songwriter

“Assisted Suicide/Deniable Democide” my rewritten lyrics to Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” in response to the horror safeguarding failures galore assisted dying bill being rushed through the backdoor of UK Parliament

February 21, 2025 // 0 Comments

The rewritten lyrics of “Lust for Life” by Iggy Pop into “Assisted Suicide/Deniable Democide” by Ruth Jacobs, writer and human rights advocate, critiques the rushed through Assisted Dying bill, which is avoiding vital parliamentary scrutiny by being pushed through as a private members bill, when something so significant that changes our society, how we value life and each other, and how we trust institutions and professionals meant to keep vulnerable people safe, and make the unwell well, not unalive them. It must also be disclosed which MPs, especially on the Assisted Death Committee, have shares in the companies that will spring up to provide death as a business. This bill has been repeatedly misrepresented by pro-assisted death advocates as safe, while removing safeguards and voting down amendments in Parliament that would have gone some way to safeguarded the vulnerable. It is unacceptable that fully informed consent to an assisted death is not a requirement. Nonconsensual sex is rape. Therefore nonconsensual suicide is murder. This bill’s ever loosening safeguards risk "deniable democide" targeting vulnerable populations, appearing to commodify death with an immoral approach to euthanasia, prioritising a political agenda and profit over providing the social and palliative care people need to live. Our palliative care is mostly charity run and inaccessible to most who don’t have cancer or aren’t white. Investing in helping people live is the moral imperative.

In the Booth with Ruth – Tim Lee, Musician

November 1, 2014 // 2 Comments

I try to take the Jonathan Richman approach of always writing the truth of whatever I’m feeling or observing at the time... My songs are usually about love, heartache or trying to understand the way I or other people around me act. It’s kind of a diary way of writing, so there is a lot of whinging in there too, as you would expect in any diary!

In the Booth with Ruth – Tiki Black, Singer/Songwriter

October 14, 2014 // 6 Comments

I wanted my music to be minimalist, deep and universal. I also hope it to be revelatory and inspirational. It is my way of quietly digging up the proverbial dirt to show its golden side (or silver lining), like the alchemist I think an artist is.

In the Booth with Ruth – Jonathan Tarplee, Singer/Songwriter

September 8, 2014 // 6 Comments

I'm highly motivated by a desire to try to help stop the global catastrophe that is all around us, caused by rampant greed, environmental destruction and war, so a lot of my songs in the past have been protest songs. But actually the solo album I've been working on lately is all songs about love, loss and human relationships of one sort or another...

In the Booth with Ruth – Risa Hall, Singer/Songwriter

August 12, 2014 // 0 Comments

I never pursued music until about eight years ago, as I was an actor hiding behind a character in the Broadway cast of Grease and the National Tour of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof amongst other productions. People like Nerina Pallot, KT Tunstall and Lissie inspire me and I thought “better late than never” and started writing and doing open mics, which led to my own slots and supporting people like Nerina Pallot and Alice Gold.

In the Booth with Ruth – Angie Gega aka Anjeza, Writer, Actress, Singer, Songwriter, Dancer, Model & Humanitarian

December 16, 2013 // 4 Comments

Through my writing, I share my mistakes and my successes. I share my strength, my faith, my thoughts and my actions... Expressing myself through quotes became a daily duty... This fact brought my first published book called ‘THE BOOK’ made up by 231 quotes...and is a self-help spiritual book of true thoughts, phrases, lessons, inspirations, love and identification. The quotes aim to enlighten and inspire.

In the Booth with Ruth – Tony DeLuca, Indie Electronic Musician

December 9, 2013 // 0 Comments

Often, I just feel like picking up a guitar or sitting down at the piano and playing, and the ideas usually come about... It’s really an improvisational way of writing music... Much of my music is instrumental, although some songs do have meaningful lyrics. Usually those lyrics come about after the music is already written.

In the Booth with Ruth – Tomaca Govan, Singer & Songwriter

December 5, 2013 // 3 Comments

I define myself as ‘simply a singer’. But I, like all of us, am so much more than just one thing... I plan to allow myself to be more open to my own creativity and my own voice, which is something I had to shut down for a little while. So I look forward to ‘the more’ that I will experience as I open the gate wider and wider... I want to leave positive things behind for others, whether it's music, poetry, art, books or other forms of inspiration.

In the Booth with Ruth – Hannah Clive, Singer & Songwriter

October 29, 2013 // 3 Comments

I am a singer/songwriter in the classic sense of the word, penning classic melodies and lyrics... Authentic life experience but conveyed in an accessible way: either that of others or my own, particularly those of women - and relationships... I am drawn to such subjects for the emotion and...

In the Booth with Ruth – Fran Clark, Singer & Songwriter

September 10, 2013 // 5 Comments

My songs are always based on something true. A story about me or someone I know. Sometimes they are just to express my feelings on a subject - could be love, friendship, family, or just life in general. Once in a while, random words come to mind in the way of a hook and how to give those words meaning might come along later.

In the Booth with Ruth – Barb Jungr, Singer & Songwriter

June 25, 2013 // 4 Comments

I like metaphor in song and I love language. I guess that’s part of - for me - the appeal of, especially, Dylan and Cohen - that magic they both have of using words like knives, scalpel like precision - I envy that. I like narrative. Last Orders is a story of an affair in Stockport before I left the town, the summer of my goodbye, and it’s a song of lost youth and love...

In the Booth with Ruth – Robert Wuagneux, Singer, Songwriter & Musician

June 18, 2013 // 7 Comments

Strange Voo Doo is about self–discovery. It is the coming face to face with the past choices one has made and how those choices have led to certain consequences. Discovering self-love is freedom from convention. In the bridge of the tune the singer realizes that self-discovery has freed him from those self-imposed[...]