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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 - 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 - Back To Basics (2002)
Richard belongs to Jayne
And Jayne belongs to yesterday How can I go on When every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus Neil belongs to love And love belongs to no man How can he go on When no-one answers the adverts in his mind? Chorus: There will be parties, there will be fun There will be prizes for everyone And hey, hey, hey, here comes Richard There will be ladies dressed in lace I just want to see her face When hey, hey, hey, here comes Richard You helped me build this bed But you won't help me sleep in it When I fall between you and the wall Our titanic love affair sails on the morning tide Chorus I really love you style Did you read it in the Look and Learn? How long can we go on? Do you think I only love you Because you sleep with other boys Chorus |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
It's that summer of the evening
Get ready and roll the cassette There's boys outside preaching genocide And trying to think up some sort of threat And the ladies in the cloakroom Take no notice of me I wish myself was back at home But there's nothing safe in watching TV There's something born tomorrow That I lost when I was out for a drink How many gangs is it gonna take To change the way I think? It takes more than good intentions And a big bloke on the door And though it's never the same after the first time That doesn't stop them coming back for more Fighting in the dance halls happens anyway Sometimes it makes me stop and think Sometimes it makes me turn away Sometimes it makes me stop and think Sometimes it makes me turn away Sometimes it makes me stop and think But most times, it makes me run away |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song
I'm twenty-two now, but I won't be for long People ask when will you grow up to be a man But all the girls I loved at school are already pushing prams I loved you then as I love you still Though I put you on a pedestal, they put you on the pill I don't feel bad about letting you go I just feel sad about letting you know I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I loved the words you wrote to me But that was bloody yesterday I can't survive on what you send Every time you need a friend I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl Looking for another girl Looking for another girl Looking for another girl |
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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 - 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 - Back To Basics (2002)
It says here that the Unions will never learn
It says here that the economy is on the upturn And it says here we should be proud That we are free And our free press reflects our democracy Those braying voices on the right of the House Are echoed down the Street of Shame Where politics mix with bingo and tits In a strictly money and numbers game Where they offer you a feature On stockings and suspenders Next to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offenders It says here that this year's prince is born It says here do you ever wish That you were better informed And it says here that we can only stop the rot With a large dose of Law and Order And a touch of the short sharp shock If this does not reflect you view you should understand That those who own the papers also own this land And they'd rather you believe In Coronation Street capers In the war of circulation, it sells newspapers Could it be an infringement Of the freedom of the press To print pictures of women in states of undress When you wake up to the fact That you paper is Tory Just remember, there are two sides to every story |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
The love of a woman
A fear of the phone A secret message to a happy home I've never been so scared I never knew you cared Love gets dangerous Love gets dangerous There's a fear that comes from being in danger Being in love with a total stranger Putting our futures in jeopardy When love is a secret, fear is the key When we meet in the street My terror is complete Love gets dangerous Love gets dangerous Like a drug that threatens to take my life Lust is a cancer, love is a vice When she holds me I understand Respect and fear go hand in hand No need to act tough It scares me just enough Love gets dangerous Love gets dangerous |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
She said "Do these seats fold down"
I said "If you pull that handle" All the time she'd been waiting for Something with a little more And all her mates on the new estates Were walking out in confetti and sunshine Her mother read her mail And her Dad was a Policeman Which I must say worried me But some things have just got to be So we passed very fast like ships in the night Or cars in a contraflow system Some people say love is blind But I think that's just a bit short-sighted Some people just want it now It doesn't matter where or how Satisfaction takes a second place So long as they can get excited |
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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 - 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 - Back To Basics (2002)
Digging all day and digging all night
To keep my foxhole out of sight Digging into dinner on a plate on my knees The smell of damp webbing in the morning breeze Fear in my stomach, fear in the sky I eat my dinner with a weary eye After all this it won't be the same Messing around on Salisbury Plain Pick up your feet, fall in, move out We're going to a party way down South Me and the Corporal out on a spree Damned from here to eternity I hate this flat land, there's no cover for sons and fathers and brothers and lovers I can take the killing, I can take the slaughter But I don't talk to Sun reporters I never thought that I would be Fighting fascists in the Southern Sea I saw one today and in his hand Was a weapon that was made in Birmingham Pick up your feet, fall in, move out We're going to a party way down South Me and the Corporal out on a spree Damned from here to eternity I wish Kipling and the Captain were here To record our pursuits for posterity Me and the Corporal out on a spree Damned from here to eternity |
