Small Miracles
By Eric Bogle
Larrikin/Festival, 1997
The Emigrant & the Exile
By Eric Bogle & John Munro
Larrikin/Festival, 1997
Review by Alex Bainbridge
Eric Bogle's songs still maintain some connection with social — dare I say progressive? — issues.
His latest two albums include songs taking up AIDS, the urban "rat race", love and conflict in Sarajevo, "progress" and Reclaim the Night. There is also a "fairly gentle start" to a (promised) series of anti-Olympic Games songs.
More typically, there are a number of songs about the way people cope with different aspects of the confusing lives we lead.
The publicity blurb describes these albums as "Eric at his best since the '70s". This may even be true — I confess to having been pleasantly surprised by some of the results. Nevertheless, in recent years, Bogle's link to progressive politics has been at best tenuous. These albums do not break with this trend.
It is astounding that the person who has written countless antiwar songs could now write "The Diggers' Legacy", which glorifies imperialism as "freedom". The progressive movement has got something to say to the diggers; we don't blame them for the crimes of the governments they fought for. But, at the same time, we don't glorify these crimes.
Bogle is still a nationalist. "Sayonara Australia" bemoans the selling of Australia to Japanese capitalists. Despite a reference to free enterprise, this sort of logic lets Australian capitalists totally off the hook and runs the risk of pandering to the increasingly vocal racist right.
Despite some contradictions in his earlier songs, Bogle at his best was a social critic; he had something to say. Now there is no sharp commentary in his work — at least not from a progressive point of view — and there is demoralisation. This is illustrated in his line, "Who cares if we [humanity] live or die? Not I."
It is tempting to say that Bogle should stick to saying nothing— he does that better. From this standpoint, I enjoyed The Emigrant and the Exile, jointly recorded with John Munro, much better than Small Miracles.
Nevertheless, both albums are pleasant to listen to (if you ignore the words in some songs) and jam-packed with songs. The Emigrant and the Exile has more of a Scottish flavour, a deliberate experiment which is very rewarding. Munro also has some good songs on this album.