Elvis Facebook post on day of Thatcher's funeral

[Neil.]

I've just been looking at my Facebook news feed, and came across this. The featured link goes to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktI1iAqX ... Y6mRUVxvOx

[Wolverinefan]

I'm probably going to come under fire for saying this, but I really wish EC had not made that post on the day of Thatcher's funeral. I can well understand that his dislike of the woman and her politics is not going to disappear just because she has died, but bearing in mind that her friends and family are still grieving I had hoped that he would refrain from commenting at this stage.

I'm no Thatcherite and certainly didn't agree with all her policies, but cannot view her as the pantomime villain/wicked witch that her enemies made her out to be. Thatcher had her faults and made mistakes, but she also had some good qualities and got some decisions right, IMO. There were many people interviewed who spoke of her softer side and kindnesses she had shown them, so she must have had a better side to her.

EC's song "Tramp the Dirt Down" expressed his views at that time, when Thatcher was still in power. It was a song of its time, giving voice to the anger of Thatcher's opponents, but isn't it time to move on now? If people are looking to vent their spleen on someone I think there are some far worse people around in public life now, who may be more deserving of it.

[Neil.]

It was pretty low key - and he didn't tweet it, which would've been more public. I think he might've felt that a statement was expected, and because he's already said it all, that statement had to be "I have no more to add - so here's a mindless Dutch pop song to fill the void." It was a humorous way of dealing with the weight of any expectation that might've been being felt.

[Neil.]

P.S. Apparently Margaret Thatcher requested such a funeral over a private ceremony. So even though she hated the idea of state-subsidised industries (which kept people in jobs just for the sake of having jobs rather than being dumped onto the dole), she was happy to make an exception for her funeral, and let the tax payer fund it.

[veronicacostello]

Does Elvis really do his own FB posts? Maybe that's a silly question?

[Wolverinefan]

Somebody posted a recent newspaper interview on another thread, relating to this subject. EC was very measured in what he said, saying that he would be rejoicing too, if the Thatcher ideas were dead/gone, and implied that the lyrics in the song were not so much about Thatcher personally, but more about her ideas and the effect they had on the country. I felt he handled the interview pretty well.

BTW, Good point about the funeral being state funded... I guess she did have a pretty big ego, all things considered.