The post was originally published at Ongoing History Of Protest Music.

Bob Vylan is a grime punk duo that recently released their second album “Bob Vylan Present The
Price Of Life.”

Just like their 2020 debut album, “We Live Here,” the album features incisive political commentary addressing issues such as systemic racism and poverty. Their songs feature radical and potent lyrics like, “Wage war against the state,” “England’s fucking dead, let it burn,” and “Alexa, take me to prison.”

One of the album’s best tracks is the song “GDP,” which is a poignant statement on economic policies which benefits the rich but screws over the poor. It points out the lunacy of countries that base their economic growth on gross domestic products, especially when those figures can be bolstered by negative factors, such as Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“Yeah, the BBC are talking ’bout the GDP. That means fuck all to me. I gotta eat. You know I gotta eat, right?” the duo raps. They add, “Cash rules everything around me that matters. So the purse strings are tighter than Thatcher’s.”

Pulling no punches, they declare, ““Let me make it clear: This wretched system isn’t playing fair,” and “I couldn’t give a fuck if this country hates me here. They stole our people, displaced and placed us here.”

Singer Bobby Vylan (not to be confused with the drummer Bobbie Vylan) said of the album: “Money is a tool. It’s neither good nor bad. Unfortunately, there are some people that are using it for evil and to keep other people down.”

Listen to and or watch Bob Vylan’s “GDP”: