Chumbawamba

100. Barry John


Barry John was the king of Rugby Union
He was fast and agile and extremely good-looking
All you'd see would be a flash of red
Wales were best, 'cause he used his head
And knew exactly when to stop
And he retired when he was on top
Barry is my cousin, twice removed
And that's not easy to disprove
I talk about it when I go out
When people don't listen, then I start to shout
"Barry John is related to me!
Look!
Barry John is related to me!
Alright!
Not by blood, but still related to me!
Listen!
This is very important to me!"
Woah! Woah...
My friends don't mind if this is true
Because they are all Barry's cousins too

101. Running Order


When you ran 'round the block
And you thought you were going to die
You said you'd never run again
And then you had another try
And you felt a little better
'Cause above all else
You know that no-one made you do it
You decided for yourself
And it gave you time to think
And a chance to unwind
You thought by going out running
You had wisely spent your time
For whilst the only aim at work
Was your take-home pay
Running meant you'd done
Something useful with your day
And you found your weaknesses
And tested your strengths
And above all else
You decided for yourself
Is it alright like that?

A Fairy Tale (Real No-Shit)


Chapt. Two - Guess who? Manfred The Great
The great king bashed down his goblet on the oaken table as kings do when they want more wine. Everyone was silent. 'Minstrel the noise of chattering women grates on my ears. Play me some music,' he bellowed.
A fairy tale handed down
I believed it, didn't we all
A man, a hero, walks on to the scene
Unquestionably good at everything
First he does battle with various creatures
Which compared to his goodness are evil monsters
Having made dragons extinct forever
He murders a couple of the castle guards
He enters the castle quite unnoticed
And tells the girl he'll be back for her
'And so I shall make her mine forever'
But runs into trouble and is taken prisoner
Is taken to the big bad, bad, bad, baddy
Baddy tells hero how goodness is finished
And has him strapped up to a slow-death device
But he escapes as the rope starts to burn through
The blade crashes down on the block where his head was
With a sword from the wall he finishes the castle guards
A lamp gets knocked over in the panic and a fire starts
A race against time to rescue the princess
To get past the baddy to get out of the castle
Out of the window where the horses are waiting
The couple ride off and the whole place goes up in flames

A Morality Play

People would have to be told that if they refuse to answer questions when they might be expected to answer questions, that is something which can be used at the trial and which might strengthen the case against them.
Hang Michael Howard, oh c'mon...
Act one, the smell of green leather, French polish, quite pristine, not a hair out of place, not a wrinkle, not a crease, the silverware all clean. Exquisite chaussures grace marble floors, be upstanding, for men of yore. But wait, who's this, sticky under the collar in Elsinore? Enter silent comedy geek with dynamite down his pants. Nervous, shuffling on his feet, leading a merry song and dance. A back seat driver of good moral fibre, holding up the light. He's made his own bed, now he's got to lie in it. Ho hum, it serves him right.
Act three, 'I am the lord of the dance,' said he. John the Baptist, dripping wet, playing sir politick-would-be. Backslapping, backsliding, back to basic instincts, backfiring. By your own choice you're on a hiding to nothing, I ask you which is more comforting? The thought that I am bad seed, gone to seed, turned sour by TV sex and violence. Or even worse, am I unleashed by my own volition to do you ill? 'Condemn a little more, understand a little less.' Oh sad sir, thou jest! Ha ha! I am Prometheus, prepare thee to meet thy nemesis.
Thanks a lot

Act With Mother


M spells man, K spells kind, could somebody tell me is man kind?
Manking is saying, gotta say goodbye now, gotto say goodbye to mother earth
I mean, how could I ever say that to her?
She's my mother, and I love her, there's no other, mother earth, mother earth
I used to watch, watch with mother, I grew up with her
Now I'm grown up, I stand on my own two feet, but that's no reason to forget her
By acting with mother not against her
First second and third worlds can help each other
By sharing the load, we can bear the burden
By working together we can replant the garden
Mother nature can be a right bastard at times, but I reckon she's a whole lot cleverer than mankind. He might have more experience, especially in apathy. Well ask him or ask yourself, 'War, poverty, death, rape, and violence on our streets?' And he'll look at you blankly and say, 'Mindless'. Man made catastrophe and it's happening now, today, so we're right up shit creek without a paddle, without a boat even. Question, what are full of holes yet hold much water? Answer, people. People need each other, not money, not packaged shit, we need each other.
How to be nice to each other?
How to talk to each other?
How to live together again?
I reckon, peace means learning to live together again

