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| from Billy Bragg - The Internationale (2007) | |||||
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from Walking & Talking (1998)
As I wait for sleep to drag me under
In the evening gloom I sit and wonder The words I should have said to you The things I always meant to do The bad dreams that all came true You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now When I think of how we were together I know we couldn't be like that forever Beneath the Seven Sister stars The night we let it go too far I slept out in the car You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now I remember skipping on the porch till it grew cold I remember feeling like I was eight years old Somersaults across the lawn Singing dancing up till dawn Every now and then we'd have a row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet round here now You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
As I wait for sleep to drag me under
In the evening gloom I sit and wonder The words I should have said to you The things I always meant to do The bad dreams that all came true You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now When I think of how we were together I know we couldn't be like that forever Beneath the Seven Sister stars The night we let it go too far I slept out in the car You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now I remember skipping on the porch till it grew cold I remember feeling like I was eight years old Somersaults across the lawn Singing dancing up till dawn Every now and then we'd have a row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet round here now You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
As I wait for sleep to drag me under
In the evening gloom I sit and wonder The words I should have said to you The things I always meant to do The bad dreams that all came true You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now When I think of how we were together I know we couldn't be like that forever Beneath the Seven Sister stars The night we let it go too far I slept out in the car You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now I remember skipping on the porch till it grew cold I remember feeling like I was eight years old Somersaults across the lawn Singing dancing up till dawn Every now and then we'd have a row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet round here now You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
As I wait for sleep to drag me under
In the evening gloom I sit and wonder The words I should have said to you The things I always meant to do The bad dreams that all came true You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now When I think of how we were together I know we couldn't be like that forever Beneath the Seven Sister stars The night we let it go too far I slept out in the car You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now I remember skipping on the porch till it grew cold I remember feeling like I was eight years old Somersaults across the lawn Singing dancing up till dawn Every now and then we'd have a row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet round here now You woke up my neighbourhood Night after night we would row You woke up my neighbourhood Things are pretty quiet 'round here now |
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| from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000) | |||||
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| from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
On Monday I wished it was Tuesday night
So I could wish for the weekend to come On Tuesday I wished that the night would pass So I could call you on the phone Now a man can spend a lot of time Wondering what was on Jack Ruby's mind And time is all I have without you here On Wednesday when you hung up It was as much as I could do To stop from wishing Thursday Would pass so quickly too They're out there making history In the Lenin Shipyards today And here I am in the Hammersmith Hotel Wishing the days away There's always room for one more soul Down in the Human Zoo I don't want you to come here though I want to come home to you Somebody's knocking at the door Its later than I think And its time to put on these stinking clothes And get out there and stink On Friday I wished there was something more To be seen in the letters you send On Saturday I wished it was Sunday Oh will this torment ever end Sometimes I get a notion to put a torch To the tools of my trade Here I am in the Hammersmith Hotel Wishing the days away |
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
On Monday I wished it was Tuesday night
So I could wish for the weekend to come On Tuesday I wished that the night would pass So I could call you on the phone Now a man can spend a lot of time Wondering what was on Jack Ruby's mind And time is all I have without you here On Wednesday when you hung up It was as much as I could do To stop from wishing Thursday Would pass so quickly too They're out there making history In the Lenin Shipyards today And here I am in the Hammersmith Hotel Wishing the days away There's always room for one more soul Down in the Human Zoo I don't want you to come here though I want to come home to you Somebody's knocking at the door Its later than I think And its time to put on these stinking clothes And get out there and stink On Friday I wished there was something more To be seen in the letters you send On Saturday I wished it was Sunday Oh will this torment ever end Sometimes I get a notion to put a torch To the tools of my trade Here I am in the Hammersmith Hotel Wishing the days away |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
There's a girl sleeping in my bed
And I'm singing unwritten songs in my head She provided bittersweet company I confided how much you mean to me And this time It's gonna take a train to pull me through Some brief distraction from your memory Is all that I hoped that she might be And as I let her warm her feet on me Wish you were her That I wanted you to be my wife Is the worst kept secret of my life Everyone knows, even my friend here I've just whispered your name in her ear And this time It's gonna take a train to pull me through Some brief distraction from your memory Is all that I hoped that she might be And as I ask her how she takes her tea Wish you were her Her I wish you were her |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
There's a girl sleeping in my bed
And I'm singing unwritten songs in my head She provided bittersweet company I confided how much you mean to me And this time It's gonna take a train to pull me through Some brief distraction from your memory Is all that I hoped that she might be And as I let her warm her feet on me Wish you were her That I wanted you to be my wife Is the worst kept secret of my life Everyone knows, even my friend here I've just whispered your name in her ear And this time It's gonna take a train to pull me through Some brief distraction from your memory Is all that I hoped that she might be And as I ask her how she takes her tea Wish you were her Her I wish you were her |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
There's a girl sleeping in my bed
And I'm singing unwritten songs in my head She provided bittersweet company I confided how much you mean to me And this time It's gonna take a train to pull me through Some brief distraction from your memory Is all that I hoped that she might be And as I let her warm her feet on me Wish you were her That I wanted you to be my wife Is the worst kept secret of my life Everyone knows, even my friend here I've just whispered your name in her ear And this time It's gonna take a train to pull me through Some brief distraction from your memory Is all that I hoped that she might be And as I ask her how she takes her tea Wish you were her Her I wish you were her |
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| from Billy Bragg - William Bloke (2007) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
This government had an idea
And parliament made it law It seems like it's illegal To fight for the union anymore Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? We set out to join the picket line For together we cannot fail We got stopped by police at the county line They said, "Go home boys or you're going to jail" Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? It's hard to explain to a crying child Why her Daddy can't go back So the family suffer but it hurts me more To hear a scab say, "Sod you, Jack" Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? I'm bound to follow my conscience And do whatever I can But it'll take much more than the union law To knock the fight out of a working man Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? |
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from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
This government had an idea
And parliament made it law It seems like it's illegal To fight for the union anymore Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? We set out to join the picket line For together we cannot fail We got stopped by police at the county line They said, "Go home boys or you're going to jail" Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? It's hard to explain to a crying child Why her Daddy can't go back So the family suffer but it hurts me more To hear a scab say, "Sod you, Jack" Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? I'm bound to follow my conscience And do whatever I can But it'll take much more than the union law To knock the fight out of a working man Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on? |
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
Music: lookofsky/sansome/calilli
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying Over luxury's disappointment So he walks over and he's trying To sympathise with her but he thinks that he should warn her That the Third World is just around the corner. In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded That Dr Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell At the first hurdle. In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear Is the sound of someone stacking chairs And mopping up spilt beer And someone asking questions and basking in the light Of the fifteen fame-filled minutes of the fanzine writer. Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses While looking down the corridor Out to where the van is waiting I'm looking for the Great Leap Forwards. Jumble sales are organised and pamphlets have been posted Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted You can be active with the activists Or sleep in with the sleepers While you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards. One leap forward, two leaps back Will politics get me the sack? Here comes the future and you can't run from it If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it. It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole. If no one seems to understand Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman. In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune But this is reality so give me some room. So join the struggle while you may The Revolution is just a T-shirt away. Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying Over luxury's disappointment So he walks over and he's trying To sympathise with her but he thinks that he should warn her That the Third World is just around the corner. In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded That Dr Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell At the first hurdle. In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear Is the sound of someone stacking chairs And mopping up spilt beer And someone asking questions and basking in the light Of the fifteen fame-filled minutes of the fanzine writer. Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses While looking down the corridor Out to where the van is waiting I'm looking for the Great Leap Forwards. Jumble sales are organised and pamphlets have been posted Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted You can be active with the activists Or sleep in with the sleepers While you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards. One leap forward, two leaps back Will politics get me the sack? Here comes the future and you can't run from it If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it. It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole. If no one seems to understand Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman. In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune But this is reality so give me some room. So join the struggle while you may The Revolution is just a T-shirt away. Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards |
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| from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000) | |||||
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| from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
Some day boy you'll reap what you've sown
You'll catch a cold and you'll be on your own And you will see that what's wrong with me Is wrong with everyone that You want to play your little games on Poetry and flowers pretty words and threats You've gone to the dogs again and I'm not placing bets On you coming home tonight anything but blind If you take me for granted then you must expect to find Surprise, surprise Valentine's Day is over, it's over Valentine's Day is over If you want to talk about it well you know where the phone is Don't come round reminding me again how brittle bone is God didn't make you an angel the Devil made you a man That brutality and economy are related now I understand When will you realise that as above so below there is no love For the girl with the hour glass figure Time runs out very fast We used to want the same things but that's all in the past And lately it seems that as it all gets tougher Your ideal of justice just becomes rougher and rougher Thank you for the things you bought me thank you for the card Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard That love between two people must be based on understanding Until that's true you'll find your things All stacked out on the landing, surprise, surprise |
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from Billy Bragg - William Bloke (2007)
I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside
I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore I dreamed I saw a tree full of angels, up on Primrose Hill And I flew with them over the Great Wen till I had seen my fill Of such poverty and misery sure to tear my soul apart I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore The angels asked me how I felt about all I'd seen and heard That they spoke to me, a pagan, gave me cause to doubt their word But they laughed and said: "I doesn't matter if you'll help us in our art You've got a socialism of the heart, you've got a socialism of the heart" I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore Their faces shone and they were gone and I was left alone I walked these ancient empire streets till I came tearful to my home And when I woke next morning, I vowed to play my part I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore |
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from Billy Bragg - William Bloke (2007)
I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside
I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore I dreamed I saw a tree full of angels, up on Primrose Hill And I flew with them over the Great Wen till I had seen my fill Of such poverty and misery sure to tear my soul apart I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore The angels asked me how I felt about all I'd seen and heard That they spoke to me, a pagan, gave me cause to doubt their word But they laughed and said: "I doesn't matter if you'll help us in our art You've got a socialism of the heart, you've got a socialism of the heart" I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore Their faces shone and they were gone and I was left alone I walked these ancient empire streets till I came tearful to my home And when I woke next morning, I vowed to play my part I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside I'm going higher than I've ever been before That's where you'll find me, over the horizon Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore |
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| from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
He's already been inside me
And he really didn't say And I really didn't ask him I just hoped and prayed He's already been in side me And I really don't feel well I keep looking in the mirror But it's hard to tell Will he stay by me and take my hand And hold me till I sleep Or will he crumble and fall to the floor And weep Oh feeble man, Oh evil man He's already been inside me Would he have told me if he cared? I know I ought to find out But I'm much too scared He's already been inside me And I know it can't be good Nothing feels The way it should Will he hold me in his arms again And wipe away my tears Or has he already taken My best years Oh evil man, Oh feeble man |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
He's already been inside me
And he really didn't say And I really didn't ask him I just hoped and prayed He's already been in side me And I really don't feel well I keep looking in the mirror But it's hard to tell Will he stay by me and take my hand And hold me till I sleep Or will he crumble and fall to the floor And weep Oh feeble man, Oh evil man He's already been inside me Would he have told me if he cared? I know I ought to find out But I'm much too scared He's already been inside me And I know it can't be good Nothing feels The way it should Will he hold me in his arms again And wipe away my tears Or has he already taken My best years Oh evil man, Oh feeble man |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
He's already been inside me
And he really didn't say And I really didn't ask him I just hoped and prayed He's already been in side me And I really don't feel well I keep looking in the mirror But it's hard to tell Will he stay by me and take my hand And hold me till I sleep Or will he crumble and fall to the floor And weep Oh feeble man, Oh evil man He's already been inside me Would he have told me if he cared? I know I ought to find out But I'm much too scared He's already been inside me And I know it can't be good Nothing feels The way it should Will he hold me in his arms again And wipe away my tears Or has he already taken My best years Oh evil man, Oh feeble man |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
Written by Zenon Defleur. Published by Carlin Music Corp. Originally recorded by The Count Bishops in 1976 on a Chiswick Records single cat. no. SSA
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from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
Up in the morning and out to school
Mother says there'll be no work next year Qualifications once the Golden Rule Are now just pieces of paper Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards If you look the part you'll get the job In last year's trousers and your old school shoes The truth is son, it's a buyer's market They can afford to pick and choose Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because I dress like this Doesn't mean I'm a communist The factories are closing and the army's full I don't know what I'm going to do But I've come to see in the Land of the Free There's only a future for the Chosen Few Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards At twenty one you're on top of the scrapheap At sixteen you were top of the class All they taught you at school Was how to be a good worker The system has failed you, don't fail yourself Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
Up in the morning and out to school
Mother says there'll be no work next year Qualifications once the Golden Rule Are now just pieces of paper Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards If you look the part you'll get the job In last year's trousers and your old school shoes The truth is son, it's a buyer's market They can afford to pick and choose Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because I dress like this Doesn't mean I'm a communist The factories are closing and the army's full I don't know what I'm going to do But I've come to see in the Land of the Free There's only a future for the Chosen Few Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards At twenty one you're on top of the scrapheap At sixteen you were top of the class All they taught you at school Was how to be a good worker The system has failed you, don't fail yourself Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards |
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from Billy Bragg - The Internationale (2007)
Up in the morning and out to school
Mother says there'll be no work next year Qualifications once the Golden Rule Are now just pieces of paper Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards If you look the part you'll get the job In last year's trousers and your old school shoes The truth is son, it's a buyer's market They can afford to pick and choose Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because I dress like this Doesn't mean I'm a communist The factories are closing and the army's full I don't know what I'm going to do But I've come to see in the Land of the Free There's only a future for the Chosen Few Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards At twenty one you're on top of the scrapheap At sixteen you were top of the class All they taught you at school Was how to be a good worker The system has failed you, don't fail yourself Just because you're better than me Doesn't mean I'm lazy Just because you're going forwards Doesn't mean I'm going backwards |
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| from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002) | |||||
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| from Billy Bragg - The Internationale (2007) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Who will come to carry me home?
