Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)

Subject: Lyr Req: Adam MacNaughtan's Politician Song
From: GUEST,Justin Curt Lockman
Date: 08 Jul 09 - 09:36 AM

Hello all,

I am looking for the name and lyrics (and recording info if possible!) of a song I heard that I'm pretty sure was Adam MacNaughtan singing. It was from the politician's point of view, and all I can remember is the very end of the song that goes something like:

"I'll always be one of the workers....'cause as long as I'm one of the workers they'll elect me again and again and again. Yes they'll elect me again and again."

Anyone know of this song?

Thanks!


- Justin

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Adam MacNaughtan's Politician Song
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 08 Jul 09 - 06:14 PM

Justin, I think it's called 'The Glasgow Councillor', but I'll have to listen to the CD to check. Will be back.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Adam MacNaughtan's Politician Song
From: GUEST,Justin Curt Lockman
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 03:57 PM

Thanks! Looking forward to any info you have.


- Justin

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Adam MacNaughtan's Politician Song
From: GUEST,effsee sans cookie
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 04:44 PM

Sheena Wellington recorded this song on:-

http://www.musicscotland.com/cd/strong-women-musicscotland-.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Adam MacNaughtan's Politician Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 07:17 PM

I downloaded "The Glasgow Councillor" at emusic.com. The tune is familiar, but I can't come up with a name for it - "Dick Darby"?

I wouldn't attempt a transcription myself, but I found one verse here (click), which is probably one of those politically questionable Websites..... It speaks of the Scottish National Party - is that like the BNP?

Here's the transcription they have:


'Ah'm (I'm) mair (more) working class than whit (what) you are!
Ah wis brought up in Parkheid,
Ma (My) Da' (father) was a navvy – we'd nae (no) inside lavvy (toilet),
We ate corned beef and dry breid (bread),
Now ah've got a villa in Clarkston,
But don't tell me ah've selt (sold) the pass,
My lavvy's still on the half-landing,
Because ah remain true tae ma class!'

Or so Scots folk singer Adam McNaughtan wrote in his not so gentle dig at the typical Glasgow Labour Councillor. The song describes how the Councillor has gradually 'made it' during his life, in the process moving from the area he was brought up in, working class Parkhead, to his present domicile in the distinctly middle class suburb of Clarkston.

The Councillor is at great pains throughout the song to exaggerate the hardship he endured growing up. But despite his successes to date, he is anxious to show that he hasn't lost touch in any way with his roots and that despite becoming a company director, he'll still always be one of the workers. The reason? 'As long as ah'm one of the workers, they'll elect me again and again and again……'

Subject: Lyr Add: THE GLASGOW COUNCILLOR (Adam McNaughtan)
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 07:52 PM

Thanks, Joe. Here's the rest:

THE GLASGOW COUNCILLOR
(Adam McNaughtan)

1. Ah'm mair workin class than whit you are.
Ah wis brocht up in Parkheid.
Ma Da wis a navvy; we'd nae inside lavvy.
We ate coarn beef an dry breid.
Now Ah live in a villa in Clarkston,
But don't tell me Ah've selt the pass.
The lavvy's still on the hauf-landin
Cos Ah remain true tae ma class.

2. An Ah'm mair working class than whit you are.
Ma claes they were aye secondhaun.
On Monday at school Ah wis late as a rule.
Ah'd tae wait tae get stuff oot the pawn.
Noo ma shoes they are ninety quid Barkers.
In ma wardrobe Ah've seventeen suits,
But ye'll still find me wearin ma bonnet
Cos Ah remain true tae ma roots.

3. Ah'm mair working class than whit you are.
Ah left school when Ah wis fufteen,
Stuck in at ma trade an ma progress was made
Wi hard graft an wi keepin my nose clean.
So now I'm Projections Director,
Computing the company's goals.
Well keyboard work is manual labour,
So Ah am still wan o the proles.

4. Ah'm mair working class than whit you are.
Twa cars an a yacht are nae crimes.
Cos Ah thinks it's fair - in agreement wi Blair
That the party should move wi the times.
Ah'll always be wan o the workers.
The reason Ah'll easy explain:
As lang as Ah'm wan o the workers,
They'll elect me again an again an again and again
an again an again an again.