Adversity

Thirty years of the same old shit
Of music, money, hit after hit
Smiles, lies, sales, walls
That's thirty years of rock and roll
They changed it's name once or twice
Get rebellious with a company deal
Business thrives where honesty fails
Contracts? Con tricks!
Sing revolution, wait 'til it starts
One eye on the bank account, one on the charts
Government-sponsored rebellion--buy it!
A bit more product to keep us quiet!
Shhh
Product sells, people die
Same revolution, wrapped in lies
In these sexist, drugged-up, rock and roles
The biggest prizes to the biggest fools
Ask the puppet-masters who pull the strings
'Who makes the money when the puppets sing?'
Ask the corporations
'Where does the money go?'
Ask the empty-bellied children
'Tell me what are we singing for?'
Until we pull down the walls
It'll stay the same
Until we find something new
Make it change
I know there most be more
So what are we singing for?
These puppets, underneath the skin, have the same problems as you and me--they want to be loved, don't know where to begin. Just a wall's width away, but impossible to get close. Offstage, with nothing to hide behind, the puppets are running away. And meanwhile, we're running away from ourselves... and meanwhile, we're running away from ourselves... and meanwhile, we're running away from ourselves...
If our music makes you happy or content
It has failed
If our music entertains, but doesn't inspire
It has failed
The music's not a threat
Action the music inspires can be a threat!
I know there must be more...

After Shelley


Anybody can press a button and blow a ship up. Anybody can use an atom bomb. Anybody can pick up a big whip and whip you. Anybody can stick a knife into you. Anybody can pull a trigger. But where's the man with the character, as can take a punch on the nose and keep his temper, keep control of himself?
Sho lo, lu la lo, sho lo, lu la (Repeats)
The seed you sow, another reaps
The wealth you find, another keeps
The clothes you weave, another wears
The arms you forge, another bears
The songs you write, another sings
The heart you lose, another wins
The food you bake, another eats
(Poison-laced and oh, so sweet)
Rock and Roll
Check your pulse
Art or death
True or false
Can't stay young
Can't grow old
Overpriced
Undersold

Ah-men


A visionary pause in the cycle
When she refused to buy or sell
When the daughters of perfect wives
Said there must be no more sacrifice...
Needed more than symbolic change
More than silent wasting away
In factories and sterile marriages
(He was God. She was powerless.)
With a brick for every year of life
She set out for the house of lies
The Old Boys Club under siege
His Lordship cowered under his seat
Called for brandy and reinforcements
Blasted away at every movement.
Close to breaking down the door...
Past thick blue lines and stupid laws
Black Friday left her bruised and stubborn
One brick from winning the struggle!
Rapunzel hacked at the ivory tower
Asquith quickly rose to the hour...
Appealed to patriotism, oily smiles
Gave nothing, called it compromise.
Gauging the situation perfectly
Said, "Ladies! Ladies! Listen to me!
1914, we're on the brink of war
Pick up a flag, drop your cause!
Your targets are counter-revolutionary
Take my hand in democracy!
Here's a piece of paper
You're officially free
Here's a list of instructions
For you to obey;
(And here's sharp knife
To cut your own throat
Small sacrifice in return for a vote...)"
Whispered work in Pankhurst's ear:
Visions of the first woman peer
Led women down the garden path
And into the arms of the enemy.
Jail and force-feeding, wasted martyrdom
Sold her songs for the National Anthem
Slotted the smile back neatly into place
Served refreshments
At the end of the race
All demands reduced to a joke
X marks the plague: abandon hope
Butlers still pouring brandy for the rich
"Excuse me,
Could you pass me the privilege?"
A woman's voice, the state's ideal
Same vested interest, same dirty deals
Currie and Williams immersed in the times:
Examples to keep the the rest in line.
Currie and Williams, two of a kind:
Examples to keep the rest in line.

