She may only have left us a few days ago but Margaret Thatcher already has a number of ‘tribute’ songs battling for the number one spot this Sunday in the British Top 40.
Former UK Prime Minister, Thatcher, who died last Monday, was perhaps one of the most controversial leaders in Western Europe in the past few decades and had managed to clock up quite a few adversaries during her reign at number 10 Downing Street.
A new anti-Thatcher group have launched a Facebook campaign to bring back the Wizard of Oz classic, Ding Dong The Witch is Dead in obvious reference to the recently deceased Thatcher.
The campaign is encouraging as many people to download the 1939 song in a bid to land it the #1 spot this weekend. Normal practice, every Sunday on BBC Radio 1, is to play every song from 40 to 1 in its entirety however BBC have reacted saying they ‘will play only a sni
ppet of the original 51-second classic so as to uphold their ideals of freedom of speech meanwhile being respectful to the deceased’s family’. The song is currently at #1 in the UK Itunes chart and #3 in the Official UK Top 40.
Thatcher, during her 11 years as Prime Minister, had attracted many such protest-songs due to her political legacies, that some deemed flawed. The Jam’s A Town Called Malice and The Special’s Ghost Town, to name but a few, were written in reference to the huge unemployment during Thatcher’s Britain. Other such songs ‘Walls come tumbling down’, ‘Madame Medusa’ and ‘How does it feel to be mother of 1000 dead?’ were sung in reference to Thatcher’s government’s decisions on the Falklands war.
It seems that for every opposing government decision made during her stay at Downing Street, there was a loud and proud musical support against her.
Whether one loved or loathed Margaret Thatcher, we’ll have to wait until Sunday to see if The Iron Lady still manages to get revellers dancing around their little black handbags.
