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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)
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)
Help save the youth of America
Help save them from themselves Help save the sun-tanned surfer boys And the Californian girls When the lights go out in the rest of the World What do our cousins say They're playing in the sun and having fun, fun, fun Till Daddy takes the gun away From the Big Church to the Big River And out to the Shining Sea This is the Land of Opportunity And there's a Monkey Trial on TV A nation with their freezers full Are dancing in their seats While outside another nation Is sleeping in the streets Don't tell me the old, old story Tell me the truth this time Is the Man in the Mask or the Indian An enemy or a friend of mine Help save the youth of America Help save the youth of the world Help save the boys in uniform Their mothers and their faithful girls Listen to the voice of the soldier Down in the killing zone Talking about the cost of living And the price of bringing him home They're already shipping the body bags Down by the Rio Grande But you can fight for democracy at home And not in some foreign land And the fate of the great United States Is entwined in the fate of us all And the incident at Chernobyl proves The world we live in is very small And the cities of Europe have burned before And they may yet burn again And if they do I hope you understand That Washington will burn with them Omaha will burn with them Los Alamos will burn with them |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
We meet to die in freedoms cause
And raise our voices high. We'll join our hands in union strong To battle or to die. Hold the fort For we are coming, Union men be strong. Side by side keep pressing onward, Victory will come. Look my comrades See the union banner waving high. Reinforcements now appearing Victory is nigh. Hold the fort For we are coming, Union men be strong. Side by side keep pressing onward, Victory will come. See our numbers still increasing Hear the bugles blow. By our union we shall triumph Over every foe. Hold the fort For we are coming, Union men be strong. Side by side keep pressing onward, Victory will come. Fierce and long, the battle rages But we do not fear. Help will come whenever it's needed Cheer my comrades cheer. Hold the fort For we are coming, Union men be strong. Side by side keep pressing onward, Victory will come. |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
I can see the kitchen light
From the road where I park my bike But it's dark there as it often is these days And the gloomy living room Really needs a dust and a broom But I can't brush your memory away Her father was an admiral In someone else's navy And she had seen the World before I met her She would wash and cook and clean And all the other things between And like a fool I just sat there and let her CHORUS: Now I can feed and wash and dress myself And I can sleep without the light on Honey, I'm a big boy now I don't know what she does With all the money that I sent her She's running round the town with the Young Pretender I haven't touched the garden Since the day she walked away From a love affair that bore only bitter fruit She took everything she wanted Which is why she left me here With these pots and pans and my old wedding suit A letter came one morning That she would not let me see And from that day I began to realise That she would one day break The home we tried to make For sinners cannot live in paradise |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
When one voice rules the nation
Just because they're top of the pile Doesn't mean their vision is the clearest The voices of the people Are falling on deaf ears Our politicians all become careerists They must declare their interests But not their company cars Is there more to a seat in parliament Than sitting on your arse? And the best of all this bad bunch Is shouting to be heard Above the sound of ideologies clashing Outside the patient millions Who put them into power Expect a little more back for their taxes Like school books, beds in hospitals And peace in our bloody time All they get is old men grinding axes Who've built their private fortunes On the things they can rely The courts, the secret handshake The Stock Exchange and the old school tie For God and Queen and Country All things they justify Above the sound of ideologies clashing God bless the civil service The nations saving grace While we expect democracy They're laughing in our face And although our cries get louder The laughter gets louder still Above the sound of ideologies clashing Above the sound of ideologies Above the sound of ideologies Above the sound of ideologies clashing |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
With the money from her accident
She bought herself a mobile home So at least she could get some enjoyment Out of being alone No one could say that she was left up on the shelf It's you and me against the World kid she mumbled to herself Chorus: When the world falls apart some things stay in place Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face She ran away from home on her mother's best coat She was married before she was even entitled to vote And her husband was one of those blokes The sort that only laughs at his own jokes The sort a war takes away And when there wasn't a war he left anyway Norman Whitfield and Barratt Strong Are here to make everything right that's wrong Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too Are here to make it all okay with you One dark night he came home from the sea And put a hole in her body where no hole should be It hurt her more to see him walking out the door And though they stitched her back together they left her heart in pieces on the floor When the world falls apart some things stay in place She takes off the Four Tops tape and puts it back in its case When the world falls apart some things stay in place Levi Stubbs' tears... |
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from Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
He answers the phone,
So I know you're not alone. I'll find only bad signs If you've let him answer this time. When I return, To find letters that you've burnt. I'll find only bad signs If you have burnt his, not mine. When you go out, I do not doubt, That I'll find only bad signs, By things that you leave here. I'd rather go blind, Than continue to find, Only bad signs, You know that you're leaving. I cannot guess, How much more I can take. When you're with him, Three's a crowd, and a heartbreak. The look on your face, And the long silent days. I see only bad signs If we are lost in our own home. The sun may rise, But not in my eyes. I see only bad signs And sorrow and shadows. I just cannot guess, How much more I can take. When you're with him, Three's a crowd, and a heartbreak. He answers the phone, So I know you're not alone. I'll find only bad signs If you've let him answer this time. When I return, To find letters that you've burnt. I'll find only bad signs If you have burnt his, not mine. Only bad signs, Only bad signs, Only bad signs. |
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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)
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 - 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 - 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 - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) | |||||
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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)
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 - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) | |||||
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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 - 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 - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986) | |||||
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from Walking & Talking (1998)
It's bad timing and me
We find a lot of things out this way And there's you A little black cloud in a dress The temptation To take the precious things we have apart To see how they work Must be resisted for they never fit together again If this is rain let it fall on me and drown me If these are tears let them fall Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real It took a short walk and a talk To change the rules of engagement While you searched frantically for reverse And them claiming That virtue never tested is no virtue at all And so I lost my ignorance And now the bells across the river chime out your name I look across to them again Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real All your friends said come down It will never fly And on that imperfect day We threw it all away Crisis after crisis With such intensity This would never happen if we lived by the sea Most important decisions in life Are made between two people in bed I found that out at my expense And when I see you You just turn around and walk away like we never met Oh we used to be so brave I dreamt the world stopped turning as we climbed the hill I dreamt impossible dreams that we were lovers still Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real (repeat to end) |
