In 1998, Jon Langford originally released The Executioner's Last Songs, the first album in a three volume set, to benefit the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project. Combining traditional music with spoken word and original paintings, Langford comes to town Friday for a multimedia performance of the same name at the Satellite Ballroom.
Best known for his work with seminal British punk rockers The Mekons and alt-county group The Waco Brothers, Langford has seen a lot in his almost 30-year career. Last week, tableau asked this musical renaissance man about the death penalty, the death of country music and the death of the protest song.
tableau: Why do you think there is such a rich history of songs about death and murder, among other demons, in the collective unconscious of many American songwriters?
Jon Langford: This is a very violent country -- always has been and still is.
A lot of these murder songs we covered on the Executioner's CDs are the direct descendants of the old ballads which were, in many ways, the tabloids of their day.
These songs are often a mix of righteous outrage, brutal honesty and ghoulish glee (and they're a lot of fun to sing). What amazes me is the way they have been removed from the mainstream of popular music at this point in history -- no Cheating songs or Death songs on country radio!
Since the release of the first volume of The Executioner's Last Songs, what sort of success has the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project experienced?
The moratorium on executions was already in place, but I think Governor Ryan cleared death row sometime in between the release of 1 and 2&3. We raised quite a bit of money and that was the goal, [but] I don't think we influenced his decision!
Why does the notion of the death penalty not fit within what certain politicians call a "culture of life?"
I am against the state killing people in my name. They preach "thou shalt not kill" -- they should live by it.
You've done this show at colleges before. What sort of reactions do you normally receive? Do audiences generally support the moratorium movement?
The show is not really a piece of agitprop theater advancing the argument against the death penalty. The albums were a bunch of murder ballads used to raise money for that end. The show is something else.
I'm against capital punishment -- that's a given -- but in this show we're talking about a lot of other things: The notion of how you operate as a musician/artist/activist, what these songs might mean, the state of the nation, Bush's tiny penis, blah, blah, blah.
With your punk background and growth into what can only be labeled "alt-country," how do you answer the following: If country music is dead, why do we place a certain level of legitimacy on rock musicians who attempt to resurrect the ghost of its past?
Who says it's dead? Oh yeah, I did, didn't I!
I lied.
I really meant Nashville was in the process of murdering it, but alt-country doesn't look too healthy right now either.
I've learned that all the stuff I've done with the Mekons, Wacos, Cosmonauts, etc. is part of a long tradition and there is nothing new under heaven (or above hell for that matter). So, as long as people are taking old music and doing something interesting with it, fine.
Does protest music mean anything anymore? If so, where are the "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Imagine" of our generation?
I imagine we are slightly different generations and, judging by the CD rack in Starbucks, the current generation's "Blowin' In The Wind" and "Imagine" are "Blowin' In The Wind" and "Imagine."
Protest music certainly doesn't seem to exist as any vital part of mainstream culture. You'll have to dig on the fringes for a good bit of dissent. The lid is on too tight, but that can change!
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