The Pere Ubu Pirate Flag

Pere Ubu is a pirate ship, an entity comprised of equals dedicated to expediting the ship’s purpose. “Land ahoy! Loot, pillage!” Once the job is done, share out the spoils equally to every man, woman or boy onboard, regardless of race, age, sex or capability, and move on to the next destination. This ‘job’ was no different from the work of governments, merchant ships and privateers - in modern terms, corporations, unions and ‘rights’ organizations. “Ship ahoy! Loot, pillage!” A facade of laws and rhetoric legitimized fleets of galleons laden with the gold stripped from native peoples. Laws and rhetoric were contrived to funnel profits to fat cats. Pirate captains led by consensus and could be voted in or out. Sailors in the legitimate world, often kidnapped, received a pittance and were, effectively, slaves, harshly treated. Pirate flags, each unique, displayed coded messages - for example, 'Time is running out. We won't kill if you don't resist.''
The Long Goodbye

The latest album by Pere Ubu,
The Long Goodbye is the end of a road. David Thomas has been talking about Pere Ubu's journey on the road that passes Satisfied City for many years but he has now declared that they have arrived at the end. Named after Raymond Chandler's novel Mr Thomas says "This wraps up every song and story that Pere Ubu has been telling in different ways for the past forty plus years. It is one definitive hour that provides the answers to the questions we've been asking and delivers it up into what I consider the definitive destination. It is not the end of THE road for Pere Ubu but the beginning of a new road."
Paul Hamann (1955-2017)
Paul Hamann died September 14, 2017 in a Cleveland hospice. He was 62.
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