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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 - Back To Basics (2002)
Blues eyes fighting the grey eyes fighting the tears
Armed to the teeth for a war of words Reaching all the years I advanced across a poppy field I saw the gleam as you raised your shield And love screamed down With the sun behind its back Our Fathers were all soldiers, Shall we be soldiers too Fighting and falling like soldiers do Nothing is clear in this tactical unclear war I can't be bothered to find out What we are fighting for No one can win this war of the senses I see no reason to drop my defences So stand fast my emotions, Rally round my shaking heart Our Fathers were all soldiers, Shall we be soldiers too Fighting and falling like soldiers do Blue eyes fighting the grey eyes fighting the tears Armed to the teeth for a war of words Reaching all the years I advanced across a poppy field I saw the gleam as you raised your shield And love screamed down With the sun behind its back I knew once again I was under attack So stand fast my emotions, Rally round my shaking heart Our Fathers were all soldiers, Shall we be soldiers too Fighting and falling like soldiers Fighting and falling like soldiers Fighting and falling like soldiers do |
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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)
You and I are victims of a love
That lost a lot in the translation When I think of all the time that I spent Sitting on the edge of your bed in anticipation Of you giving in and us living in sin A hot day, the smell of hairspray And the sound of a shower running softly It's things like this that remind me of how I felt The first time you came back for coffee The way you took it amazed me Walking in the park, kissing in the dark And my head against your pillow Late at night a lover sings Adam and eve are finding out all about love I say adam and eve are finding out all about love There is no real substitute For a ball struck squarely and firmly And you're the kind of girl who wants to Open up the bottle of pop Too early in the journey Our love went flat just like that It doesn't matter the colour of the car But what goes on beneath the bonnet Is there a flag that flies above your heart And is my name writ there upon it Wedding cake and toothache Equals love and pain Walking in the park, kissing on the carpet And your tights around your ankles Late at night a lover thinks of these things Adam and eve are finding out all about love I say adam and eve are finding out all about love Adam and eve are finding out all about Adam and eve are finding out all about love Teresa and steve are finding out all about love |
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from Billy Bragg - Back To Basics (2002)
I was a miner, I was a docker
I was a railway man between the wars I raised a family in times of austerity With sweat at the foundry between the wars I paid the union and as times got harder I looked to the government to help the working man But they brought prosperity down at the armoury We're arming for peace me boys, between the wars I kept the faith and I kept voting Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand For theirs is a land with a wall around it And mine is a faith in my fellow man Theirs is a land of hope and glory Mine is the green field and the factory floor Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers And mine is the peace we knew between the wars Call up the craftsmen, bring me the draughtsmen Build me a path from cradle to grave And I'll give my consent to any government That does not deny a man a living wage Go find the young men never to fight again Bring up the banners from the days gone by Sweet moderation, heart of this nation Desert us not, we are between the wars |
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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 - 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 - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
I've always been impressed with a girl
Who could sing for her supper and get breakfast as well That's the way I am, heaven help me He said, "We don't like peace camapigners 'round here" As he nailed another one to the wall And that's what gets me in trouble, heaven help me Goodbye and good luck to all the rubbish that you've spoken Goodbye and good luck to all the promises you've broken Your life has lost its dignity, its beauty and its passion You're an accident waiting to happen There you are standing at the bar And you're giving me grief about the DDR And that chip on your choulder gets bigger as you get older One of these night you're gonna get caught, It'll give you a pregnant pause for thought You're a dedicated swallower of fascism Time up and time out For all the liberties you've taken Time up and time out for all the friends that you've foresaken If you choose to waste away like death is back in fashion You're an accident waiting to happen And my sins are so unoriginal I have all the self-loathing of a wolf in sheep's clothing In this carnival of carnivores, Heaven help me |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
I put on my raincoat to make it rain
