U.K. folk-punk-rocker Frank Turner's new album Be More Kind comes out May 4th. There's a great interview with Frank about it this week in The Sun. He was inspired by poet Clive James, who closes his poem Leçons Des Ténèbres with “I should have been more kind. It is my fate. To find this out, but find it out too late.”
From the article:
Turner says: “It really made me think and start with a new direction for my record.
“Clive James is not the only person who has made that comment. (American writer) Kurt Vonnegut also said something similar. There are a lot of people who have said it. It tends to be people who are near the end of their life. It therefore comes with a lot of weight and wisdom attached to it as far as I am concerned.
“Today it’s so tempting for everybody to get angry as your first response. There are times when we should get angry but I feel like we’ve forgotten how to argue properly or at least in a civil way."Amen. Be more kind.
The lyrics are below the posted song, worth reading along. This title track was released as an advance track on February 23rd. The record company, however, is pushing "Blackout" as a single - a fine song, but not as substantial as this one. This one has power, empathy, and hope. It's also quite beautiful!
If you're not familiar with Frank Turner, you should be! He's one of the most authentic voices out there making real music. He comes from a punk background (in the band Million Dead), but the acoustic guitar is now his "weapon" of choice - thus the "folk-punk" label. That classification doesn't do Turner's music true justice - back before everything got classified down into micro-genres, his stuff simply would have been called "Rock".
My love for his music began with the release of his 2011 album England Keep My Bones through the track "Peggy Sang the Blues". I've gone back for his older solo work before that, and kept up as he's released Tape Deck Heart, Positive Songs for Negative People, and compilations of rarities, singles and EPs. Very much looking forward to his new collection - and maybe after you hear this title track, you will be too.
And I just love this message - Be More Kind.
"Be More Kind"
History's been leaning on me lately
I can feel the future breathing down my neck
And all the things I thought were true when I was young, and you were too
Turned out to be broken, I don't know what comes next
In a world that has decided that it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind
It seems like everybody's raising walls now
Like hackles raised upon a cornered cat
On the borders in our heads between things that can and can't be said
We stopped talking to each other and there's something wrong with that
So before you go out searching, don't decide what you'll find
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind
You should know you're not alone
Trouble comes and trouble goes
How this ends no one knows
So, hold on tight when the wind blows
The wind blew both of us to sand and sea
And where the dry lands stands is hard to say
As the current drags us by the shore we can no longer say for sure
Who's drowning, or if they can be saved
But when you're out there floundering, like a lighthouse I will shine
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind
Like a beacon reaching out to you and yours, for me and mine
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind
In a world that has decided that it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind
Words and Music by Frank Turner
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