***

Principal Areas of Interest and Responsibility as a Teacher and Scholar


Marxism and Critical Theory

Critical Cinema and Media Studies/Studies in Film, Video, and Moving-Image Culture

Gay and Queer Studies/Critical Studies in Sexuality and Gender

Critical Cultural Studies

Critical Studies in Popular Music Cultures

Irish and Scottish Studies

Mystery and Detective Fiction

Screenwriting, Writing for Stage, Writing Poetry


     
 








 

 It is the minorities who have made the history of this world.  It is the few who have had the courage to take their places at the front; who have been true enough to themselves to speak the truth that was in them; who have dared oppose the established order of things; who have espoused the cause of the suffering, struggling poor; who have upheld without regard to personal consequences the cause of freedom and righteousness.  It is they, the heroic, self-sacrificing few who have made the history of the race and who have paved the way from barbarism to civilization.  The many prefer to remain upon the popular side.  They lack the courage and vision to join a despised minority that stands for a principle; they have not the moral fiber that withstands, endures and finally conquers.  They are to be pitied and not treated with contempt for they cannot help their cowardice.  But, thank God, in every age and in every nation there have been the brave and self-reliant few, and they have been sufficient to their historic task; and we, who are here today, are under infinite obligations to them because they suffered, they sacrificed, they went to jail, they had their bones broken upon the wheel, they were burned at the stake and their ashes scattered to the winds by the hands of hate and revenge in their struggle to leave the world better for us than they found it for themselves.  We are under eternal obligations to them because of what they did and what they suffered for us and the only way we can discharge that obligation is by doing the best we can for those who are to come after us.  And this is the high purpose of every Socialist on earth.  Everywhere they are animated by the same lofty principles; everywhere they have the same noble ideals; everywhere they are clasping hands across national boundary lines; everywhere they are calling one another Comrade, the blessed word that springs from the heart of unity and bursts into blossom upon the lips.  Each passing day they are getting into closer touch all along the battle line, waging the holy war of the working class of the world against the ruling and exploiting class of the world. They make many mistakes and they profit by them all.  They encounter numerous defeats, and grow stronger through them all.  They never take a backward step.


    The heart of the international Socialist never beats a retreat.


    They are pressing forward, here, there and everywhere, in all the zones that girdle the globe.  Everywhere these awakening workers, these class-conscious proletarians, these hardy sons and daughters of honest toil are proclaiming the glad tidings of the coming emancipation, everywhere their hearts are attuned to the most sacred cause that ever challenged men and women to action in all the history of the world.  Everywhere they are moving toward democracy and the dawn; marching toward the sunrise, their faces all aglow with the light of the coming day.  These are the Socialists, the most zealous and enthusiastic crusaders the world has ever known. They are making history that will light up the horizon of coming generations, for their mission is the emancipation of the human race. They have been reviled; they have been ridiculed, persecuted, imprisoned and have suffered death, but they have been sufficient to themselves and their cause, and their final triumph is but a question of time.

Eugene V. Debs, From "The Anti-War Speech" [The Speech That Led to His Imprisonment], June 16, 1918, Canton, Ohio
 









"Novelty"

Joy Division

Track history

Recorded on May 3rd/4th 1978 at Arrow Studios, Manchester; released on Warsaw
Recorded in July 1979 at Central Sound Studios, Manchester (but not released)
Live performance on July 13th 1979 at The Factory released on Heart and Soul
Recorded in July-August 1979 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport
This version originally released as B-side of "Transmission" single
Also released on Substance, on Permanent and on Heart and Soul

Lyrics
When the people listen to you, don't you know it means a lot
'Cause you've got to work so hard for everything you've got
Can't rest on your laurels now - not when you've got none
You'll find yourself in the gutter, right back where you came from

Someone told me being in the know is the main thing
We all need the security that belonging brings
Can't stand on your own in these times against all the odds
I don't want to act uncool like all the other sods
[or in the later version:
  You'll just fall behind like all the other sods]

In the Heart and Soul live version the previous verse is replaced by:
  Where you gonna run to now? where you gonna hide?
  All the dreams you ever had are tied up deep inside
  Staring in the mirror now, with everything you've seen
  Looking back and telling the crowd just what might have been

You slap our backs and pretend you knew
About all the things that we were gonna do
What ya gonna do, what ya gonna do when it's over?

You're all on your own now - don't you think that it's a shame
But you're the only one responsible to take the blame

The original version concludes:
When ya gonna grow up and act, and be yourself
Cause pretty soon you'll find yourself nailed to the shelf
Grab it while you can, but don't ever relax
Cause there's always someone gonna stab your back
What ya gonna do, what ya gonna do when it's over?

The later versions conclude:
So what ya gonna do when the novelty has gone?
Yeah, what ya gonna do when the novelty has gone?
[or in the Heart and Soul live version: "when the novelty fades away"]
You slap our backs and pretend you knew
About all the things that we were gonna do
What ya gonna do, what ya gonna do when it's over?

Other information
This was a very early Joy Division song which evolved through several lyric changes
The unreleased Central Sound version had two lines not found in other recordings:
  Thinking on your own of the past, of every small mistake
  Never took a chance at all, with everything at stake

     


I'm here and I'm queer and I do what I do
And I'm not gonna wear . . . a "straight" jacket for you 
-- Tom Robinson "(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay"

This material is copyrighted (©)