Singing For Our Lives is a long overdue and engaging account of a lively but neglected form of political activism: street choirs. The authors, singers themselves, write from within the street choirs movement, drawing on in-depth interviews with more than forty members of eleven choirs. We see choirs emerging and flourishing in London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Nottingham and other cities up and down the country. We see them gathering in an annual Street Music Festival and organizing in a Campaign Choirs Network.
What sparks a street choir to life? A shared critique of injustice, inequality and oppression; a shared opposition to austerity policies, militarism and environmental destruction. What holds its singers together? An ethic of care, it seems, that fosters a sense of belonging among members. And what does the audience grasp from the sound of choirs out there in the arena of the street, busking, demonstrating, and performing at rallies? They glimpse a different mode of ‘doing politics’. A far cry from leaflets and speeches, the songs of political choirs in the streets are a unique expression of joy and rage, heart-warming and mobilizing.
Though produced in a responsible methodology of participatory action research, this book is no dry work of sociology. It speaks to us as political activists, bringing to our attention the street choir movement as a valuable space we may have overlooked, in which rousing and effective political work can be done, lifting spirits, energizing and unifying people of a locality and community. Writing, learning, and singing meaningful and inspiring songs with others can be revolutionary in itself. ‘We are making the road as we go’, to quote a song by London choir Raised Voices.
Publication of this book will surely help increase awareness of street choirs, attract new members to them, and secure a prosperous future for a creative political and cultural movement.