And sure enough the skies opened up again I dreamed of you as I walked to the shops You were dancing with the wallies on Top Of The Pops Once in a while Gennady Gerasimov drops his smile And you can see that his aim's A portfolio pregnant with gains He's been up all night Moving the goalposts Like a jackdaw with a fiery brand Spread the news all over this land Robin Hood and his Merry Men Are never, never, never coming back again I don't believe that love should be pain So could you please rub my back again I think it's safe to leave tham in the park Let's blow out the candles and kiss in the dark Heavens above Can this sticky stuff really be love! Don't get dressed yet Not yet We've been up all night Moving the goalposts |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Blue velvet America
Half glimpsed in the headlights between the trees Who punctured the beauty And invited monsters such as these The pig faced boy, the corrupted clown The grotesque figure who never comes into town Something broken, something stained Something waiting for the worms to claim And you can never go there again Except in nightmares The voyeur who dares not come near Knows excitement is merely the beginning of fear My shadow came this morning And left some candy in my shoe They're always watching me Watching the things I do Cindy of a thousand lives Cindy of the Stepford Wives I've looked at all the photographs But Cindy, which one of them was you? |
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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)
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)
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)
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)
The Reverend Mother went and got me a drink
She came back and said to me "Well what do you think?" I said "I've made myself a fool For the prettiest girl in school" How can I deal with this hurt I feel inside? I tell it to the mother of the bride I put on my suit and smile for the big day But I couldn't watch as her dad gave her away And as they solemnly said "You'll do" Her mother said "That should have been you" At the mercy of the moon The boy who spoke too soon She married him and destroyed all my hopes Of a two-up, two-down, two point five and a dish on the roof For the soaps I saw them at the hardware store He looked boring she looked bored It's nice to know that someone was on my side Best wishes to the mother of the bride |
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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)
Sometimes I think about
Saturday's child And all about the time We were running wild I've been searching For the dolphins in the sea And sometimes I wonder Do you ever think of me This world may never change The way it's been And all the ways of war Won't change it back again I'm not the one to tell This world how to get along I only know that peace will come When all our hate is gone This world may never change |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
I went out drinking with Thomas Paine
He said that all revolutions are not the same They are as different as the cultures That give them birth For no one idea Can solve every problem on Earth So don't expect it all to happen In some prophesied political fashion For people are different And so are nations You can borrow ideas But you can't borrow situations In Leningrad the people say Perestroika can be explained this way The people who told us That two and two is ten Are now trying to tell us That two and two is five We're living in a North Sea Bubble We're trying to spend our way out of trouble You keep buying these things but you don't need them But as long as you're comfortable it feels like freedom My American friends don't know what to do But they'll wait a long time for a Beverley Hills coup War! What is it good for It's good for business |
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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'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)
Chorus:
I will cross this body of water If you promise you won't try this at home You're where you want to be Where am I, I'm up a tree I had a hurt attack Rolled away, now I'm bouncing back Forgive me for feeling sick I think I just got up too quick Is this the consequence Of an out of bed experience Where I'm from the sun don't shine We keeps the light on all the time I walk upon the ground we dream about You finding out about it now But you are clever never to be found Summer could take a hint Seeing you in a floral print Oh, to become a pearl In the wordy world of the Cornflake Girl |
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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 - 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 - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
Richard belongs to Jayne
And Jayne belongs to yesterday How can I go on When every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus Neil belongs to love And love belongs to no man How can he go on When no-one answers the adverts in his mind? Chorus: There will be parties, there will be fun There will be prizes for everyone And hey, hey, hey, here comes Richard There will be ladies dressed in lace I just want to see her face When hey, hey, hey, here comes Richard You helped me build this bed But you won't help me sleep in it When I fall between you and the wall Our titanic love affair sails on the morning tide Chorus I really love you style Did you read it in the Look and Learn? How long can we go on? Do you think I only love you Because you sleep with other boys Chorus |
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from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song