All In Vain

I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish (Repeats)
But it's all in vain (Repeats)
Different colors, different faces
Different schools in different places
Scour the morning papers, all in vain
Evening after, who remembers?
Say your prayers for the great pretenders
I see nothing but flowers, all in vain
I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish (Repeats)
But it's all in vain (Repeats)
All the gravestone elegies
I-never-met-you memories
And every T.V. picture, all in vain
All your questions, deep as skin
Seperate worlds to put them in
Another might-have-been, all in vain
I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish (Repeats)
Color blind as tse-tse flies
Sucking all our difference dry
And as we sleep they multiply (Repeats)
All in vain (Repeats)
Multiply (Repeats)

All Mixed Up

Sitting on the shelf when someone called my number
With a template in one hand, scissors in the other
'What lump of clay is this?' Said the king maker to me
Dull, gray matter, perfect for his alchemy
The future flesh and blood on the bones of the big lie
A no-wit who's face fits and never wonders why
I met my Mephistophelles, the papers sealed in blood
Like I got a transfer deal the lad done good
(Chorus)
Good King Danbert at the helm
His face on every coin of the realm
And every time we sing, it's three cheers for the king
Hey, hey, hey
Sirhan, Sirhan, where have you gone?
All mixed up
We take a fool for a king
All mixed up
Mistake a fool for a king
(Repeat)
The washing powder advert
That everybody hates
But all the research shows that's how brand names are made
Squeaky clean, no skeletons
In other words I've never lived
Makes me highly-qualified
To decide what gives
Rough-shod, riding rail-road
Over all the awkward questions
Queen Victoria of Grantham
To give me her blessing
It's written all over me
I'm touched by the hand
I am the something very rotten
In the state of little England
(Repeat chorus)
All mixed up
(Repeat)

All The King's Men


And so in the tradition of Manfred the Great
The people built the glorious vision in his name
Great Britain they called it, a land for heroes
A land where no one was starving, a paradise, a garden of Eden
The garden of Eden, levelled to the ground
And concreted over, re-built from scratch
With I.C.I. man-made fibres, they made their paradise out of plastic
But our world is cracked and it's showing through
The plastic backed cello-taped superglue
The paper money and the patched up lies
The cover-up jobs, the fact they try to hide
That all the king's horses and all the king's men
Will never stick our world together again
With their plastic, sticky-backed, red-taped lies,
And all the paper money they exchange for our lives
Think about it, our world, all the ecological catastrophes
They're happening all at once, at the same time now
Mankind to the rescue, I ask you why?
To him tomorrow is just another fucking day fucking up the earth
Filling his fat silver-lined pockets full
So please listen, dear peoplekind
See the reason that minkind won't save the earth
Cos there's no money in it for him, it's not worth his while
It's up to us
It's up to us
It's up to us, each and every one of us

Always Tell The Voter What The Voter Wants To Hear


"You want jobs? I've got jobs!
Hospitals? Top of my list!
Tax cuts and platform shoes
For every small businessman!
..Just give me your vote"
"Schools, prisons? Of course we'll build 'em!
Condoms for the American G.I.'s!
Nuclear reactors will breed like rabbits!
Police oppression? You can have it, sir!
..Just give me your vote"
Put your cross in the box
"You want houses? See me afterwards!
Want my autograph? See my bodyguard
Pre-election budgut handouts!
You want a war? No problem
..Just give me your vote"

Amnesia

Goodbye to the summer
Sold down the river
Unhappy ever after
Well did you ever?
Did you ever reach for the glued-down penny?
Same old joke and it's not funny
Burns are red bruises blue
Out with the old cheated by the new
Do you suffer from a long term memory loss?
I don't remember (2x)
You sing the same old verse
Stick like glue for better or worse
What goes aruond comes around
Again and again
This heart pulled apart
Hydra fighting head to head
Burns are red bruises blue
Out with the old cheated by the new
Do you suffer from a long term memory loss?
I don't remember (2x)
Amnesia
Do you suffer from a long term memory loss?
I don't remember...

