We’ve long been concerned that the golden age of the protest song is over, and that the fires have gone out in the bellies of the countries leading songwriters. But lo! What’s that coming out of the undergrowth? It’s the Queen’s favourite axeman Brian May, who’s recruited Slash, a young rapper named Sonny Green and, er, David Attenborough for his protest song against the proposed badger cull: ‘Badger Swagger’. Ok, so it’s not Billie Holiday’s ‘Strange Fruit’ or Bob Dylan’s ‘Masters Of War’. In fact, it’s not even NOFX’s ‘Franco Un-American’. But hey, at least it’s for a good and cuddly cause. A new dawn for the protest song?

Advertisement