People have sometimes confronted Stiff Little Fingers with confessions. After hearing the music of SLF, they’ve said, they became open to new thoughts. They started to question their own traditions and received bigotry. They listened to lyrics like ‘Wasted Life’ and ‘Suspect Device’ and they made a decision to step away from paramilitary organisations. Thus, some killings were avoided. Given that each murder in Northern Ireland created a multiple in terms of tit-for-tat reactions, it’s fair to suggest that scores of people in Northern Ireland owe their lives to a bunch of scratchy, shouty tunes.

Currently reading: Trouble Songs by Stuart Bailie 📚