Amnesia (Acoustic Version)


Goodbye to the summer
Sold down the river
Unhappy ever after
Well did you ever?
Did you ever reach for the glued-down penny?
Same old joke and it's not funny
Burns are red, bruises blue
Out with the old, cheated by the new
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember...
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember...
You sing the same old verse
Stick like glue for better or worse
What goes around comes around, again, again, again
This heart pulled apart
Hydra fighting head to head
Burns are red bruises blue
Out with the old cheated by the new
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember...
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember...
A lot of people won't get no justice tonight
A lot of people won't get no justice tonight
A lot of people won't get no justice tonight
A lot of people won't get no justice tonight
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember...
(repeat)

Amnesia (Done Lying Down Version)



Goodbye to the summer
Sold down the river
Unhappy ever after
Why did you ever?
Did you ever reach for the glued-down penny?
Same old joke and it's not that funny
Burns are red, bruises blue
Out with the old, cheated by the new
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember...
You sing the same old verse
Stick like glue for better or worse
What goes around comes around, again, again, again
This heart pulled apart
Hydra fighting head to head
Burns are red bruises blue
Out with the old cheated by the new
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
I don't remember...
I'm not funny? Is that what you're saying? I'm not funny?
All I'm saying, in a word, is 'no'
Amnesia
Do you suffer from long-term memory loss?
(repeat)
I don't remember...

An Interlude-Beginning To Take It Back

Words to describe Nicaragua of old
Cash crops and hunger and US control
Coffee and sugar on company land
Made to supply what the boss would demand
Then one July morning in seventy-nine
Nicaragua decided to leave it behind
(Chorus)
And the people are learning to take back their lives
As the country will change, Sandinista survives
Women are winning what they've never known
The power to organize outside the home
Starting to find what is equal and fair
Ensuring that this revolution is shared
Regaining lost chances, demanding much more
Running the factories, fighting the war
(Repeat chorus)
Nobody claims that it's over and done
There's too much depends on enlistment and guns
And raising their children and filling their plates
And chasing the Contras to Washington State
The Yankee conspiracy thrown to the ground
That's where the spirit of change can be found
(Repeat chorus)

Asleep

But how do kings and presidents, prime ministers and generals, and company chairmen sleep at night?
How do they shut their eyes when they turn out the lights?
Turn out the lights for the people they're shitting on
Turn out the lights for the people they're torturing
Turn out the lights for the people they're poisoning
Turn out the lights for the people they're starving
Turn out the lights for the people they've murdered
They got two big secrets one up each sleeve, first they believe that they're doing God's work, and that's the lie that they can lie down with, 'Cause it's seconded by the people they govern. 'Cause the people they govern will work for them, buy from them, and die for them
And the people they govern will vote for them
And the people they govern do their sleeping for them
Do their sleeping for them, do their sleeping for them
Meanwhile Ronnie is on first name terms with God, or so he sees it in his head. Too many motion pictures when he was younger, and he's round at God's place for a meal.
God preparest a table before Ronnie
In the presence of Ronnie's enemies
God annointest Ronnies' head with oil
Ronnie's cup runneth over
Surely goodness and mercy, shall follow Ron
An Psalm is an anagram of napalms
Wake up, we must wake up!
We must wake up!
We must wake up!
We must wake up!

