Title of the album: Warfare versus Welfare
Title: What Can A Man Say (Track 2)
Publisher: Clive Robertson/Voicepondance, Toronto
Date: 1985
Medium: Schallplatte 30 cm
Cover: Clive Robertson
Performers: G. Berg, R. Cohen, I. Colvin, P. Duffin, J. Martin, R. Mela, A.J. Paterson, C. Robertson, Ch. Salmon, G. Schellenberg, E. Stef, Wadi, M.P. Wojewoda
What Can A Man Say is the closing song of Clive Robertson's performance In A Drunken Stupor, which he performed several times at different venues in Canada and Europe during 1983-1985. Both domestic violence and warfare on a political level are the themes addressed. Robertson puts it succinctly in the line "Warfare versus Welfare", which is also the title for the entire album.
This is implied in the title of the song and made clear in the lyrics: Clive Robertson emphasizes the patriarchal structures of violence that run through society. "Listening to him beating, beating the airwaves with his misogyny..." or "It's no longer Capitalism against Communism / it's warfare versus welfare / It's the patriarchy versus everyone else..." - depressingly topical.
BB