded by clicking here) about the attack on the twin towers on the 11th of September 2001. The evidence is overwhelming that it was allowed to happen and that explosives demolished those towers and a third tower not hit by a plane (suspiciously containing CIA and other secret service headquarters that could have planned the atrocity). No other towers in history have collapsed, except for one in Madrid that took hours to do so, and these did so extremely symmetically and in several seconds. Click here for the lyrics.
The Master Race – A poem about a woman (for whom I have used the pseudonym Martina) with blonde hair and blue eyes, which is the Nazi conception of the “Master Race” that they were planning to create. The poem also refers to two other conceptions of the Master Race – Zionists (Jewish fundamentalists who believe they are the “chosen people” selected by God) and people with very deep brown eyes! The poem also mentions my experience of opposing fascism in Oldham where the police used divide-and-rule to try to prevent a united demonstration of anti-fascists (and I was arrested breaking through the police line), where we stopped the British National Party (BNP) from winning any seats in the subsequent local elections. Click here for the lyrics. I have done a recording of this musical poem in MP3 format (downloadable by clicking here).
PC783 is Very Sexy – A poem about a female police officer (with badge number 783) who arrested me in London at the time of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) event Marxism 2009 in London. It talks about my audacious plan to sue Manchester City Council for an eighth of my poll tax for which I want PC783 as a witness, even though we only just met! The song takes a serious detour by arguing against SWP national secretary Martin Smith (whose revolutionary credentials are a myth!) for his support of the anti-semitic jazz musician Gilad Atzmon, suggesting that Atzmon’s ideas becoming part of the political analysis of the SWP was the reason for my brother (Sean Walliis) making an allegedly anti-semitic point at a UCU trade union conference (at which Sean played a key role in persuading the union to debate whether to boycott Israeli universities).
William Hague is Vague – A poem about skinhead Tory William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary and former leader of his party. Written and recorded on the day the date of the UK general election (Thursday the 6th of May) was announced, it is my (first but probably not only) intervention in the general election campaign.
Assassinations – A poem about the assassination of Nathalie Monier, a woman I was deeply in love with, about a week before Princess Diana also died in very suspicious circumstances. I have set up a discussion group called assassination-of-nathalie-monier. Visit the assassination-of-princess-diana group or the Princess Diana bulletin board at the Revolutionary Platform Networkforum for more information about Diana’s assassination. Click here for the lyrics. I have done a recording of this musical poem, available as a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file (downloadable by clicking
My Life (part 1) formerly known as I Walk The Earth – An autobiographical poem containing a lot of important information about my life. It is dedicated to several different women from my past (Paula Mitchell, Naomi Byron, Sinéad Daly and Susan from Dublin, a Polish woman whose name I never found out, a Polish lodger of my former best friend Julian Beard called Dorotca, Morag Allen, Cath Bann and Sonya Qureshi). It contains information about the miners’ strike, a 55-mile sponsored walk (from UMIST in Manchester back to UMIST again) called the Bogle Stroll, the anti-poll tax movement, a Youth Against Racism in Europe camp in eastern Germany, the 1998 European School of the CWI (at which I became a big factor in world politics by being the only person from England or Wales to speak in the debate in favour of setting up the Scottish Socialist Party), the circumstances that led to me first becoming a political prisoner and my time with a nurse (Sonya Qureshi) when I was incarcerated.
Click here for the lyrics. I have done a recording of the orginal musical poem, available as a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file (downloadable by clicking here) and also available in MP3 format (downloadable by clicking here).
Fairground Attraction – A fictional poem about a trip to a fairground with a member of the Militant Tendency (that I was a member of from 1990-98, as it became Militant Labour and then the Socialist Party).
The Surveillance State – A poem (which could alternatively be sung, so it is also listed on the Galaxia website) dedicated to Cath Bann (founder of Defy-ID, an organiation “against ID cards and the surveillance state” which gave me inspiration for the poem and its title). This song is about spying, ID cards, mind reading and mind control, pointing out the role of infiltration (in both trying to prevent political change and ensuring it actually happens) in the chorus. Click here for the lyrics. I have done a recording of this musical poem, available as a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file (downloadable by clicking
here) and also available in MP3 format (downloadable by clicking here).
Too Good To Be Forgotten – A poem dedicated to Cath Bann (my strongest collaborator between 1998 and 2003 who I naturally fell in love with), about the poll tax, anarchism, sanctions and war on Iraq, ID cards and (of course) love! Note that I have heard a rumour that Cath has got maried, presumably to her long-time boyfriend Nathan; if this is the case, I must trust Cath’s judgement in realising that Nathan is now genuine (although perhaps he wasn’t in the past) so please disregard the negative things I have said about him in this poem! Cath rejected me in 2003, as I point out in this poem, but I still have hopes of getting together with her at some point in the future... Click here for the lyrics. I have done a recording of this musical poem, available as a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file (downloadable by clicking
here) and also available in MP3 format (downloadable by clicking here).
Walking Where The Roses Grow – A poem dedicated to Rosie Kane (who at the time was a Scottish Socialist Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow) about the environment, which mentions direct action against Trident and calls for strike action or demonstrations at the time of the upcoming G8 summit (which has now passed). My G8 summit worldwide general strike website provides some arguments about whether strike action would have been pracitcable at the time of that summit. This poem also warns about big business infiltrators and there is a hint of love in it too!
here) and also available in MP3 format (downloadable by clicking here).
Couldn’t Wait Until Sunday – A poem I wrote much of while a political prisoner in a police station cell on the night of the 12th/13th May 2006, initially calling it Can’t Wait Until Sunday, about my plans for my 40th birthday on Sunday the 14th of May. I had invited along the first serious love of my life, Rhiannon Williams, who I had not seen for over 20 years. My plans were wrecked by my incarceration.
here) and also available in MP3 format (downloadable by clicking here).
Socialist Chameleon – A poem about Jo Sims (a pseudonym), who I met when I was a political prisoner on a psychiatric ward. I thought Jo (who was very political and interested in being in my band) was one too, despite her hearing voices which perhaps were forcing her to betray me, which I think was against her will. I know they can be broadcast using some sort of machine, partly due to personal experience and also due to watching a TV programme about such mind control in which a member of Christians Against Mental Slavery talked about having a machine that could do it and receiving death threats. As this poem suggests, Jo could have been struggling to disobey what the voices were trying to make her do. Click here for the lyrics. I have recorded it as a musical poem, available in MP3 format (downloadable by clicking here)
An ode to Scott – A poem about addiction to drugs and alcohol. Click here for the lyrics. I have done a recording of this musical poem, available as a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file (downloadable by clicking
here) and also available in MP3 format (downloadable by clicking here).
Whatever Happened To The Conspiracies? – A poem dedicated to Martine McCutcheon. The poem mentions how different opinions about whether Martine is a human being or a robot (and who I now realise is human or possibly an angel as I discuss on Martine’s page on this website) had a miscarriage (expressed by me in my document How our brains help or hinder the struggle for socialism) has destroyed the strongest conspiracies by the forces of big business; they have regrouped but are much weaker.
I have also written the following musical poem that could be described as science fiction, science fact or some combination of the two. Make your own mind up!
To The Earth With Love – A poem influenced by Doctor Who, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, Douglas Adams’ Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and Star Trek (particularly the Star Trek Insurrection film). It is also dedicated to many women in my past or present life and the odd celebrity, none of whom I have yet met except for David Beckham, and one who I cannot meet (Princess Diana who was assassinated in 1997).