Bad Dog

Puppy eyes puppy eyes tearing claws spitting pride
Roll over! Roll over! Roll over! Roll over!
Pretty please pretty play chase away chase away
Nasty nasty snapping nasty biting spitting nasty nasty
Hammer hammer teeth nails sit sit sit sit
Bitch won't beg bitch can't lick bitch can't do those clever tricks
Heel fetch run lie nasty nasty snapping nasty
See these eyes puppy eyes roll over and die die
Bad dog you bad dog you bad dog you bad dog
Playful dog with trouble and spice nasty nice nasty nice
Slip the lead fight fight my bark is softer than my bite
Roll over roll over mock each chewing spewing mouthful
Hammer hammer teeth nails bad dog bad dog
Good girl pat pat bad dog smack smack
Here's a bitch who'll give it back snap snap snap snap
Puppy eyes will start to play this nasty dog will have it's day
This is heaven
This is hell
This is living
This is tale to tell
This is drive wheel
This is cog
This is master
This is snarling dog
This is hammer
This is spanner
This is no sir
This is table manners
This is history
This is how it's been
This is over and over and over and over again

Because I'm a He

As soon as I'm born they made me feel big
That I was privileged without having to be rich
They had a place set aside for me to help to run this society
If I followed the paths laid down for me
I could join the club called Patriarchy
Because I'm a he, because I'm a he, because I'm a he
If I didn't get far 'cause the ladder was too long
I could be my own boss, with a workforce of one
No matter how low I go there'll always be lower
It's taken for granted that a white man holds power
And I am white, and I'm a man, I don't have to justify what I am
And now it's relatively easy for me to get taken seriously
Because I'm a he, because I'm a he, because I'm a he
'Cause I'm not black and I'm not Irish, I'm not a woman
I don't get too much stick just for being what I am
'Cause I am white and I'm a man, I don't have often to justify what I am
Now it's relatively easy for me to get taken seriously
Because I'm a he, because I'm a he, because I'm a he
Hassled--I've been hassled, but I don't get hassled on sight
I don't dread going out at night, I don't have to worry 'cause I'm alright
Singing about it doesn't exclude me but if I keep quiet then all people see
Is compulsory white male superiority complex that's forced on me
Because I'm a he, because I'm a he
It's no good feeling guilty, it's what I am
But it's up to me to do what I can, by not being what I'm supposed to be
By fighting white male supremacy
By fighting government policy
By fighting bosses of companyies
By fighting fascist democracy
But not forgetting to look at me, no, not forgetting to look at me
Not forgetting to look at me, because I'm a he

Bella Ciao

The world is waking outside my window
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
Drags my senses into the sunlight
For there are things that I must do
Wish me luck now, I have to leave you
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
With my friends now up to the city
We're going to shake the Gates of Hell
And I will tell them - we will tell them
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
That our sunlight is not for franchise
And wish the bastards drop down dead
Next time you see me I may be smiling
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
I'll be in prison or on the TV
I'll say, "the sunlight dragged me here!"

Big Mouth Strikes Again

I caught you with your head down the toilet as you were gulping up dirty words, then later dressed in suit and tie, whilst playing to the laughing crowds, you were gargling, spitting, fingers down your throat, making yourself so sick. Vomiting the words that you'd sucked and slurped all over the cops at the back!
Big mouth, big mouth, big mouth strikes again
Big mouth, big mouth, big mouth strikes again
Flucky now, flucky now, flucky now, oh my, it's a good job Fusion cannot spell. 'Cause if I could you know I'd get a lot of flack off the record company, always on my back. Well I thank God for watching what I'm doing. Whoops. Fusion watch what you're saying. Remember what happened before when you tried to thank God, um, Christ, um, Him--you had to scrap your lyrics and throw them in the bin. I couldn't win, it must've been a thing. Anyway I've been asked here not to give lip, but to talk about a topic which we call censorship. Musicians have no right to say what they want to. MC Fusion want to say some of the people say that blunt--nobody has the right to tell you want to do. 'Cause if you do it to them, it may be [?] on you. Whoever bought this record try and figure out what the flucking hell is Fusion talking about, but it makes sense to the A G I T, cause this is what happened when they try to censor me. Ha. Finally, Fusion, I mean we, got freedom of speech. Censorship is a load of bollocks, and that's what agitation propaganda and anything you can do, I can do better.
'To' is a preposition
'Come' is a verb
'To come' is a verb intransitive
To come, to come
Did you come? Did you come good? Good!
Did you come? Did you come good? Good!
Don't come in me, don't come in me
Don't come in me, don't come in me
It takes technique to thrill me!
Did you come? Did you come good? Good!
Did you come? Did you come good? Good!
Did you come, come, come, come, come good?
Big mouth, big mouth, big mouth strikes again
Big mouth, big mouth, big mouth strikes again
(Good Thief routine)
Stepford husbands, Stepford wives
With longer scissors, sharper knives
So sugar-sweet, they spend their time as censors, working overtime
This good-good culture
Bullshit motherfucker bullshit
Welcome Christ, judges, lone ranger
Bullshit motherfucker bullshit
Padres, pastors, popes, priests
Bullshit motherfucker bullshit
Critics, comics, you, me
Bullshit motherfucker bullshit
Big mouth, big mouth, big mouth strikes again
Big mouth, big mouth, big mouth strikes again

