Thursday, July 15, 2010

Chumbawamba, "The Candidates Find Common Ground" (from Never Mind the Ballots, 1987)

(cross-posted from Commonplace)

A: Full employment, slave labor, and schemes
B: An unemployed workforce, the capitalist's dream
A & B: But let's keep Britain working
   Either way we must keep Britain working
A: Conventional weapons to kill people nicely
B: Nuclear weapons to keep the peace
A & B: But weapons definitely
   Either way we must defend ourselves
A: Nationalization, with one big boss
B: No, privatization, with lots of little bosses
A & B: But someone in control, of course
   Either way there must be someone giving orders

chorus:
A toast to democracy
The prison guard of this society
Sides in the voting game
Disappear into the same machine

A toast
To US bases and nuclear weapons
To stopping pickets, pulling down fences
To the British troops in Northern Ireland
To the wonderful victory in the Falklands
To the plastic bullet and the riot police
To the UDM, to the TUC
To isolating gays and to law and to order
To richer bosses, to poorer workers

chorus

A toast
To longer hours and to less pay
To the courts for those who get in our way
To the beating of the people who step out of line
To the use of troops to break a strike
To the expulsion of extremists and to political witch hunts
To repatriation, to benefit cuts
To peaceful settlements, and to no strike agreements
To authority, to power, to governments

To the annual rise in the MP's wage
To vested interests, to privilege
To the party who wins the next election
By definition a victory to capitalism

4 comments:

Richard said...

What is the music like? Punk?

Also, at risk of repeating myself, you need to listen to their English Rebel Songs cd, stat.

Ethan said...

I wouldn't say punk, it's more...very 1987 post-punk, in one of the better ways that that style manifested itself. It's also very much in the kind of cut-up style that most of their early music that I've heard uses. The vocals are deliberately silly-sounding. As usual with them I like the female vocalist (Alice Nutter, I think?) better than the male (no idea which one he is).

English Rebel Songs is definitely on my list. It's a long list, but I'm getting there, I swear!

Richard said...

Sounds good, thanks.

Look! Rarities for download:

http://chumba.com/downloads.php


Where did you come across your copy of this album? They don't list it on their "shop" page.

Ethan said...

Ooh, thanks for the link.

I found the album on torrent, ssh, don't tell anyone. It also got re-released a while back under the title First 2 on a disc that included it and their first album, Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records, which is also awesome. I don't know if that release might be easier to come by?