Carry me over the river. Must I face this all on my own? Face the lies and the gulf between us, Face the lies and the gulf between us. Dawn breaks over the squares and the parks, But the sunlight cannot find me. No warmth filters down through the dark That lies in the gulf between us, That lies in this gulf between us. Please don't hand me your sympathy, If only to ease your conscience. I'm sure you'd rather step over me, Than cross this gulf between us, Step across this gulf between us. |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
Sandra met Raymond at the Race Relations
Much to the dismay of her family and friends The love that we have is so important The time that it takes to make a baby Can be the time it takes to make a cup of tea The love that we have is so important He still goes dancing and she still cuts hair They put the baby into Council care The love that we have is so important |
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| from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - The Internationale (2007)
Do you think that the Russians want war?
These are the parents of children who died in the last one Do you think that it's possible knowing their past That they'd ever considered repeating the past When twenty million were slaughtered by NAZI invasion They died fighting on our side you know In a fight to defend human kind against NAZI terror and hatred In the name of humanity bitter and torn In the name of our children as yet to be born Before we do that which can never be undone I beg of you Think, think again And again and again and again and again Do you think that the Russians want war? These are the sons and the daughters of parents who died in the last one Do you think that they want to go through that again? The destruction, the bloodshed, the suffering and pain In the second world war, out of every three dead, one was Russian If we try with all of our power Can we not find a way to peacefully settle our difference In the name of humanity bitter and torn In the name of our children as yet to be born Before we do that which can never be undone I beg of you Think, think again And again and again and again and again Do you think that the Russians want war? Will the voice of insanity lead you to total destruction? Will you stumble to death as though you were blind? Will you cause the destruction of all human kind? Will you die because you don't like their political system? There will be no survivors you know No one left to scream in the night and condemn our stupidity In the name of humanity bitter and torn In the name of our children as yet to be born Before we do that which can never be undone I beg of you Think, think again And again and again and again and again |
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| from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hands of a worker But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand There is power in a Union Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers' blood The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud War has always been the bosses' way, sir The Union forever defending our rights Down with the blackleg, all workers unite With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands There is power in a Union Now I long for the morning that they realise Brutality and unjust laws can not defeat us But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise When the bosses send their lackies out to cheat us? Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child There is power in a Union The Union forever defending our rights Down with the blackleg, all workers unite With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand There is power in a Union. |
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from Billy Bragg - The Internationale (2007)
There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hands of a worker But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand There is power in a Union Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers' blood The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud War has always been the bosses' way, sir The Union forever defending our rights Down with the blackleg, all workers unite With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands There is power in a Union Now I long for the morning that they realise Brutality and unjust laws can not defeat us But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise When the bosses send their lackies out to cheat us? Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child There is power in a Union The Union forever defending our rights Down with the blackleg, all workers unite With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand There is power in a Union. |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
In 1649
To St. George's Hill A ragged band they called the Diggers Came to show the people's will They defied the landlords They defied the laws They were the dispossessed Reclaiming what was theirs "We come in peace," they said "To dig and sow We come to work the lands in common And to make the waste grounds grow This earth divided We will make whole So it will be A common treasury for all The sin of property We do disdain No man has any right to buy and sell The earth for private gain By theft and murder They took the land Now everywhere the walls Spring up at their command They make the laws To chain us well The clergy dazzle us with heaven Or they damn us into hell We will not worship The God they serve The God of greed who feeds the rich While poor men starve We work we eat together We need no swords We will not bow to the masters Or pay rent to the lords We are free men Though we are poor You Diggers all stand up for glory Stand up now" From the men of property The orders came They sent the hired men and troopers To wipe out the Diggers' claim Tear down their cottages Destroy their corn They were dispersed But still the vision lingers on You poor take courage You rich take care This earth was made a common treasury For everyone to share All things in common All people one We come in peace The orders came to cut them down |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
A rainy afternoon
Spent in the warmest room She lay before me and said Yes it's true that I have seen some naked men As she made for the door Leaving me on the floor I wish I'd done biology For an urge within me wanted to do it then Chorus: And here she comes again And I'm sitting on my hands And she sings to me that siren song Here she comes again and I'm biting my lip But it won't be long As Brother Barry said As he married Marion The wife has three great attributes Intelligence, a Swiss army knife and charmBut that's not enough sometimes And she did speak her mind And told them all that she believed The only way to disarm is to disarm I know people whose idea of fun Is throwing stones in the river in the afternoon sun Oh let me be as free as them Don't let her pass this way again Though you cannot be blamed But I've become inflamed With thoughts of lust and thoughts of power Thoughts of love and thoughts of Chairman Mao We have such little time At your place or mine I can't wait till we take our blood tests Oh baby let's take our blood tests now |
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| from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
Whenever you find a man
That loves every woman he sees There's always some kind of woman That's putting him up a tree Well that kind of man he ain't got As much sense as a mule You know every woman don't love you They're just playing you for a fool Ooh, oh no It's not hard for you to understand True love can be such a sweet harmony If you do the best that you can If you marry the wrong kind of woman And you get where you can't agree Well you just as well forget your plan Let that woman be But a man ought to make a good husband And quit trying to lead a fast life Going around dressing up other women Won't put clothes on his own wife Ooh, oh no It's not hard for you to understand True love can be such a sweet harmony If you do the best that you can Well there's lots of good women want to marry And they want to live well at home But they're 'fraid they might get hold of some rowdy man Can't let other women alone And there's lots of good men want to marry And they want to live well at home But everytime they turn their back there's a man there Asking, "Darling, is he gone?" Ooh, oh no It's not hard for you to understand True love can be such a sweet harmony If you do the best that you can True love can be such a sweet harmony If you do the best that you can |
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from Billy Bragg - William Bloke (2007)
When I was young I told my mum
I'm going to walk on the Moon someday Armstrong and Aldrin spoke to me From Houston and Cape Kennedy And I watched the Eagle landing On a night when the Moon was full And as it tugged at the tides, I knew deep inside I too could feel its pull I lay in my bed and dreamed I walked On the Sea of Tranquillity I knew that someday soon we'd all sail to the moon On the high tide of technology But the dreams have all been taken And the window seats taken too And 2001 has almost come and gone What am I supposed to do? Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get to the moon Because the space race is over And I can't help but feel we've all grown up too soon Now my dreams have all been shattered And my wings are tattered too And I can still fly but not half as high As once I wanted to Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get to the moon Because the space race is over And I can't help but feel we've all grown up too soon My son and I stand beneath the great night sky And gaze up in wonder I tell him the tale of Apollo And he says "Why did they ever go?" It may look like some empty gesture To go all that way just to come back But don't offer me a place out in cyberspace Cos where in the hell's that at? Now that the space race is over It's been and it's gone and I'll never get out of my room Because the space race is over And I can't help but feel we're all just going nowhere |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