British Colonialism And The Bbc


Bulletin:
"Your version of the riots in Cape Town
Comes second hand from me
Chewing and spewing this revolution
For popular TV
All your opinions are carefully chosen
By what we'll let you see
Televised crap dressed up as fact -
your soap reality
We only want a chance to show the Editor's side
Of struggle in the news
Closer and closer to the state's eye view
And further from the truth
Push a microphone to the mouth of this youth
Bewildered and confused
Misreported, distorted, misquoted
A ready-made victim to be used
And we'll quote you on things that you never said
Put this pencil to your head
And kill your revolution dead..."
TV tells us what to be and what to say and what to do
How to act and how to lie but never question why?
Fighting to stop the mass-deception
Fighting to scrap the pass laws
Fighting to end the misuse of land
Fighting to close down diamond mines
Fighting to feed their hungry mouths
Fighting to change the world
..here, we sit on the fence
Built by distance and enforced by lies
Is a full stomach all it takes
To keep us pacified?

Buy Nothing Day

I woke up this morning my temperature high
Buy, buy, buy
"I'll never buy nothing again," I lied
Buy, buy, buy
My doctor told me to stay out of town
Buy, buy, buy
He said, "Affluenza will get you down"
Buy, buy, buy
(Chorus)
What did you do in the war, Dad? What did you do in the war?
Ring up the tills in the High Street--I'm not coming in anymore
There's a price tag on me and there's sick on the floor
Buy, buy, buy
We're buying up anything we can't afford
Buy, buy, buy
Wherever I go I keep hearing this voice
Buy, buy, buy
Saying "choose what you want" but there's so little choice
Buy, buy, buy
(Repeat chorus)
Give it a rest
(Repeats)
There's dumb moves behind me and bad debts above
Buy, buy, buy
I pawned my affections and still got no love
Buy, buy, buy
My heart and my pocket will say it's unfair
Buy, buy, buy
I'm unlearning the cost of this laissez-faire
Buy, buy, buy
(Repeat chorus)
November twenty-three is buy-nothing day

Cartrouble

Big tall courthouse, a clock upon the wall
A hammer on the table and a copper on the door
A judge in front and a jury at the side
A judge in front and a jury at the side
A judge in front and a jury at the side
And a Bible on the stand to say I won't tell lies
Well it's one o'clock, two o'clock, any old o'clock
Between the rock and roll devil and the fear of god
Big brotherly love runs shallow as skin
In the deep south of America
Can the lady take the stand now? Blah, blah, blah
And how comes a black woman drives her own car?
And what gives you the constitutional right
And what gives you the constitutional right
And what gives you the constitutional right
To drive a car through a junction on a red stop light?
Well it's one o'clock, two o'clock, any old o'clock
Between the rock and roll devil and the fear of god
Big brotherly love runs shallow as skin
In the deep south of Yorkshire
Well of course I drove the car through a red stop light
But well, I thought that law was just for whites
I saw the white folks drive through on green
I say, I saw the white folks drive through on green
I say, I saw the white folks drive through on green
So when the red light flashed, I thought this must be for me
Well it's one o'clock, two o'clock, any old o'clock
Just a fear of the people with a fear of god
Lancashire white girl tries to sing the blues
Well, I woke up this morning like I usually do