Because I do have a life outside of being an angry nutter
The only pub in Blackpool selling beer not piss
Is called 'The Winston Churchill' - Sid Vicious died for this! - 'Postcard from Blackpool'
I'm currently listening to Robb Johnson's Love and Death and Politics, which has a simply elegant album cover: heart, skull, anarchist-communist flag. Robb Johnson is awesome, very left-wing singer-songwriter in a folk-punk stylee. His political songs are furious, his love songs are beautiful, and he also does a good line in comic rants about "supporting Chumbawamba at Whitehaven fucking Civic Hall".
This album has a lot of the songs he did when me and bethanthepurple and my parents saw him perform at the trade union festival at the Black Country Museum - 'The Spirit of 45'; 'Saturday Night in Albion'; 'The Bigger the Car'; 'Hard Money'; 'The Prince and Private Gentle'; 'Even Steve McQueen' 'The End of the Miracle'; and 'I am Not at War'. Anyway, the lyrics to my favourites are under the cut.
The Spirit of 45
Well I dreamed I saw your Grandad's ghost, firestorms in his eyes still
On a troopship bound for the Dover coast, Spirit of 45
We rid the world of the fascist beast with our comrades of all nations,
And we won the war, now we'll win the peace, Spirit of 45
It's the Spirit of 45
And we'll kick old Churchill out on his arse with our comrades of all nations
And we swear this war will be the last, Spirit of 45
No more palaces, no more slums, the children of all nations
Will learn a whole lot more than letters and sums, Spirit of 45
It's the Spirit of 45
But they turned those troopships round for Greece, your kids got council prefabs
And your Grandad died on the long retreat from the Spirit of 45
The Spirit of 45
I dreamed I saw your Grandad's ghost, firestorms in his eyes still
Singing this song as he neared the coast, Spirit of 45
All in a commonwealth shared by all, the children of all nations
Will have houses, jobs and hospitals, Spirit of 45
Even Steve McQueen
The getaway you're counting on doesn't go as planned
Your resonator flight case handle comes off in your hand
Your motorcycle jacket don't keep out the rain
Everything needs gaffer tape to fix it up again
The odds are stacked against you when you make your great escape
There's no such thing as good luck, it's all just gaffer tape
Your lucky number isn't, Jesus never replies
The rich got all the insurance, but everybody dies
Even Steve McQueen
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Even Steve McQueen
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
From the skyline of Manhattan to the smile of Mona Lisa
From the Eiffel Tower of Paris to the leaning tower of Pisa
From that e that equals mc squared to the stars that shine by night
From the sums we always get wrong to the songs we sometimes write
Well you keep on digging, Danny, that tunnel to the sea
It's only in these dreams and plans and actions that we're free
The doctor does his voodoo, but there is no great escape
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Even Steve McQueen
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Even Steve McQueen
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Well you saddle up your motorbike and take it to the wire
Every wall you jump, the next one's always higher
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
All the broken hearts, the broken toes
How you gonna make it till the final whistle blows?
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
The King of Cool, the Queen of Hearts,
The Berlin Wall, it all comes apart
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Even Steve McQueen
Even Steve McQueen
Even Steve McQueen
Even Steve McQueen
Even Steve McQueen
I Am Not At War
I am standing at this bus stop, I am counting falling stars
I am working at this crap job, I am playing this guitar
I am wings and wheels and whatever, I am all these things and more
But no matter what the headlines tell you I am not at war
I am standing on this platform, I am waiting for this train
I am gobsmacked by this sunset, I am pissed off by this rain
I am dreams and drums and magic, I am 2 and 2 makes 4
But no matter what my passport tells you I am not at war
I am one drop in this ocean, I am much the same as you
I'm here for one night only then I'm gone
I am passing like this shadow but I know one thing for sure
I don't fit that uniform, and I am not at war
I am not at war, I am not at war, I am not at war, I am not at war
I am not at war, I am not at war, I am not at war, I am not at war
No I don't fit that uniform, and I am not at war
I don't want to be a soldier, I am not at war
So when punk finally happened, I'd seen it all before, and I was doing open tunings and jazz chords
Armed with this acoustic, every gig I got, I give 'em love and death and politics whether they wanted it or not - 'The End of the Miracle'
Is called 'The Winston Churchill' - Sid Vicious died for this! - 'Postcard from Blackpool'
I'm currently listening to Robb Johnson's Love and Death and Politics, which has a simply elegant album cover: heart, skull, anarchist-communist flag. Robb Johnson is awesome, very left-wing singer-songwriter in a folk-punk stylee. His political songs are furious, his love songs are beautiful, and he also does a good line in comic rants about "supporting Chumbawamba at Whitehaven fucking Civic Hall".