Between Marx and marzipan in the dictionary there was Mary
Between the Deep Blue Sea and the Devil that was me If ever anyone could help me with my obsession with The young Suzannah York It was Mary In my pink pyjamas she asked me for something I gave her the short answer She read our stars out loud And I knew then that we should have gone sailing But we stayed home instead Fighting on the waterbed Like the honeymoon couple on drugs Me and Mary What happened in the past Remained a mystery of natural history She should have been the last But she was just the latest If she wanted to be a farmer's wife I would endure that muddy life I would dig for victory And the sound of happy couples Coupling happily in the dark While you and I sat down to tea I remember you said to me That no amount of poetry Would mend this broken heart But you can put the Hoover round If you want to make a start All my friends from school Introduce me to their spouses While I'm left standing here With my hands down the front of my trousers I just don't know what's to be done I wonder sometimes how did Dad meet Mum And how did they conceive of me Tell my Mary The boys who came to the shop Always made her laugh much more than I did When I told her this must stop She didn't bat an eyelid She said you know honey it's such a shame You'll never be any good at this game You bruise too easily So said Mary Her two brothers took me out Of circulation for the duration So we went our separate ways but does she still love me She still has my door key Like a bully boy in a Benetton shop You're never happy with what you've got Till what you've got is gone Sorry Mary |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
Between Marx and marzipan in the dictionary there was Mary
Between the Deep Blue Sea and the Devil that was me If ever anyone could help me with my obsession with The young Suzannah York It was Mary In my pink pyjamas she asked me for something I gave her the short answer She read our stars out loud And I knew then that we should have gone sailing But we stayed home instead Fighting on the waterbed Like the honeymoon couple on drugs Me and Mary What happened in the past Remained a mystery of natural history She should have been the last But she was just the latest If she wanted to be a farmer's wife I would endure that muddy life I would dig for victory And the sound of happy couples Coupling happily in the dark While you and I sat down to tea I remember you said to me That no amount of poetry Would mend this broken heart But you can put the Hoover round If you want to make a start All my friends from school Introduce me to their spouses While I'm left standing here With my hands down the front of my trousers I just don't know what's to be done I wonder sometimes how did Dad meet Mum And how did they conceive of me Tell my Mary The boys who came to the shop Always made her laugh much more than I did When I told her this must stop She didn't bat an eyelid She said you know honey it's such a shame You'll never be any good at this game You bruise too easily So said Mary Her two brothers took me out Of circulation for the duration So we went our separate ways but does she still love me She still has my door key Like a bully boy in a Benetton shop You're never happy with what you've got Till what you've got is gone Sorry Mary |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
I'll never forget the first day I met her
That September morning was clear and fresh The way she spoke and laughed at my jokes And the way she rubbed herself Against the edge of my desk She became a magic mystery to me And we'd sit together in double History twice a week And some days we'd walk the same way home And it's surprising how quick A little rain can clear the streets We dreamed of her and compared our dreams But that was all that I ever tasted She lied to me with her body you see I lied to myself 'bout the chances I'd wasted The times we were close Were far and few between In the darkness at the dances in the school canteen Did she close her eyes like I did As we held each other tight And la la la la la la la la means I love you She danced with me and I still hold that memory Soft and sweet And I stare up at her window As I walk down her street But I never made the first team, I just made the first team laugh And she never came to the phone She was always in the bath In the end, it took me a dictionary To find out the meaning of unrequited While she was giving herself for free At a party to which I was never invited I never understood my failings then And I hide my humble hopes now Thinking back she made us want her A girl not old enough to shave her legs |
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from Billy Bragg - The Internationale (2007)
The people's flag is deepest red
It shrouded oft our martyred dead And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold Their hearts' blood dyed to every fold Chorus: Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its folds we'll live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We'll keep the red flag flying here It waved above our infant might When all ahead seemed dark as night It witnessed many a deed and vow We must not change its colour now Chorus It well recalls the triumphs past It gives the hope of peace at last The banner bright, the symbol plain Of human right and human gain Chorus It suits today the meek and base Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place To cringe beneath the rich man's frown And haul that sacred emblem down Chorus With heads uncovered swear we all To bare it onward till we fall Come dungeons dark or gallows grim This song shall be our parting hymn Chorus Words: Jim Connell Music: "The White Cockade" |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
The fear of a daughter can run high
In the mind of a father to be For something is growing inside But we don't talk about it, do we? In the long empty passionless night Many times to herself she has prayed That the baby will love her much more Than the big boy who stole her away And sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take a child a night to learn And sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take a child a night to learn It pains her to know that some things will never be right If the baby is just someone else to take sides in a fight Harsh words between bride and groom The distance is greater each day He smokes alone in the next room And she knits her life away And sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take a child a night to learn And sometimes it takes a grown man a long time to learn Just what it would take a child a night to learn A long time ago she saw visions on the stairs And when she felt dizzy, her mother was always there The home help is no help at all I have not committed a crime Angels gaze down from the wall Is there a God? Is there a next time? |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
Sometimes when you lose your way to me
I think you don't care at all If you don't get here soon I'll tear that clock down from the wall Your family and friends don't understand They treat me so strange The book you said to read Well I have read but nothing's changed The clocks go forward the clocks go back Yet here I sit as if I were the only one And oh you cannot hear me Oh you cannot hear me Can anybody hear me out there He's up on his high horse again You're down in the park I'm left to fight my impulses alone here in the dark The chain that fell off my bike last night Is now wrapped round my heart Sometimes I think that Fate has been against us from the start I long to let our love run free Yet here I am a victim of geography And oh you cannot hear me Oh you cannot hear me Can anybody hear me out there She said kiss me or would you rather Live in a land where the soap won't lather And oh... You know you are the only one Yes you are the only one Yes you are the only one |
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| from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
I woke up this morning
To find that we have outlived the myth of trust You woke up this morning To the fact we've lost the things We took for granted between us And I grew up in awe of the girl next door And the boy that never cried And I was dreaming of those Elizabethan girls While you were eorking in the market To earn ourselves And when you found out what happened yesterday While you were away in this land of Cain We were upstairs in the bedroom Dancing disgusting And flushing our babies down the drain And the apple that don't want to get eaten Will still fall off the tree When you're in as deep as we are honey It's so easy to get washed out to sea For the facts of life are not man and wife But Man and Woman sadly And the apple that don't want to get eaten Will still fall off the tree |
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from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
If you're lonely, I will call -
If you're poorly, I will send poetry I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint If you're sleeping, I will wait If your bed is wet, I will dry your tears I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint Hold my hand for me I'm waking up Hold my hand for me I'm waking up Hold my hand for me I'm making up Won't you hold my hand - I'm making up If you are falling, I'll put out my hands If you feel bitter, I will understand I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
