Street Children

Sweet dreams my little amigo
Barefoot and homeless in Rio de Janiero
Sleepin' on the steps of the church
Whose doors are locked
Livin' in a cardboard box
Inside at the shrine
The priest sips fine wine
Dines on fine food and looks for a sign
No mother no father
No shoes nor a bed
No place to relax and rest his weary head
Where his next meal will come from
Nobody knows
But everyone can see the church is covered in gold

Wish I had a home
With ten million rooms
I'd open up the doors
And let the street children through
Wish that I could scoop
All of those children in my arms
And give the love they need
And to protect them all from harm

Wish I had a home
With ten million rooms
I'd open up the doors
And let the street children through
Wish that I could scoop
All of those children in my arms
And give the love they need
And to protect them all from harm

Wish I had a home
With ten million rooms
I'd open up the doors
And let the street children through
Wish that I could scoop
All of those children in my arms
And give the love they need
And to protect them all from harm

Lyrics by:
Brown

Available on:
The World Is Yours (3.52)

Details:

What Rio de Janiero - and indeed the whole of the Americas - sorely needs is another Archbishop Óscar Romero. As bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador, Romero's love for his people who were suffering violence and oppression led him to take their side and denounce their oppressors. This untiring work led to his assassination whilst celebrating Mass, on 24th March 1980, and his struggle for justice lives on through the work of organisations such as CAFOD. In the gallery of 20th century martyrs at Westminster Abbey, Romero (holding a child) stands alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr and Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The present whereabouts of the Nazi gold that disappeared into European banking institutions in 1945 has been the subject of several books, conspiracy theories, and a civil suit brought in January 2000 in California against the Vatican Bank, the Franciscan Order and other defendants. The suit against the Vatican Bank did not claim that the gold was then in its possession, and has since been dismissed. The Swiss National Bank, the largest gold distribution centre in continental Europe before the war, was the logical venue through which Nazi Germany could dispose of its gold. During the war, the SNB received $440m in gold from Nazi sources, of which $316m is estimated to have been looted. Ian's wrath at the plight of the street children would be better directed towards the child labour which continues to plague these developing countries. His dream of a home to 'scoop' up and accommodate these children, much like Jay-Z's imaginary cartoon superpowers, bring nothing to the table. Many a Miss World has recited a yearning to behold world peace, but any desire for good has to be cultivated. A "home with ten million rooms" is (rather conveniently) an unrealistic attainment; however, one thousand children in Rio de Janiero with "no shoes nor a bed" could be instantaneously provided with footwear if Ian and Noel Gallagher were to get their heads together (see below). As one reviewer incisively commented on this track, "The sophomoric lyrics read like the diary entry of an 8th grade girl the night after her social studies class discussed Darfur." (Joe Tangari, Pitchfork, November 2007). On this and other tracks from The World Is Yours LP, there is a level of global self-importance unsettlingly close to Michael Jackson's quasi-messianic 1996 BRIT Awards performance, that was welcomely gatecrashed by Jarvis Cocker. Quite how a track such as this can sit with any degree of comfort alongside Just Like You (A.D.I.D.A.S.) in the artist's back catalogue is beyond comprehension. At the height of the Roses, Ian was prone to wearing tops bearing the image of the African continent, but in his solo career, is sadly all too willing to become a promotional pawn for a company exploiting its children. Ian Brown's solo work is strongly identifiable by its demeanour of social and political commentary; however, when the artist turns a blind eye to such a major issue as child labour in his eager promotion of Adidas, it rather diminishes his credibility in this regard. During hearings in 2000 with the European Parliament's Development Committee, it was reported that clothing produced for Adidas was manufactured in two Indonesian companies employing child labor, forced overtime, and sexual harassment. Charges included using children as young as fifteen, forcing them to work at least seventy hours a week, and paying them far below the International Labor Organization's demand for a living wage. A 2004 report by Oxfam and trade unions cited major sportswear firms such as Adidas, Reebok, Nike and Puma of having their goods produced "by workers around the world whose rights are being regularly violated." The report included accusations of seven-day work weeks during peak production periods, 16 to 18 hour work days, sexual harassment of female workers, and forced overtime without pay. In a promotional interview with Adidas in March 2010, Ian Brown and Noel Gallagher were asked how much Adidas material they owned. Each estimated that their combined total of Adidas pairs of shoes would easily "run into four figures", finding it highly amusing that a large quantity of these are situated in various storage facilities, unused. Attempting to defend such blatant consumerism, Ian explains, "You'd think I was the greediest man in the world, but it's all been given to me out of pure kindness and love." One would imagine that this 'kindness and love' from the Adidas people is to some degree dependent reciprocally upon Ian's fawning promotion of the brand in numerous advertisement and promotional activity.* "You'd feel physically sick if you saw my Adidas collection", Ian jests in the same interview. Indeed...

