Leon Rosselson

Leon Rosselson is a topical protest singer-songwriter from Britain. He's recorded literate left-wing ditties, character sketches, and polemics since the 1960s, when he was a regular on the humorous television news roundup That Was the Week That Was. Most songs consist of his voice, sometimes with one of a handful of regular accompanists, backed by guitar or piano.

His lyrics are almost always clever, sometimes deeply cynical, and sometimes cloyingly idealistic. An empathetic observer of a world that seems to have let him down on a regular basis, he often sings from the voice or perspective of someone he disagrees with. Favorite villains include self-righteous businessmen and tyrannical bureaucrats.

Rosselson's most frequent theme is that the duties of modern capitalism -- labor, consumption, obedience -- interfere with the basic pleasures of life. Many songs deal with those pleasures, especially (yes) romantic love.

Unusually for a male singer, he's written a handful of songs that critique modern marriages from a feminist perspective.

Rosselson is also a published children's author and playwright.