If you're lonely, I will call -
If you're poorly, I will send poetry I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint If you're sleeping, I will wait If your bed is wet, I will dry your tears I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint Hold my hand for me I'm waking up Hold my hand for me I'm waking up Hold my hand for me I'm making up Won't you hold my hand - I'm making up If you are falling, I'll put out my hands If you feel bitter, I will understand I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
I understand you needing
And wanting is no crime But I can't help feeling That you and your mother are just wasting your time Choosing Saturdays in Summer I dare you to wear white Love is just a moment of giving And marriage is when we admit our parents were right I just don't understand it What makes our love a sin How can it make that difference If you and I are wearing that bloody, bloody ring If I share my bed with you Must I also share my life Love is just a moment of giving And marriage is when we admit our parents were right You just don't understnd it This tender trap we're in Those glossy catalogues of couples Are cashing in on happiness again and again So drag me to the altar And I'll make my sacrifice Love is just a moment of giving And marriage is when we admit our parents were right And marriage is when we admit our parents were probably right |
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from Billy Bragg - The Internationale (2007)
Here we are, seeking out the Reds
Trying to keep the communists in order Just remember when you're sleeping in your beds They're only two days drive from the Texas border How can a country large as ours Be scared of such a threat Well if they won't work for us They're against us you can bet They may be sovereign countries But you folks at home forget That they all want what we've got But they don't know it yet We're making the world safe for capitalism Here we come with our candy and our guns And our corporate muscle marches in behind us For freedom's just another world for nothing left to sell And if you want narcotics we can get you those as well We help the multi-nationals When they cry out protect us The locals scream and shout a bit But we don't let that affect us We're here to lend a helping hand In case they don't elect us How dare they buy our products Yet still they don't respect us We're making the world safe for capitalism If you thought the army Was here protecting people like yourself I've some news for you We're here to defend wealth Away with nuns and bishops The Good Lord will help those that help themselves I've some news for you We're here to defend wealth We're making the world safe for capitalism |
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from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
When he drops you off, I will not say
Who was that who so quickly drove away... The things you've done and the places you've been When I open the door for you I will not let them in... As long as you come back to me I will never ask For you I will be The man in the iron mask You said you love me and it broke my heart I was always your prisoner right from the start The nights you spend without me this house is like a dungeon And you only return to torture me more You must have your reasons I will no ask - For you I will be The Man in the Iron Mask |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
When he drops you off, I will not say
Who was that who so quickly drove away... The things you've done and the places you've been When I open the door for you I will not let them in... As long as you come back to me I will never ask For you I will be The man in the iron mask You said you love me and it broke my heart I was always your prisoner right from the start The nights you spend without me this house is like a dungeon And you only return to torture me more You must have your reasons I will no ask - For you I will be The Man in the Iron Mask |
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from Billy Bragg - The Internationale (2007)
Stand up, all victims of oppression
For the tyrants fear your might Don't cling so hard to your possessions For you have nothing, if you have no rights Let racist ignorance be ended For respect makes the empires fall Freedom is merely privilege extended Unless enjoyed by one and all Chorus: So come brothers and sisters For the struggle carries on The Internationale Unites the world in song So comrades come rally For this is the time and place The international ideal Unites the human race Let no one build walls to divide us Walls of hatred nor walls of stone Come greet the dawn and stand beside us We'll live together or we'll die alone In our world poisoned by exploitation Those who have taken, now they must give And end the vanity of nations We've but one Earth on which to live And so begins the final drama In the streets and in the fields We stand unbowed before their armour We defy their guns and shields When we fight, provoked by their aggression Let us be inspired by like and love For though they offer us concessions Change will not come from above |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
Father mowsthe lawn and Mother peels the potatoes
Grandma lays the table alone And adjusts a photograph of the unknown soldier In this Holy of Holies, the Home And from the TV an unwatched voice Suggests the answer is to plant more trees The scrawl on the wall says what about the workers And the voice of the people says more salt please Mother shakesher head and reads aloud from the newspaper As Father puts another lock on the door And reflects upon the violent times that we are living in While chatting with the wife beater next door If paradise to you is cheap beer and overtime Home truths are easily missed Something that every football fan knows It only takes five fingers to form a fist And whenit rains here It rains so hard But never hard enough to wash away the sorrow I'll trade my love today for a greater love tomorrow The lonely child looks out and dreams of independence From this family life sentence Mother seesbut does not read the peeling posters And can't believe that there's a world to be won But in the public schools and in the public houses The Battle of Britain goes on The constantpromise of jam tomorrow Is the New Breed's litany and verse If it takes another war to fill the churches of England Then the world the meek inherit, what will it be worth Mother fightsthe tears and Father, his sense of outrage And attempts to justify the sacrifice To pass their creed down to another generation 'Anything for the quiet life' In the Land of a Thousand Doses Where nostalgia is the opium of the age Our place in History is as clock watchers, old timers, window shoppers. |
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from Billy Bragg - William Bloke (2007)
I wish that I could remember the first moment that we met
If only I could remember that sweet moment when we met If I knew then that I Would spend the rest of my life with you I imagine I would have held your gaze a little longer When first our eyes met Did it rain or did sunshine attend out first meeting? What words were said? What weight given to that first greeting? My diary doesn't help I don't even mention your name until that summer When bloomed the Seed sown on the first day that we met I know the date, I know the place where in happened Yet in my mind the scene I recall is imagined As we grow old I'm sure There will be moments that we will not forget But I would Remember something of the moment that we met |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
At night the Baby Brotherhood and the Inter City Crew
Fill their pockets up with calling cards And paint their faces red white and blue Then they go out seeking different coloured faces And anyone else that they can scare And they salute the foes their fathers fought By raising their right hands in the air. Oh look how my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? From the stands of the Empire Stadium Come the heralds of the New Dark Age With the simplicities of bigotry And to whom all the world's a stage These little John Bullshits know that the press Will glorify their feats So that the general public fear them And the authorities say give 'em all seats And the wasted seed of the bulldog breed Is shouting "Here we go!" What do they know of England who only England know? Our neighbours shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in their fountains To express our national pride And to prove to the world that England Is just as rotten as she looks They repeat the lies that caught their eyes At school in history books But the wars they think they're fighting Were all over long ago What do they know of England who only England know? And the society that spawned them Just cries out "Who's to blame?" And then wraps itself in the Union Jack And just carries on the same Oh look out, my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
At night the Baby Brotherhood and the Inter City Crew