(And a translation into plain English:

1. I'm more working class than you are
I was brought up in Parkhead
My father was a navvy an we'd no inside toilet
We ate corned beef an dry bread
Now I live in a villa in Clarkston
But don't tell me I've sold the pass
The toilet's still on the half-landing
For I remain true to my class

2. An I'm more working class than you are
My clothes they were always second hand
On Monday at school I was late as a rule
I'd to wait to get stuff out of the pawnshop
Now my shoes they are ninety pound Barkers
In my wardrobe I've got seventeen suits
But you'll still find me wearing my cloth cap
For I remain true to my roots

3. Oh I'm more working class than you are
I left school when I was fifteen
Stuck in at my trade an my progress was made
With hard work and with keeping my nose clean
So now I'm Projections Director
Computing the company's goals
Well keyboard work is manual labour
So I remain one of the workers

4. An I'm more working class than you are
Two cars and a yacht are no crimes
For I think it's fair - in agreement with (Tony) Blair
That the party should move with the times
But I'll always be one of the workers
The reason I'll easy explain
As long as I'm one of the workers
They'll elect me again and again and again and again
and again and again and again)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Adam MacNaughtan's Politician Song
From: Jack Campin
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 08:08 PM

The SNP is nothing like the BNP. It campaigns for an independent Scotland. It's the majority party in the devolved Scottish Parliament, and will almost certainly win a majority of the Scottish seats in the UK Parliament at the next election. They're about as centrist as it gets in British politics, and are accordingly a bit opportunistic, but for decades they have been pretty damn thorough about throwing out any members advocating racist ideas - much more so than ANY of the other British parties with a share of power, Labour included.

I suspect that politician Adam had in mind was Michael Martin, recently fired as Speaker of the House of Commons after displaying levels of incompetence not seen since Cromwell's Rump. (The smug, lying, greedy, corrupt old shit was my local MP when I lived in Glasgow - the job is a sinecure with the largest Labour majority in the UK).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Adam MacNaughtan's Politician Song
From: Effsee
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 10:48 PM

I'd be surprised if Adam had MM in mind when he wrote the song a lot of years ago Jack! Was MM ever a "Coonciillur"?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Adam MacNaughtan's Politician Song
From: Jack Campin
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 02:44 AM

Effsee - you may be right right - MM was a councillor 1973-1979, but, Adam lives on the South Side and I think MM was from north of the Clyde, somewhere near the Springburn constituency he ended up "representing".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Nov 14 - 10:10 AM

Ah'm mair workin' class 'an whit you are,
Ah wis broucht up in Parkheid,
Ma Da' wis a Navvy, we'd nae inside lavvy,
We ate corran'd Beef and dry breid.
But now I've a villa in Parkside,
But don't tell me I've sold the past,
For the lavvy's still on the haulf landing,
So I remain true tae ma class.

Ah'm mair workin'clas 'an whit you are,
Ma' claes they were aye sicond haun'
On Mondays at school I wis late as a rule,
Ah had tae get stuff oot' th' pawn,
Now ma shoes they are Ninety quid Barkers,
In ma wardrobe I've siventeen suits,
But ye'll still see me wearin' ma bunnet,
'cos Ah' remain true tae ma roots.

Ah'm mair workin' class 'an whit you are,
Ah left school win ah' wis fifteen
Stuck in at mah trade,an' mah progress wis made
wi' hard work an' wi' keepin ma nose clean.
And now I'm Projections Director,
Ensuring the Company's goals,
Well keyboard work is Manual Labour,
So I remain one of the Proles.

An Ah'm mair workin' class 'an whit you are,
Twa cars an a yacht is nae crime,
Ah' still think it fair, in agreement wi' Blair
That the Party should move with the times
But ah'll always be one o' the workers,
The reason is perfectly plain,
as long as ah'm one o' th' workers,
They'll elect me again and a gain, and again,
and again and again and again.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 Nov 14 - 12:06 PM

Now does anyone have the words for the one about corruption in the building of council houses in Glasgow which ends "it pays to be Frank" (Frank "porkie-pie-gate" McAveety? not sure).