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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 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 Mumford (멈포드) by James Newton Howard [ost] (1999) | |||||
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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)
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) | |||||
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| from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000) | |||||
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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 - 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) | |||||
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| from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000) | |||||
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| from Billy Bragg - Life`S Riot Between The Wars (2000) | |||||
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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)
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)
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)
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)
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 - Workers Playtime (2000)
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 - 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)
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)
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)
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)
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've had bad dreams too many times
To think that they don't mean much anymore Good times have gone, left my sad home Friends who once cared don't call back anymore Love has no pride when I call out your name Love has no pride when there's no one to blame But I'd give anything to see you again I've slept alone too many nights To think that you would come back again I've heard you talk, he's crazy to stay But this love hurt's me so I don't care what you say Love has no pride when I call out your name Love has no pride when there's no one to blame And I'd give anything to see you again If I could buy your love Then I'd surely try my friend And if I could pray My prayers would never end And if you want me to beg I'll fall down on my knees And ask for you to come back Honey, I'd for you to come back Beg for you to come back to me Love has no pride when I call out your name Love has no pride when there's no one but myself to blame And I'd give anything to see you again Yes I'd give anything to see you again |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
It's bad timing and me
We find a lot of things out this way And there's you A little black cloud in a dress The temptation To take the precious things we have apart To see how they work Must be resisted for they never fit together again If this is rain let it fall on me and drown me If these are tears let them fall Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real It took a short walk and a talk To change the rules of engagement While you searched frantically for reverse And them claiming That virtue never tested is no virtue at all And so I lost my ignorance And now the bells across the river chime out your name I look across to them again Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real All your friends said come down It will never fly And on that imperfect day We threw it all away Crisis after crisis With such intensity This would never happen if we lived by the sea Most important decisions in life Are made between two people in bed I found that out at my expense And when I see you You just turn around and walk away like we never met Oh we used to be so brave I dreamt the world stopped turning as we climbed the hill I dreamt impossible dreams that we were lovers still Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real (repeat to end) |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
It's bad timing and me
We find a lot of things out this way And there's you A little black cloud in a dress The temptation To take the precious things we have apart To see how they work Must be resisted for they never fit together again If this is rain let it fall on me and drown me If these are tears let them fall Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real It took a short walk and a talk To change the rules of engagement While you searched frantically for reverse And them claiming That virtue never tested is no virtue at all And so I lost my ignorance And now the bells across the river chime out your name I look across to them again Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real All your friends said come down It will never fly And on that imperfect day We threw it all away Crisis after crisis With such intensity This would never happen if we lived by the sea Most important decisions in life Are made between two people in bed I found that out at my expense And when I see you You just turn around and walk away like we never met Oh we used to be so brave I dreamt the world stopped turning as we climbed the hill I dreamt impossible dreams that we were lovers still Must I paint you a picture About the way that I feel? You know my love for you is strong, girl You know my love for you is real (repeat to end) |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
On Raglan Road on an autumn day I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way And I said, "Let grief be a falling leaf at the dawning of the day." On Grafton Street in november we tripped lightly along the ledge Of a deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passions pledge The queen of hearts still making tarts and I not making hay And I loved too much by such and such is happiness thrown away I gave her the gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign That's known to all the artists who have known true gods of sound and time With word and tint I never did stint I gave him reams of poems to say With her own name there and hlong dark hair like the clouds over fields of may On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see him walking now Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay When the angel woos the clay he'll lose his wings at the dawn of day On Raglan Road on an autumn day I saw her first and knew That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way And I said, "Let grief be a falling leaf at the dawning of the day." |
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from Billy Bragg - Workers Playtime (2000)
If I listened long enough to you
I'll find a way to believe that it's all true Knowing that you lied Straight-faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe Someone like you Makes it hard to live without Somebody else Someone like you Makes it easy to give Never think about myself If I gave you time to change my mind I'd find a way just to leave the past behind Knowing that you lied Straight-faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe Someone like you Makes it hard to live without Somebody else Someone like you Makes it easy to give Never think about myself If I listened long enough to you I'd find a way to believe that it's all true Knowing that you lied Straight-faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe |
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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 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)
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 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 - 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)
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)
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)
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 - 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 - 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 - 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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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 - Reaching To The Converted (2001)
Music: lookofsky/sansome/calilli
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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 - 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 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)
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)
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)
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)
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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