The Eton Rifles
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| “The Eton Rifles” | |||||
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| Single by The Jam from the album Setting Sons |
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| B-side | See Saw | ||||
| Released | 3 November 1979 | ||||
| Format | 7" vinyl | ||||
| Genre | Mod revival | ||||
| Label | Polydor (UK) | ||||
| The Jam singles chronology | |||||
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"The Eton Rifles" was the only single to be released from the album Setting Sons by The Jam. Released on 3 November 1979, it became the band's first top ten hit when it entered the United Kingdom singles chart at #3.
The song was inspired by a newspaper article that singer Paul Weller read about unemployed demonstrators on a socialist 'Right to Work' march being heckled by what he later described as "a bunch of tossers" from the prestigious Eton College.[1]
Ironically, in 1997, Iago Foxton, the son of The Jam vocalist and bassist Bruce Foxton, entered Eton College as a new pupil.
The song was produced by Adam Langely, and was backed by the B-side "See Saw".
[edit] Lyrics
"The Eton Rifles" are a cadet corps of Eton College, an English public school in Berkshire. The song itself is a sarcastic homage to class war and the rivalry between boys at Eton and neighbouring working class schoolboys, as perceived in the 1970s.
The song's lyrics, in common with many Jam tracks, contain colloquial references to life in England, including:
"Sup up your beer and collect your fags, There's a row going on down near Slough"
Literally, "drink up your beer and collect your cigarettes" - likely referring to a group of friends hurriedly leaving a pub for a street-fight, though 'fag' is also public school slang for a younger boy who acts as a servant (see Fagging). Slough is a town near to Eton. The two districts have a history of class conflict.
"What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?"
A reference to school uniform and badges, particularly the influence of the "old school tie".
"Tore down the House of Commons in your brand new shoes"
The House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, contains many public school alumni, including those of Eton.
The song recounts a street-fight in which working-class youths from Slough are defeated by the Eton Rifles. The anecdote is used as a political metaphor for well-meaning but unsuccessful rebellion against entrenched privilege.
[edit] Notes
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In May 2008 Weller poured scorn upon a clumsy attempt by old Etonian Tory leader David Cameron to identify himself with the song.