I'm twenty-two now, but I won't be for long People ask when will you grow up to be a man But all the girls I loved at school are already pushing prams I loved you then as I love you still Though I put you on a pedestal, they put you on the pill I don't feel bad about letting you go I just feel sad about letting you know I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I loved the words you wrote to me But that was bloody yesterday I can't survive on what you send Every time you need a friend I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a new England I'm just looking for another girl Looking for another girl Looking for another girl Looking for another girl |
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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 - 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 - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
It's that summer of the evening
Get ready and roll the cassette There's boys outside preaching genocide And trying to think up some sort of threat And the ladies in the cloakroom Take no notice of me I wish myself was back at home But there's nothing safe in watching TV There's something born tomorrow That I lost when I was out for a drink How many gangs is it gonna take To change the way I think? It takes more than good intentions And a big bloke on the door And though it's never the same after the first time That doesn't stop them coming back for more Fighting in the dance halls happens anyway Sometimes it makes me stop and think Sometimes it makes me turn away Sometimes it makes me stop and think Sometimes it makes me turn away Sometimes it makes me stop and think But most times, it makes me run away |
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from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
I was a miner, I was a docker
I was a railway man between the wars I raised a family in times of austerity With sweat at the foundry between the wars I paid the union and as times got harder I looked to the government to help the working man But they brought prosperity down at the armoury We're arming for peace me boys, between the wars I kept the faith and I kept voting Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand For theirs is a land with a wall around it And mine is a faith in my fellow man Theirs is a land of hope and glory Mine is the green field and the factory floor Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers And mine is the peace we knew between the wars Call up the craftsmen, bring me the draughtsmen Build me a path from cradle to grave And I'll give my consent to any government That does not deny a man a living wage Go find the young men never to fight again Bring up the banners from the days gone by Sweet moderation, heart of this nation Desert us not, we are between the wars |
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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 - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000)
It says here that the Unions will never learn
It says here that the economy is on the upturn And it says here we should be proud That we are free And our free press reflects our democracy Those braying voices on the right of the House Are echoed down the Street of Shame Where politics mix with bingo and tits In a strictly money and numbers game Where they offer you a feature On stockings and suspenders Next to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offenders It says here that this year's prince is born It says here do you ever wish That you were better informed And it says here that we can only stop the rot With a large dose of Law and Order And a touch of the short sharp shock If this does not reflect you view you should understand That those who own the papers also own this land And they'd rather you believe In Coronation Street capers In the war of circulation, it sells newspapers Could it be an infringement Of the freedom of the press To print pictures of women in states of undress When you wake up to the fact That you paper is Tory Just remember, there are two sides to every story |
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| from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000) | |||||
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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)
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 - Workers Playtime (2000)
One of them's off her food
And the other one's off his head And both of them are off down the boozer To drink a toast To the one that he hates most And she says there are no winners, only losers "Well, if there are no winners Then what is this?" he thinks As he watches her complete a lap of honour And he sits in the stands With his head in his hands And he thinks of all the things he'd like to bring down upon her Revenge will bring cold comfort in this darkest hour As the juke box says "It's All Over Now" And he stands and he screams What have I done wrong? I've fallen in love with a little time bomb I've fallen in love with a little time bomb In public he's such a man He's punching at the walls with his bare and bloody hands He's screaming and shouting and acting crazy But at home he sits alone and he cries like a baby He holds your letters but he can't read them As he fights this loneliness that you call freedom You said this would happen and you were not wrong I've fallen in love with a little time bomb I've fallen in love with a little time bomb |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
I stood before the Judge that day
As he refused me bail And I knew that I would spend my time Awaiting trial in jail I said there is no justice As they led me out of the door And the Judge said, "This isn't a court of justice, son This is a court of law." They first sent me to Windsor And then to Stoke on Trent In a holding cell in Liverpool Three days and nights I spent My solicitor can't find me And my family don't know I keep telling them that I'm innocent They just say, "Come on son, in you go." I was picked up on suspicion of something I haven't done Here I sit in 'F' wing waiting for my trial to come It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand I ended up in this jail Built in 1882 When one man to one prison cell Was a Victorian value Now three of us are squeezed in here And you can't escape the smell Of that bucket in the corner And we eat in here as well They let me out of this cage To slop that bucket out To get my food and bring it back And if I'm lucky, get a shower Apart from one hour's exercise I'm locked in here all day You don't turn criminals into citizens By treating them this way Is the price of law and order the stench of Wormwood Scrubs With judges quick to sentence more down from above It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