Goes to the tune of "The Spanish Lady" and has the typically improbable Adam-ish lines

Flat roofs work just fine in Algeria
Not so well in Andersontown.

I heard it around 1990.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 06 Nov 14 - 12:26 PM

Anderston is the likely spelling but I'm finding nowt.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 Nov 14 - 12:49 PM

"Anderston" wouldn't scan.

"Anderson Town" was the old name for it. Maybe it stayed in use locally?

I can't recall a lot of tower blocks in Anderston, though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 06 Nov 14 - 01:08 PM

Thanks for the info, Jack. I'll dig around s'more.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 Nov 14 - 02:25 PM

Aargh. Hutchesontown. That's better.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: GUEST,Anne Neilson
Date: 06 Nov 14 - 03:06 PM

Fairly sure the place Jack is looking for is Hutchesontown -- the old tenements were long ago replaced by tower blocks and some lower level flats. And some of the tower blocks were blown up a few years ago when they were deemed uneconomic to maintain. (This area borders Gorbals, if that's of any help.)

Will also try to dig up some more info. about the mysterious Frank….

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: Ian Burdon
Date: 07 Nov 14 - 07:10 AM

Indeed: the Hutchestown "C" flats were built to replace the former tenements and the social problems which were associated with them. They were designed by Sir Basil Spence to a tower block design which is said to have originated in North Africa, although Spence said they were inspired by a Le Corbusier design in Marseille (other architects were responsible for the "A" and "B" developments.

North Africa and Marseille are, of course, predominantly warm and dry, qualities not normally associated with Glasgow (or nearby East Kilbride where I grew up). The flats developed mold, fungus and damp and were also notorious for funnelling high winds. The grand balconies, which originally were nicknamed the Hanging Gardens of the Gorbals, became unusable Almost all of the towers are now demolished (to howls of protests from the architect's admirers).

A number of local residents who considered that the social issues in the Gorbals arose more from poverty than building design,managed to save their original Victorian tenements from demolition and instead obtained funds for their complete refurbishment. The refurbished flats are now, of course, highly desirable in precisely the way that Spence's properties were not.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 07 Nov 14 - 09:42 AM

I wanted to watch the demolition of the Hutchesontown C flats in 1993 - I was living in Dennistoun, not far away across the river, at the time. I left it a bit late and was just crossing the Clyde when I heard an enormous bang and saw a pillar of dust rising into the sky. Arriving at the site, I found it had all gone horribly wrong. The flats may have been underengineered for comfort but they were way overengineered for strength - the demolition team used a larger than usual explosive charge but it didn't bring them down properly, leaving a half-standing wobbling wreck, and it emerged later in the day that a chunk of flying concrete propelled by the extra-large charge had killed one of the spectators.

The demolition video here is awe-inspiring, but stops before the dust clears, so you don't see what went wrong:

http://www.basilspence.org.uk/living/buildings/gorbals

If Glasgow's problem had been earthquakes rather than wind and rain they'd have been brilliant.

BTW there is a wonderful description of the end of the old Gorbals tenements (the ones the tower blocks replaced) in Jeff Torrington's bizarre novel "Swing Hammer Swing!", which goes to Tristram-Shandy-like lengths to avoid actually telling a coherent story. The main character is one of the last residents in an area about to be demolished.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Glasgow Councillor (Adam McNaughtan)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 08 Nov 14 - 04:47 PM

I listened to Adam McNaughtan sing THE GLASGOW COUNCILLOR on Spotify. The version I heard there was from a various-artists album "Glasgow Horizons" (1990). There is one whole additional verse (compared to the one Susanne posted):

3.5 Ah'm mair working class than whit you are.
Ah've credentials that just cannae fail.
When Ah'm oot on the bevy, Ah always drink heavy
And nane o yer yuppie real ale.
I'll admit that I'm ...
And ... case,
But it's ...
Cos ma heart's still in the right place.

Also, verse 4 line 3 is different:

"Cos Ah always feel in agreement wi' Neil"

I suppose that would be Neil Kinnock, which would mean this is an older version than the one above. Wikipedia says Neil Kinnock was head of the Labour Party 1983-1992.