Music and politics are uneasy, if frequent, partners. The problem is that music itself is perfectly abstract -- it's virtually impossible to evoke a concrete image or a specific idea with music. For that you need words, which means songs, and it's sad but generally true that when the words are the most important part of the song, the music is usually obvious, silly, or hackneyed. People who can create both masterful lyrics and inspired music are a rare and precious breed; people who can do both in the service of a sociopolitical agenda are even rarer. Which brings us to Hard Cash, a collection of songs "from, and inspired by, the BBC-TV series" of the same name, a series that examined the plight of Britain's working class. Now, the plight of Britain's working class is an eminently worthy topic and one which probably resulted in an excellent documentary series. And heaven knows that the plight of the working class has also inspired any number of fine songs the world over. But not very many of those found their way onto this collection, which features Richard Thompson's fine "Time to Ring Some Changes" and June Tabor's hair-raising rendition of "The Jute Mill Song" and 12 other fair-to-mediocre songs by fair-to-good singers. On the positive end are Clive Gregson and Christine Collister, who do themselves proud with "The Great Provider" and the despairing "Good with My Hands"; at the other end is the unlistenable Ron Kavana, not to mention Dave Kelly singing the embarrassingly ham-fisted "You're the Pits." Thompson and Tabor deliver two tracks each, which means that this disc is worth the price. The rest is potluck.