Fill their pockets up with calling cards And paint their faces red white and blue Then they go out seeking different coloured faces And anyone else that they can scare And they salute the foes their fathers fought By raising their right hands in the air. Oh look how my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? From the stands of the Empire Stadium Come the heralds of the New Dark Age With the simplicities of bigotry And to whom all the world's a stage These little John Bullshits know that the press Will glorify their feats So that the general public fear them And the authorities say give 'em all seats And the wasted seed of the bulldog breed Is shouting "Here we go!" What do they know of England who only England know? Our neighbours shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in their fountains To express our national pride And to prove to the world that England Is just as rotten as she looks They repeat the lies that caught their eyes At school in history books But the wars they think they're fighting Were all over long ago What do they know of England who only England know? And the society that spawned them Just cries out "Who's to blame?" And then wraps itself in the Union Jack And just carries on the same Oh look out, my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
At night the Baby Brotherhood and the Inter City Crew
Fill their pockets up with calling cards And paint their faces red white and blue Then they go out seeking different coloured faces And anyone else that they can scare And they salute the foes their fathers fought By raising their right hands in the air. Oh look how my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? From the stands of the Empire Stadium Come the heralds of the New Dark Age With the simplicities of bigotry And to whom all the world's a stage These little John Bullshits know that the press Will glorify their feats So that the general public fear them And the authorities say give 'em all seats And the wasted seed of the bulldog breed Is shouting "Here we go!" What do they know of England who only England know? Our neighbours shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in their fountains To express our national pride And to prove to the world that England Is just as rotten as she looks They repeat the lies that caught their eyes At school in history books But the wars they think they're fighting Were all over long ago What do they know of England who only England know? And the society that spawned them Just cries out "Who's to blame?" And then wraps itself in the Union Jack And just carries on the same Oh look out, my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
At night the Baby Brotherhood and the Inter City Crew
Fill their pockets up with calling cards And paint their faces red white and blue Then they go out seeking different coloured faces And anyone else that they can scare And they salute the foes their fathers fought By raising their right hands in the air. Oh look how my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? From the stands of the Empire Stadium Come the heralds of the New Dark Age With the simplicities of bigotry And to whom all the world's a stage These little John Bullshits know that the press Will glorify their feats So that the general public fear them And the authorities say give 'em all seats And the wasted seed of the bulldog breed Is shouting "Here we go!" What do they know of England who only England know? Our neighbours shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in their fountains To express our national pride And to prove to the world that England Is just as rotten as she looks They repeat the lies that caught their eyes At school in history books But the wars they think they're fighting Were all over long ago What do they know of England who only England know? And the society that spawned them Just cries out "Who's to blame?" And then wraps itself in the Union Jack And just carries on the same Oh look out, my country's patriots are hunting down below What do they know of England who only England know? |
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from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
The busy girl buys beauty
The pretty girl buys style And the simple girl buys What she's told to buy And sees her world Through the brightly lit eyes Of the glossy romance of fashion Where she can learn... Top tips for the gas cook Successful secrets of a sexual kind The daily drill for beautiful hair And the truth about pain What was Anna Ford wearing? What did Angela Rippon say? What will you do When you wake up one morning To find that God's made you plain In a beautiful person's world? And all those quick recipes Have let you down And you're 20½ and not yet engaged Will you go look for the boy who says I love you let's get married and have kids The busy girl buys beauty The pretty girl buys style And the simple girl buys What she's told to buy Through the brightly lit eyes Of the glossy romance of fashion Where she can learn... Top tips for the gas cook Successful secrets of a sexual kind The daily drill for beautiful hair In a mail order paradise... |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
The busy girl buys beauty
The pretty girl buys style And the simple girl buys What she's told to buy And sees her world Through the brightly lit eyes Of the glossy romance of fashion Where she can learn... Top tips for the gas cook Successful secrets of a sexual kind The daily drill for beautiful hair And the truth about pain What was Anna Ford wearing? What did Angela Rippon say? What will you do When you wake up one morning To find that God's made you plain In a beautiful person's world? And all those quick recipes Have let you down And you're 20½ and not yet engaged Will you go look for the boy who says I love you let's get married and have kids The busy girl buys beauty The pretty girl buys style And the simple girl buys What she's told to buy Through the brightly lit eyes Of the glossy romance of fashion Where she can learn... Top tips for the gas cook Successful secrets of a sexual kind The daily drill for beautiful hair In a mail order paradise... |
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
The Boy Done Good
Strange as it may seem, I once had my football dreams But I was always the last one, the last to get chosen When my classmates picked their teams I guess that was the way it stayed in every game I played Life just tripped me and clattered and kicked me Till you picked me from the parade Now I feel like I've won the cup every time that we make love Forty-five minutes each way, at halftime I hear a brass band play The boy done good, the girl done better, The seasons turn and we're still together, The sky is still blue and tomorrow is another day You weren't that kind of a girl who likes her studs to be covered in mud Taking you to the pictures was a regular fixture For one of life's eternal subs I tried hard acting tough, but I just can't stand the taste of that stuff Like some macho park player I got in the way of In some grudge match against his club But I'm happier how I am today now I've put my boots away I guess I'll never get picked to play my song on Match of the Day |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
My friend said she could see no way ahead
And I was probably better off without you She said to face up to the fact that you weren't coming back And she could make me happy like you used to But I'm sorry to say I turned her away Knowing everything she said was true And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do There's something inside that hurts my foolish pride To visit the places we used to go together Not a day goes by that I don't sit and wonder why Your feelings for me didn't last forever Girl I love you so much that sometimes it's such I'd walk a mile with a stone in my shoe And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do So keep that phone out of my way for the things I must say Are empty if you don't believe they're true That's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Girl, I love you so much that baby it's such I'd walk a mile with a stone in my shoe And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do And you know that I do Yeah, that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do And that's the price I pay for loving you the way that I do |
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from Billy Bragg - William Bloke (2007)
You Thatcherites by name, lend an ear, lend an ear
You Thatcherites by name lend an ear You Thatcherites by name, your faults I will proclaim, Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear, you will hear Your doctrines I must blame, you will hear You privatise away what is ours, what is ours You privatise away what is ours You privatise away and then you make us pay We'll take it back some day, mark my words, mark my words We'll take it back some day, mark my words The scabs they hide their faces in shame, yes in shame The scabs they hide their faces in shame They hide away in shame but we recall their names And they know they'll share the blame for it all, for it all They know they'll share the blame for it all Your leader she has gone to the Lords, to the Lords Your leader, she has gone to the Lords Your Leader she has gone, but she's left us Little John And he's barely hanging on by his nails, by his nails He's barely hanging on by his nails |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
A police car and a screamin' siren