I hate the arsehole I become
Every time I'm with you You know you've got me on the run But let me make it clear to you It's taken two fools such as we To make love deaf, dumb and blind Now you're upset 'cos I can't read your mind love You're upset Cos I can't read your mind I hate the arsehole I become Every time I'm with you I get the feeling looking in your eyes That somehow I should forgive you I know that I'm guilty but I don't know what I've done You're not about to let me join in the fun are you You're not about to let me join in the fun I hate the arsehole I become Every time I'm with you I hate the way you try to give me back All the things I give to you I know when I leave the room They say what's up with him But love is not a game you play to win girl Love is not a game you play to win If that face of yours could only talk The stories it could tell The chase is always better than the kill, love The chase is always better than the kill |
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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)
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 - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
I've always been impressed with a girl
Who could sing for her supper and get breakfast as well That's the way I am, heaven help me He said, "We don't like peace camapigners 'round here" As he nailed another one to the wall And that's what gets me in trouble, heaven help me Goodbye and good luck to all the rubbish that you've spoken Goodbye and good luck to all the promises you've broken Your life has lost its dignity, its beauty and its passion You're an accident waiting to happen There you are standing at the bar And you're giving me grief about the DDR And that chip on your choulder gets bigger as you get older One of these night you're gonna get caught, It'll give you a pregnant pause for thought You're a dedicated swallower of fascism Time up and time out For all the liberties you've taken Time up and time out for all the friends that you've foresaken If you choose to waste away like death is back in fashion You're an accident waiting to happen And my sins are so unoriginal I have all the self-loathing of a wolf in sheep's clothing In this carnival of carnivores, Heaven help me |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
I put on my raincoat to make it rain
And sure enough the skies opened up again I dreamed of you as I walked to the shops You were dancing with the wallies on Top Of The Pops Once in a while Gennady Gerasimov drops his smile And you can see that his aim's A portfolio pregnant with gains He's been up all night Moving the goalposts Like a jackdaw with a fiery brand Spread the news all over this land Robin Hood and his Merry Men Are never, never, never coming back again I don't believe that love should be pain So could you please rub my back again I think it's safe to leave tham in the park Let's blow out the candles and kiss in the dark Heavens above Can this sticky stuff really be love! Don't get dressed yet Not yet We've been up all night Moving the goalposts |
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from Billy Bragg - Don'T Try This At Home (2002)
Blue velvet America
Half glimpsed in the headlights between the trees Who punctured the beauty And invited monsters such as these The pig faced boy, the corrupted clown The grotesque figure who never comes into town Something broken, something stained Something waiting for the worms to claim And you can never go there again Except in nightmares The voyeur who dares not come near Knows excitement is merely the beginning of fear My shadow came this morning And left some candy in my shoe They're always watching me Watching the things I do Cindy of a thousand lives Cindy of the Stepford Wives I've looked at all the photographs But Cindy, which one of them was you? |
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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)
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)
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)
The Reverend Mother went and got me a drink
She came back and said to me "Well what do you think?" I said "I've made myself a fool For the prettiest girl in school" How can I deal with this hurt I feel inside? I tell it to the mother of the bride I put on my suit and smile for the big day But I couldn't watch as her dad gave her away And as they solemnly said "You'll do" Her mother said "That should have been you" At the mercy of the moon The boy who spoke too soon She married him and destroyed all my hopes Of a two-up, two-down, two point five and a dish on the roof For the soaps I saw them at the hardware store He looked boring she looked bored It's nice to know that someone was on my side Best wishes to the mother of the bride |
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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)
Sometimes I think about
Saturday's child And all about the time We were running wild I've been searching For the dolphins in the sea And sometimes I wonder Do you ever think of me This world may never change The way it's been And all the ways of war Won't change it back again I'm not the one to tell This world how to get along I only know that peace will come When all our hate is gone This world may never change |
