Singing Scotland's Future and Past

Lyrics by John Robertson music by suno AI

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Retired Professor of Media Politics Not-for-profit independent political analysis

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  • The heavy price we paid for a place they said was forever England

    John Robertson Inspired by Patrick Watt’s Manpower, Myth and Memory: Analysing Scotland’s Military Contribution to the Great War in the Journal of Scottish Historical Studies, on 24th May 2019: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/11/10/on-remembrance-sunday-peer-reviewed-research-proves-that-scotlands-ww1-army-war-dead-was-a-greater-sacrifice-63-higher-than-the-rest-of-the-uk/ To hear it click on: https://suno.com/s/6964A2S8wGvdm1u9 Lyrics: The heavy price we paid for a place they said was forever England At Mons in nineteen fourteen we were…

  • Power to the people we were among the first to call – Our king is chosen by the people and not by the Lord

    John Robertson Inspired by the words of the Treaty of Arbroath 1320 AD. To hear it, click on: https://suno.com/s/TUakzBPpAbOvJegN Lyrics: In Thirteen Twenty we had it written by men of God In a place where a mighty river meets the German sea And sent to The Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome To affirm we…

  • From the city of Saint Bride to the streets of Saint James we denied Maggie Thatcher

    John Robertson A song inspired by the East Kilbride engineers who kept half of General Pinochet’s bombers on the ground and save many lives in Chile. Three AI-assisted versions, click on: https://suno.com/s/ar9Y3eKAtveY9zlB https://suno.com/s/EcqsmWQDOX8e8wIF https://suno.com/s/kAc43p1TflRTozWW Lyrics: From the city of Saint Bride to the streets of Saint James As the leaves fell in 1973 we watched…

  • A Lament for Emma Caldwell and the Three Hundred

    Inspired by the opening of the inquiry into the murder of Emma Caldwell on 9 December 2025 and her shameful treatment by both Strathclyde Police and the Scottish Government, twenty years ago (!), I posted on Talking-up Scotland (link at foot of page) and wrote these lyrics then performed by suno AI. To hear the…

  • Charlie was not my darling no bloody way

    John Robertson Inspired by The Myth of the Jacobite Clans by Murray Pittock, Edinburgh University Press Song at: https://suno.com/s/yepr5GfbXiaDdugq Apologies for the AI Scots accent. Lyrics We know what you’ve been told at the school About the bonny prince and his wild highlanders Their catholic beliefs wild charges and yells But that was only part…

  • The Ballad of Willie McCrae’s Murder

    John Robertson Inspired by Ron Culley‘s Firebrand: https://suno.com/s/2BBrJjAS8tHbzdmG https://suno.com/s/oa8HFNff4OnUl5Xr https://suno.com/s/PxUbg5PhOmsiGeP7 The Ballad of Willie McCrae’s Murder Shot by his own gun driving alone on the A87 they say In a way that has been never done hands on the wheel A man with a case of dark secrets they could not allow He was shot…

  • Two silver wheels

    John Robertson Inspired by our beautiful Retriever, Belle, who needed wheels from the age of 7 but lived on fully for another 5 years. https://suno.com/s/dwyb3xOAK3SrYCcV https://suno.com/s/dwyb3xOAK3SrYCcV Two silver wheels to make her life go on To lift her wasted legs and let her be again Two silver wheels to make her live again Out in…

  • No more Flowers of the Forest for me

    John Robertson Inspired by my lack of fondness for Flowers of the Forest with it’s characterising of rapacious thugs as flowers or for that matter, Flower of Scotland, and it’s ‘wee bit hill and glen.’ Three versions: https://suno.com/s/A5d18lvmqSgDge1S https://suno.com/s/DuVxthlXBBCht5GO https://suno.com/s/SUYW2gdYzdOM3E5q No more Flowers of the Forest for me There’ll be no more Flowers of the…

  • On the stairs and on the hills, breathless – asbestosis

    John Robertson Inspired by the widespread suffering of workers and their families from the use of asbestos: https://suno.com/s/cCEESbqJkkzFdtTj On the stairs and on the hills, breathless I was right into the nooks and crannies I was useful because I was young and wee Painting, scraping and trapped in thick dust I had nae worries then…

  • We were promised, were promised we’d be there to do it – Waspi Women protest song

    John Robertson Inspired by the struggle of the Waspi women: https://suno.com/s/ro9Swatu47IGsdVU Punk version approved by at least one Waspi woman leader after seeing Riot Girls: https://suno.com/s/ro9Swatu47IGsdVU Lyrics with Wawspi so the AI could pronounce it: We were promised, were promised we’d be there to do it We trusted that we’d still be strong enough agile…