For England's New Wave Songwriters, a Fond Goodbye To Musical Inspiration

“During her 11-year reign, Thatcher was the politician who British musicians (and a few non-Brits) of many stripes — ska, punk, rock, New Wave, folk, reggae, even electronic dance music — loved to hate. The vitriolic song titles alone — never mind the lyrics — left listeners in no doubt about the depth of loathing: The English Beat’s ‘Stand Down Margaret’; Heaven 17’s ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’; Klaus Nomi’s ‘Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead’; The Specials’ ‘Ghost Town’; The Varukers’ ‘Thatcher’s Fortress’; the Larks’ ‘Maggie Maggie Maggie (Out Out Out)’; Morrissey’s ‘Margaret on the Guillotine’; and Elvis Costello’s ‘Tramp the Dirt Down.’”
 — English music about loathed politicians has always been so much better than American music about loathed politicians, hasn’t it?