This album has a lot of the songs he did when me and bethanthepurple and my parents saw him perform at the trade union festival at the Black Country Museum - 'The Spirit of 45'; 'Saturday Night in Albion'; 'The Bigger the Car'; 'Hard Money'; 'The Prince and Private Gentle'; 'Even Steve McQueen' 'The End of the Miracle'; and 'I am Not at War'. Anyway, the lyrics to my favourites are under the cut.
The Spirit of 45
Well I dreamed I saw your Grandad's ghost, firestorms in his eyes still
On a troopship bound for the Dover coast, Spirit of 45
We rid the world of the fascist beast with our comrades of all nations,
And we won the war, now we'll win the peace, Spirit of 45
It's the Spirit of 45
And we'll kick old Churchill out on his arse with our comrades of all nations
And we swear this war will be the last, Spirit of 45
No more palaces, no more slums, the children of all nations
Will learn a whole lot more than letters and sums, Spirit of 45
It's the Spirit of 45
But they turned those troopships round for Greece, your kids got council prefabs
And your Grandad died on the long retreat from the Spirit of 45
The Spirit of 45
I dreamed I saw your Grandad's ghost, firestorms in his eyes still
Singing this song as he neared the coast, Spirit of 45
All in a commonwealth shared by all, the children of all nations
Will have houses, jobs and hospitals, Spirit of 45
Even Steve McQueen
The getaway you're counting on doesn't go as planned
Your resonator flight case handle comes off in your hand
Your motorcycle jacket don't keep out the rain
Everything needs gaffer tape to fix it up again
The odds are stacked against you when you make your great escape
There's no such thing as good luck, it's all just gaffer tape
Your lucky number isn't, Jesus never replies
The rich got all the insurance, but everybody dies
Even Steve McQueen
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Even Steve McQueen
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
From the skyline of Manhattan to the smile of Mona Lisa
From the Eiffel Tower of Paris to the leaning tower of Pisa
From that e that equals mc squared to the stars that shine by night
From the sums we always get wrong to the songs we sometimes write
Well you keep on digging, Danny, that tunnel to the sea
It's only in these dreams and plans and actions that we're free
The doctor does his voodoo, but there is no great escape
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Even Steve McQueen
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Even Steve McQueen
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Well you saddle up your motorbike and take it to the wire
Every wall you jump, the next one's always higher
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
All the broken hearts, the broken toes
How you gonna make it till the final whistle blows?
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
The King of Cool, the Queen of Hearts,
The Berlin Wall, it all comes apart
Everybody puts their faith in gaffer tape
Even Steve McQueen
Even Steve McQueen
Even Steve McQueen
Even Steve McQueen
Even Steve McQueen
I Am Not At War
I am standing at this bus stop, I am counting falling stars
I am working at this crap job, I am playing this guitar
I am wings and wheels and whatever, I am all these things and more
But no matter what the headlines tell you I am not at war
I am standing on this platform, I am waiting for this train
I am gobsmacked by this sunset, I am pissed off by this rain
I am dreams and drums and magic, I am 2 and 2 makes 4
But no matter what my passport tells you I am not at war
I am one drop in this ocean, I am much the same as you
I'm here for one night only then I'm gone
I am passing like this shadow but I know one thing for sure
I don't fit that uniform, and I am not at war
I am not at war, I am not at war, I am not at war, I am not at war
I am not at war, I am not at war, I am not at war, I am not at war
No I don't fit that uniform, and I am not at war
I don't want to be a soldier, I am not at war
So when punk finally happened, I'd seen it all before, and I was doing open tunings and jazz chords
Armed with this acoustic, every gig I got, I give 'em love and death and politics whether they wanted it or not - 'The End of the Miracle'