Pneumatic drill and ripped-up concrete A baby wailing, a stray dog howling The screech of brakes and lamplight blinking That's entertainment That's entertainment A smash of glass and the rumble of boots An electric train and a ripped-up phone booth Paint-splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat Lights going out and a kick in the balls I say that's entertainment That's entertainment La la la la la, ah La la la la la, ah Days of speed and slow-time Mondays Pissing down with rain on a boring Wednesday Watching the news and not eating your tea Freezing cold flat with damp on the walls I say that's entertainment That's entertainment Waking up at 6 A.M. on a cool warm morning Opening the windows and breathing in petrol An amateur band rehearsing in a nearby yard Watching the telly and thinking 'bout your holidays That's entertainment That's entertainment Waking up from bad dreams and smoking cigarettes Cuddling a warm girl and smelling stale perfume A hot summer's day and sticky black tarmac Feeding ducks in the park and wishing you were far away That's entertainment That's entertainment Two lovers kissing masks a scream of midnight Two lovers missing the tranquility of solitude Getting a cab and travelling on buses Reading the grafitti about slashed-seat affairs I say that's entertainment That's entertainment La la la la La la la la La la la la La la la la La la la la La la la la La la la la La la la la La la la la La la la la La la la la |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
What will you do when the war is over, tender comrade
When we lay down our weary guns When we return home to our wives and families And look into the eyes of our sons What will you say of the bond we had, tender comrade Will you say that we were brave As the shells fell all around us Or that we wept and cried for our mothers And cursed our fathers For forgetting that all men are brothers Will you say that we were heroes Or that fear of dying among strangers Tore our innocence and false shame away And from that moment on deep in my heart I knew That I would only give my life for love Brothers in arms in each other arms Was the only time that I was not afraid What will you do when the war is over, tender comrade When we cast off these khaki clothes And go our separate ways What will you say of the bond we had Tender comrade |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
What will you do when the war is over, tender comrade
When we lay down our weary guns When we return home to our wives and families And look into the eyes of our sons What will you say of the bond we had, tender comrade Will you say that we were brave As the shells fell all around us Or that we wept and cried for our mothers And cursed our fathers For forgetting that all men are brothers Will you say that we were heroes Or that fear of dying among strangers Tore our innocence and false shame away And from that moment on deep in my heart I knew That I would only give my life for love Brothers in arms in each other arms Was the only time that I was not afraid What will you do when the war is over, tender comrade When we cast off these khaki clothes And go our separate ways What will you say of the bond we had Tender comrade |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Kiss me goodnight and say my prayers
Leave the light on at the top of the stairs Tell me the names of the stars up in the sky A tree taps on the window pane That feeling smothers me again Daddy is it true that we all have to die At the top of the stairs Is darkness I closed my eyes and when I looked Your name was in the memorial book and what had become of all the things we planned I accepted the commiserations Of all your friends and your relations But there's some things I still don't understand You were so tall How could you fall? Some photographs of a summer's day A little boy's lifetime away Is all I've left of everything we've done Like a pale moon in a sunny sky Death gazes down as I pass by To remind me that I'm but my father's son I offer up to you This tribute I offer up to you This tank park salute |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Kiss me goodnight and say my prayers
Leave the light on at the top of the stairs Tell me the names of the stars up in the sky A tree taps on the window pane That feeling smothers me again Daddy is it true that we all have to die At the top of the stairs Is darkness I closed my eyes and when I looked Your name was in the memorial book and what had become of all the things we planned I accepted the commiserations Of all your friends and your relations But there's some things I still don't understand You were so tall How could you fall? Some photographs of a summer's day A little boy's lifetime away Is all I've left of everything we've done Like a pale moon in a sunny sky Death gazes down as I pass by To remind me that I'm but my father's son I offer up to you This tribute I offer up to you This tank park salute |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Kiss me goodnight and say my prayers
Leave the light on at the top of the stairs Tell me the names of the stars up in the sky A tree taps on the window pane That feeling smothers me again Daddy is it true that we all have to die At the top of the stairs Is darkness I closed my eyes and when I looked Your name was in the memorial book and what had become of all the things we planned I accepted the commiserations Of all your friends and your relations But there's some things I still don't understand You were so tall How could you fall? Some photographs of a summer's day A little boy's lifetime away Is all I've left of everything we've done Like a pale moon in a sunny sky Death gazes down as I pass by To remind me that I'm but my father's son I offer up to you This tribute I offer up to you This tank park salute |
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
If you hate me, why don't you go?
And if you love me, why don't you let me know? But you just won't give me an inch, so You just sulk Why do I want to hide whenever you show up? You know your moods just make me want to throw up Why don't you just bloody well grow up? You just sulk All of the time, Why don't you pick me up or throw me a line? All over the place, Why don't you tell me what you think? Come on and tell me to my face If you love me, why don't you show it? If you hate me, why don't you let me know it? Why don't you just pick up something and throw it? You just sulk If you want to bend my arm, Well you could do it with a little more charm, But you just couldn't bear to do me any harm So you just sulk And you tell me that you want to quit And then you treat me like a piece of shit And when I ask you, what's that got to do with it? You just sulk Ad lib, and fade WORDS: Billy Bragg - MUSIC: Billy Bragg & Cara Tivey |
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from Billy Bragg - William Bloke (2007)
Sugardaddy took me to wonderland
Gave me so many presents I could not stand To see you I really couldn't stand to see you Sugardaddy took me far away On a holiday, I didn't have to pay Just be there All I had to do was be there Sugardaddy comes with his pockets full of fun Sugardaddy's blowing kisses from his gun What will he do and where will he run When the real world comes to town Sugardaddy took all my pain away Now I have to say I'd let him get away with murder I'd let him get away with murder He drives a car that doesn't have a roof He dares the Big Ol' World to tell him the truth By buying silence He buys you silence Silence, so you'll never ask him why Silence, so you'll never say he makes you cry Silence, so you'll never look him in the eye And say you want his time 'cos time is money Sugardaddy can't help but overfill my cup Sugardaddy always rides heavy on his luck What will he do when his baby grows up And doesn't want the toys that he's provided? Sugardaddy comes with his pockets full of fun Sugardaddy's blowing kisses from his gun What will he do and where will he run When the real world comes to town |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
All winter long while I was locked in my room
Your face at the window and my hair on the floor I was thinking of you All winter long while I was locked in my room Your face at the window and my hair on the floor I was thinking of you But the phone rang all night long To tell me I was wrong And I watched while the officer Wrote all their ages down Strange things happen When you're not around Our love is so strong It moves objects in my house Strange things happen When you're not around Those magical moments Have found their way back home again All winter long while I was locked in my room Your face at the window and my hair on the floor I was thinking of you All winter long while I was locked in my room Your face at the window And that book of old spells I was thinking of you And all the spells we cast Have lately come to pass And the flowers in the garden have all fallen down Strange things happen... |
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| from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002) | |||||
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| from Billy Bragg - William Bloke (2007) | |||||
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| from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) | |||||
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
Shirley
It's so exciting to be sleeping here in this new room Shirley You're my reason to get out of bed before noon Shirley You know when we sat out on the fire escape talking Shirley What did you say about running before we were walking? Sometimes when we're as close as this It's like we're in a dream How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team? Shirley Your sexual politics have left me all of a muddle Shirley We're joined in the ideological cuddle I'm celebrating my love to you With a pint of beer and a new tattoo And if you haven't noticed yet I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet Politics and pregnancy are debated as we empty our glasses And how I love those evening classes Shirley You really know how to make a young man angry Shirley Can we get through the night without mentioning family? The people from the church agree It's not much of a career Trying the handles of parked cars Whoops there goes another year Whoops there goes another pint of beer Here we are in our summer years Living on ice cream and chocolate kisses And would leaves fall from the trees If I was your old man and you was my missus? Shirley Give my greetings to the new brunette |
