Biography:
Billy Bragg (Stephen William Bragg, Barking, Essex, England, 20 December, 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes.
In 1977, Bragg formed the punk rock/pub rock band Riff Raff, and toured London's pubs and clubs. The band released a series of singles, which did not receive wide exposure. He also worked in Guy Norris Records in Barking.
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Other songs:
- A New England (kingblues)
- Old Clash Fan Fight Song
- To Have And To Have Not
- A Lover Sings
- A New England
- A13 Trunk Road To The Sea
- Accident Waiting To Happen
- Airline To Heaven
- All You Fascists
- At My Window Sad And Lonely
- Bad Penny
- Between The Wars
- Birds And Ships
- Blood Of The Lamb
- Brickbat
- Bugeye Jim
- California Stars
- Chain Of Broken Hearts
- Cindy Of A Thousand Lives
- Days Like These
- Dry Bed
- Eisler On The Go
- Everybody Loves You Babe
- Everywhere
- Feed Of Man
- Full English Brexit
- Greetings To The New Brunette
- Handyman Blues
- Hard Times Of Old England Retold
- Help Save The Youth Of America
- Hesitating Beauty
- Hobos Lullaby
- Honey Im A Big Boy Now
- Hoodoo Voodoo
- I Aint Got Not Home
- I Almost Killed You
- Ideology
- Ingrid Bergman
- It Says Here
- Levi Stubbs Tears
- Life With Lions
- Life With The Lions
- Like Soldiers Do
- Listening To The Wind That Blows
- Little Time Bomb
- Lovers Town Revisited
- Loving You Too Long
- M For Me
- Must I Paint You A Picture
- My Thirty Thousand
- My Youngest Son Came Home Today
- Never Buy The Sun
- Never Cross A Picket Line
- New England
- No One Knows Anyone Anymore
- No Power Without Accountability
- Northern Industrial Town
- Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted
- One By One
- Only One
- Ontario Quebec And Me
- Price I Pay
- Raglan Road
- Railroad Bill
- Remember The Mountain Bed
- Richard
- Rotting On Remand
- Rule Nor Reason
- Rumours Of War
- Saturday Boy
- Secret Of The Sea
- Sexuality
- She Came Along To Me
- Shes Got A New Spell
- Sin City
- Sing Their Souls Back Home
- Someday Some Morning Sometime
- Spacerace Is Over
- St Swithins Day
- Stetson Kennedy
- Take Down The Union Jack
- Talking Wag Club Blues
- The Boy Done Good
- The Busy Girl Buys Beauty
- The Home Front
- The Internationale
- The Man In The Iron Mask
- The Only One
- The Passion
- The Price I Pay
- The Price Of Oil
- The Short Answer
- The Unwelcome Guest
- The Warmest Room
- There Is Power In A Union
- There Will Be A Reckoning
- Upfield
- Valentines Day Is Over
- Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
- Walt Whitmans Niece
- Warmest Room
- Way Over Yonder In A Minor Key
- Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key
- Where The Roses Are In Bloom
- Why We Build The Wall
- Wishing The Days Away
- World Turned Upside Down
- You Make Me Brave
- You Woke Up My Neighbourhood
Four years of hard work!This month of May we celebrated four years on the air. We continue working on the dissemination of this wonderful instrument, thank you for participating in our story!
"Why We Build The Wall" Billy Bragg (originally Anais Mitchell)
Standard tuning
Capo: wherever’s comfortable for your voice; Billy usually has it on 3
This is a deliberate simplification to outline the basic structure and repetition but not a bad place to
start I hope? I’ve heard Billy play this several times – live and recorded – and it’s never the same
twice. Sometimes he throws in Dsus2 or Dsus4 and sometimes it sounds more like A or E than Am or Em.
But because he’s mostly striking individual strings, it’s kinda whatever you want it to be. Play around
with it and enjoy.
[Intro]
Em G Am Em G Am Em
[Verse 1]
Em
Why do we build the wall?
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
Why do we build the wall?
Em
Why do we build the wall?
G D
We build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am D
We build the wall, to keep us free
[Verse 2]
Em
How does the wall keep us free?
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
How does the wall keep us free?
Em
How does the wall keep us free?
G D
The wall keeps out the enemy
G D
And we build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
[Verse 3]
Em
Who do we call the enemy?
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
Who do we call the enemy?
Em
Who do we call the enemy?
G D
The enemy is poverty
G D
And the wall keeps out the enemy
G D
And we build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
[Verse 4]
Em
Because we have and they have not
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
Because they want what we have got
Em
Because we have and they have not
G D
The enemy is poverty
G D
And the wall keeps out the enemy
G D
And we build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
[Verse 5]
Em
What do we have that they should want?
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
What do we have that they should want?
Em
What do we have that they should want?
G D
We have a wall to work upon
G D
We have work and they have none
G D
And our work is never done
G D
My children, my children
G D
And the war is never won
G D
The enemy is poverty
G D
And the wall keeps out the enemy
G D
And we build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
Standard tuning
Capo: wherever’s comfortable for your voice; Billy usually has it on 3
This is a deliberate simplification to outline the basic structure and repetition but not a bad place to
start I hope? I’ve heard Billy play this several times – live and recorded – and it’s never the same
twice. Sometimes he throws in Dsus2 or Dsus4 and sometimes it sounds more like A or E than Am or Em.
But because he’s mostly striking individual strings, it’s kinda whatever you want it to be. Play around
with it and enjoy.
[Intro]
Em G Am Em G Am Em
[Verse 1]
Em
Why do we build the wall?
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
Why do we build the wall?
Em
Why do we build the wall?
G D
We build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am D
We build the wall, to keep us free
[Verse 2]
Em
How does the wall keep us free?
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
How does the wall keep us free?
Em
How does the wall keep us free?
G D
The wall keeps out the enemy
G D
And we build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
[Verse 3]
Em
Who do we call the enemy?
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
Who do we call the enemy?
Em
Who do we call the enemy?
G D
The enemy is poverty
G D
And the wall keeps out the enemy
G D
And we build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
[Verse 4]
Em
Because we have and they have not
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
Because they want what we have got
Em
Because we have and they have not
G D
The enemy is poverty
G D
And the wall keeps out the enemy
G D
And we build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
[Verse 5]
Em
What do we have that they should want?
G D
My children, my children
Em G Am Em
What do we have that they should want?
Em
What do we have that they should want?
G D
We have a wall to work upon
G D
We have work and they have none
G D
And our work is never done
G D
My children, my children
G D
And the war is never won
G D
The enemy is poverty
G D
And the wall keeps out the enemy
G D
And we build the wall to keep us free
Em
That's why we build the wall
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
Em G Am Em
We build the wall to keep us free
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