Tom Jones releases another cracking protest song about ‘sex and revolution’

Tom Jones releases another cracking protest song about ‘sex and revolution’: No Hole In My Head.

Sir Tom Jones has unveiled the second song from his forthcoming album Surrounded By Time’. And it’s another cracker!

Following ‘Talking Reality Television Blues’ it’s another kind of ‘protest song’, this time from the Sixties and the pen of Malvina Reynolds. (No, I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of her either. Wiki entry)

Sir Tom’s version is laden with synths and sitar and he sings in a bluesy baritone. It’s the lyric and arrangement which may baffle some of Jones loyal fanbase, more used to his prime-time TV style. We at LTW think it’s excellent stuff and admire Tom for his cool song choices.

It looks like Tom might be heading for the sort of acclaim afforded Johnny Cash for his late-career triumphs.

Or, being cynical for a second, has he been guided in this direction by astute management in a quest for authenticity and credibility?

If it is the latter, the fact that it is leading us to discover forgotten hero(ine)s from the back-pages of music history, like Malvina Reynolds, then it can only be a good thing.

Here she is, singing ‘No Hole In My Head’. And yes, she does look like a good old American Grandma… Looks like the Golden Girls invented Rebel Music and the Voice from the Valleys is carrying the torch…

Buy Sir Toms album from here

Buy the single from here

All words Ged Babey