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from Walking & Talking (1998)
What is that sound
Where is it coming from All around What are you running from Something you don't understand Something you cannot command Chorus: That's how I know She's got a new spell Yes, that's how I know That she's got a new spell What's going down Who's moved this room from round me Where has it gone I fear this night will drown me So I lie awake all night 'Cos I can't sleep with something I can't fight The laws of gravity are very, very strict And you're just bending them for your own benefit One minute she says She's gone to get the cat in The next thing I know She's mumbling in Latin She cut the stars out of the sky And baked them in a pie She stole the scene and scenery The script and the machinery |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
What is that sound
Where is it coming from All around What are you running from Something you don't understand Something you cannot command Chorus: That's how I know She's got a new spell Yes, that's how I know That she's got a new spell What's going down Who's moved this room from round me Where has it gone I fear this night will drown me So I lie awake all night 'Cos I can't sleep with something I can't fight The laws of gravity are very, very strict And you're just bending them for your own benefit One minute she says She's gone to get the cat in The next thing I know She's mumbling in Latin She cut the stars out of the sky And baked them in a pie She stole the scene and scenery The script and the machinery |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
What is that sound
Where is it coming from All around What are you running from Something you don't understand Something you cannot command Chorus: That's how I know She's got a new spell Yes, that's how I know That she's got a new spell What's going down Who's moved this room from round me Where has it gone I fear this night will drown me So I lie awake all night 'Cos I can't sleep with something I can't fight The laws of gravity are very, very strict And you're just bending them for your own benefit One minute she says She's gone to get the cat in The next thing I know She's mumbling in Latin She cut the stars out of the sky And baked them in a pie She stole the scene and scenery The script and the machinery |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Sexuality
I've had relations with girls from many nations I've made passes at women of all classes And just because you're gay I won't turn you away If you stick around I'm sure that we can find some common ground Chorus: Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me A nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Sweden Headlines give me headaches when I read them I had an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade He said some things are really best left unspoken But I prefer it all to be out in the open Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality - Don't threaten me with misery Sexuality - I demand equality I'm sure that everybody knows how much my body hates me It lets me down most every time and makes me rash and hasty I feel a total jerk before your naked body of work I'm getting weighed down with all this information Safe sex doesn't mean no sex it just means use your imagination Stop playing with yourselves in hard currency hotels I look like Robert De Niro, I drive a Mitsubishi Zero Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality - Come eat and drink and sleep with me Sexuality - We can be what we want to be |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Sexuality
I've had relations with girls from many nations I've made passes at women of all classes And just because you're gay I won't turn you away If you stick around I'm sure that we can find some common ground Chorus: Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me A nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Sweden Headlines give me headaches when I read them I had an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade He said some things are really best left unspoken But I prefer it all to be out in the open Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality - Don't threaten me with misery Sexuality - I demand equality I'm sure that everybody knows how much my body hates me It lets me down most every time and makes me rash and hasty I feel a total jerk before your naked body of work I'm getting weighed down with all this information Safe sex doesn't mean no sex it just means use your imagination Stop playing with yourselves in hard currency hotels I look like Robert De Niro, I drive a Mitsubishi Zero Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality - Come eat and drink and sleep with me Sexuality - We can be what we want to be |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Sexuality
I've had relations with girls from many nations I've made passes at women of all classes And just because you're gay I won't turn you away If you stick around I'm sure that we can find some common ground Chorus: Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me A nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Sweden Headlines give me headaches when I read them I had an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade He said some things are really best left unspoken But I prefer it all to be out in the open Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality - Don't threaten me with misery Sexuality - I demand equality I'm sure that everybody knows how much my body hates me It lets me down most every time and makes me rash and hasty I feel a total jerk before your naked body of work I'm getting weighed down with all this information Safe sex doesn't mean no sex it just means use your imagination Stop playing with yourselves in hard currency hotels I look like Robert De Niro, I drive a Mitsubishi Zero Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality - Come eat and drink and sleep with me Sexuality - We can be what we want to be |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Sexuality
I've had relations with girls from many nations I've made passes at women of all classes And just because you're gay I won't turn you away If you stick around I'm sure that we can find some common ground Chorus: Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me A nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Sweden Headlines give me headaches when I read them I had an uncle who once played for Red Star Belgrade He said some things are really best left unspoken But I prefer it all to be out in the open Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality - Don't threaten me with misery Sexuality - I demand equality I'm sure that everybody knows how much my body hates me It lets me down most every time and makes me rash and hasty I feel a total jerk before your naked body of work I'm getting weighed down with all this information Safe sex doesn't mean no sex it just means use your imagination Stop playing with yourselves in hard currency hotels I look like Robert De Niro, I drive a Mitsubishi Zero Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and free Sexuality - Your laws do not apply to me Sexuality - Come eat and drink and sleep with me Sexuality - We can be what we want to be |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
There are soldiers marching on the common today
They were there again this evening They paced up and down like sea birds on the ground Before the storm clouds gathering I must buy whatever tinned food is left on the shelves They are testing the air raid sirens They've filled up the blood banks and emptied the beds At the hospital and he asylum I saw a man build a shelter in his garden today And we stood there idly chatting He said: "No, no I don't think war will come" Yet still he carried on digging Everything in my life that I love Could be swept away without warning Yet the birds still sing and the church bells ring And the sun came up this morning Life goes on as it did before As the country drifts slowly to war |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
There are soldiers marching on the common today
They were there again this evening They paced up and down like sea birds on the ground Before the storm clouds gathering I must buy whatever tinned food is left on the shelves They are testing the air raid sirens They've filled up the blood banks and emptied the beds At the hospital and he asylum I saw a man build a shelter in his garden today And we stood there idly chatting He said: "No, no I don't think war will come" Yet still he carried on digging Everything in my life that I love Could be swept away without warning Yet the birds still sing and the church bells ring And the sun came up this morning Life goes on as it did before As the country drifts slowly to war |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
There are soldiers marching on the common today
They were there again this evening They paced up and down like sea birds on the ground Before the storm clouds gathering I must buy whatever tinned food is left on the shelves They are testing the air raid sirens They've filled up the blood banks and emptied the beds At the hospital and he asylum I saw a man build a shelter in his garden today And we stood there idly chatting He said: "No, no I don't think war will come" Yet still he carried on digging Everything in my life that I love Could be swept away without warning Yet the birds still sing and the church bells ring And the sun came up this morning Life goes on as it did before As the country drifts slowly to war |
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