 

Rows one to three: Screengrabs from an Oxfam investigation into Adidas workers in Indonesia. In his blissful ignorance of such exploitation, Ian is himself closing his eyes to the plight of African and Asian children. In an interview with The Guardian on 15th September 2007, Ian expresses his desire to send JCBs to the Vatican; if that particular venture fails, the vehicle can at least instead be put to use hauling his own swelling Adidas collection, if ever required. The most telling discovery the singer will make, should he ever (God forbid) have the opportunity to excavate St. Peter's Basilica, is the tomb of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles. Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia: Where Peter is, there is the Church. The cantankerous nature of Ian's blustering against the Vatican leads one to conclude that the singer's apparent crusade for social justice in Rio de Janeiro is fuelled not on a strictly humanitarian level; rather, the driving incentive here seems to be a desire to destroy the Roman Catholic Church via the process of gutting it of its actual meaning. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI in July 2011, "A synod is an event which gives us concrete experience of being the 'People of God', of being Church, a pilgrim community travelling in history towards its eschatological fulfilment in God. This means we must recognise that the Church does not of herself possess the vital principle: she depends on Christ, of Whom she is the effective sign and instrument. In her relationship with the Lord Jesus lies her deepest identity: that of being a gift of God to humankind, which prolongs the presence and salvific work of the Son through the Holy Spirit. In this perspective we can see that the Church is essentially a mystery of love at the service of humanity, with a view to its sanctification. ... Being Church has its source and its true meaning in the communion of love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: the Blessed Trinity is not only the model, but generates and moulds the Church as a mystery of communion. We must begin from this truth, always and anew, in order to achieve a more intense understanding and experience of being Church: 'People of God', 'Body of Christ', 'Communion'. Otherwise we run the risk of reducing things to a horizontal dimension which perverts the identity of the Church and the announcement of the faith. The Church is not a social or philanthropic organisation, like many others that exist: she is the Community of God, she is a community which believes and loves, which adores the Lord Jesus and opens her 'veils' at the breath of the Holy Spirit; thus she is a community capable of evangelisation. Many men and women of our time need to encounter the Lord, or to rediscover the beauty of the God Who is close, the God Who in Jesus Christ reveals His face as Father and calls us to recognise the meaning and value of life. The current moment of history is marked by lights and shadows. We are witnessing complex forms of behaviour: closure, narcissism, desire to possess and consume, sentiments and affections divorced from responsibility. There are many reasons for this disorientation which finds expression in profound existential unease, but underlying everything is the negation of the transcendent dimension of man and of the basic relationship with God. For this reason it is vital for Christian communities to promote valid and compelling itineraries of faith." As Michael Voris of RealCatholicTV explains, "The Church is primarily a body with her eyes fixed on Christ and the hope of the beatific vision, which means eternal life in the Holy Trinity. It is not a social agency dedicated to running soup kitchens. While that type of work is important and has a glorious history in the annals of the Church, it was always done primarily as an act of love toward neighbour because of their inherent dignity as a child of God, and with the aim of helping them get to heaven." Voris goes on to explain, "The two greatest commandments are not equal. The first - pay attention to that word 'first' now - the first commandment is 'to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.' The second is 'Like it, love your neighbour as yourself.' The second is not truly possible without the first, first."
Rows four & five: Screengrabs from a 2010 Adidas promotional advertisement, one of several to feature Ian Brown and Noel Gallagher. Serving as enthused hired hands in such a staged corporate setting as this 'Adidas Originals' advert renders the duo as being about as original as a photocopy. The concern of the Roman Catholic Church is to save the souls of mankind, whereas Ian's priorities seem to lie firmly with saving the soles of Adidas.
Rows six & seven: On this subject, Ras Kass also needs to sit down and have a strong word with himself. On Nature of the Threat, the rapper decries the exploitation and oppression of the world's developing regions, yet is more than happy himself to chase the Yankee dollar with his 2010 album, 'A.D.I.D.A.S. (All Day I Dream About Spittin)' (bottom left), the title track of which is a glorified Adidas commercial.
Bottom right: Where do I start with this one ? Adidas brings Ras Kass to South Africa to promote his new album and, by association, the sports brand. Where does the tour hit next ? Bangladesh ?

* In February 2009, Ian disclosed to The Observer that he had been offered the opportunity to go to the 2008 Champions League final via private jet, by an Adidas associate. In May 2010, Ian revealed to the Manchester Evening News that his promotional work for Adidas led to an invitation, first class, with three nights in a five star hotel in South Africa, to the 2010 World Cup final. The only thing preventing him from embracing the latter offer of kindness and love was a clash with festival commitments.

Back To Ian Brown Songs