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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'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)
Chorus:
I will cross this body of water If you promise you won't try this at home You're where you want to be Where am I, I'm up a tree I had a hurt attack Rolled away, now I'm bouncing back Forgive me for feeling sick I think I just got up too quick Is this the consequence Of an out of bed experience Where I'm from the sun don't shine We keeps the light on all the time I walk upon the ground we dream about You finding out about it now But you are clever never to be found Summer could take a hint Seeing you in a floral print Oh, to become a pearl In the wordy world of the Cornflake Girl |
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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 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 - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
I've always been impressed with a girl
Who could sing for her supper and get breakfast as well That's the way I am, heaven help me He said, "We don't like peace camapigners 'round here" As he nailed another one to the wall And that's what gets me in trouble, heaven help me Goodbye and good luck to all the rubbish that you've spoken Goodbye and good luck to all the promises you've broken Your life has lost its dignity, its beauty and its passion You're an accident waiting to happen There you are standing at the bar And you're giving me grief about the DDR And that chip on your choulder gets bigger as you get older One of these night you're gonna get caught, It'll give you a pregnant pause for thought You're a dedicated swallower of fascism Time up and time out For all the liberties you've taken Time up and time out for all the friends that you've foresaken If you choose to waste away like death is back in fashion You're an accident waiting to happen And my sins are so unoriginal I have all the self-loathing of a wolf in sheep's clothing In this carnival of carnivores, Heaven help me |
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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 - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
I have a letter from her
When she worked for the "Woman's Realm" And all the things she promised me She promised herself as well She said, "I want my freedom" And ran off along the beach It's hard to love a girl so near Yet so far out of reach She came back when the tide came in And introduced her friend to me She said, "Don't ring while he is here" And gave me back my poetry She expected me to understand As she's always done this before And now she asks me "Why don't you send me poems anymore?" And she steals more than she buys You can see it in her eyes And she'll come back as soon as she's ready She's a bad penny Then she comes back and asks me To sing all her favourite songs As if she's never been away As if she's done nothing wrong But I've come to the conclusion That she doesn't realise a thing And she probably still thinks I love her And she doesn't know that it's a sin |
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
Music: lookofsky/sansome/calilli
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
The wind sways the trees and the raindrops on the leaves
Tumble down, down my neck in the breeze Yes, it's true I hid out in the shadow of your doubt, And this medal that I wear is not for bravery, I'm afraid And we're both going to have to accept That this might be as good as it gets As our love for each other respects Neither rule nor reason The Queen on her throne plays Shirley Bassey records when she's all on her own And she looks out the window And cries What should I do? Scratch off all of my tattoos? And forget those girls' names? But you're not about to let me do that, are you? And we're both going to have to accept That this might be as bad as it gets As our love for each other respects Neither rule nor reason And we're both going to have to accept That this might be as big as it gets As our love for each other respects Neither rule nor reason |
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from Billy Bragg - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
The party that became so powerful by sinking
foreign boats Is dreaming up new promises because promises win votes And being resolute in conference with the ad man's expertise The majority by their silence shall pay for days like these The right to build communities is back behind closed doors 'Tween government and people stands the right arm of the law And shame upon the patriot when the mark of the Bulldog Breed Is a family without a home and a pensioner in need Those whose lives are ruled by dogma are waiting for a sign The Better Dead Than Red Brigade are listening on the line And the liberal, with a small L cries in front of the TV And another demonstration passes on to history Peace, bread, work, and freedom is the best we can achieve And wearing badges is not enough in days like these |
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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 - 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 - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
Shirley,
It's quite 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 are joined in the ideological cuddle I'm celebrating my love for 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 your 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 icecream and chocolate kisses Would the leaves fall from the trees If I was your old man and you were my missus Shirley, Give my greetings to the new brunette |
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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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