Tom Waits is releasing his first original music in fifteen years, and it’s a Massive Attack collaboration. These are the sort of leftfield collaborations few can conjure, and fewer still can make work. Bob Dylan wishes he could throw in an overlap with The Prodigy. Joan Baez would surely love to be backed by Deftones at some point in her twilight years. Whatever the case, the voice of protest and alternative music of the legendary era, when an acoustic guitar and smoky coffee house was enough to bring about change, has continued on, replaced by stage production and activism, which landed one member of Massive Attack, Robert Del Naja, in the hands of the Metropolitan Police. It’s very much a case of artists now putting their money where their mouth is. Protest is dangerous to those in power; that much is obvious, and so too is the noise made by Boots on the Ground, an unlikely collaboration where two artists of very different genres come together for a common cause.
Such has happened before, be it the Live Aid appearances or the chimes of freedom which lingered on the all-star charity singles across the pond. We Are the World had a lingering cultural presence because of the people and cause rather than the song and its quality. It’s different now. Boots on the Ground has both the star power and prominence of a message needing to be shared. Waits has worked away quietly on a few projects here or there, and there’ll be many who are disappointed it’s not just him and his work alone. That time may come yet. But for now, he serves as a useful tool in toning down Massive Attack’s usual style. That gruff, rough style of his voice is well placed here. Boots on the Ground has Waits and Massive Attack overwhelm the efforts of other legends commenting on Immigration and Customs Enforcement criticism. Both Bruce Springsteen and U2 played their hand with a welcome rock and roll effort, and while The Boss offered up a sincere and striking effort, the Bono-fronted band struggled.
Waits and Massive Attack, though. A benchmark for political songwriting. The pairing is unlikely to work on paper and in practice is a masterstroke of how a similar message and want for change can unite the most unlikely of people, artistically differing or otherwise. There are some problems far bigger than what any political divide or discussion could offer. Boots on the Ground is a bold offering from the pair, an insightful, staggering piece of work that handles the modern times with miserably relevant comparisons to pigs, murders, and the rage. Waits is crucial to adapting that feeling, the delivery and repetition of the title has the same sound as a condemned man howling for freedom. Heavy, real meaning can be found in Boots on the Ground and it’s a punch against those who have not done their part in actively standing against the issues of the here and now.
Ambitious, bold, and crucially, politically vital. Boots on the Ground can be seen as a comment on the ongoing torture of an entire nation, it could be a knock at the internal conflict of the United States, or it could be seen as a lash out at the state of the world as we know it, the worsening state a real staggering decline. Waits is still a force to be reckoned with, and the little flourishes Massive Attack adds here are all part of the charm. They’re offering a far more reserved sound. They know they don’t want to pull the spotlight away from one of the all-time greats, not because of his legacy, but because he clearly has more to say. Whether he does anytime soon, who knows? We can only hope so. Songs like Boots on the Ground are, for many, a reason to keep on pushing.
