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Songs About Thatcher
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Subject: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Lizzie Cornish Date: 08 Apr 13 - 02:36 PM I thought it might be interesting to see how many there are.... 'Vulcan & Lucifer' A song written for Thatcher & MacGregor.. 'Vulcan and Lucifer' - John Tams & Barry Coope "...The Miners weren't the only industry to rise up against the privatisation enforced by Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s. The Sheffield & Rotherham steel industry also felt the force of her blows, reducing the industry to a tenth of its size in three decades. In the 'Song of Steel' the Radio Ballads focus on the decline of this industry, both in the economic sense and the social ramifications which followed. 'Vulcan and Lucifer' pits Thatcher and McGregor (the man held responsible for breaking both the Steel Workers & the Miners' strikes) against the Devil himself. A mournful lament, the iconic sound of a brass band resonates with the testimonies of the workers as they describe their experiences 1981 strike and the following decline of the industry that they had previously seen as a 'job for life'. Taken from here: http://www.brightyoungfolk.com/gigs/the-song-of-steel-radio-ballads-2006/record-detail.aspx http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzTQo1pkvxM |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Dave Hanson Date: 08 Apr 13 - 02:41 PM Somebody wrote one years ago, it was in the film ' The Wizard of Oz ' No prizes for guessing it. Dave H |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Ray Date: 08 Apr 13 - 02:44 PM You beat me to it Dave. I've been waiting to do this since the 1980's http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=rHJoj9IqeKg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrHJoj9IqeKg |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: MGM·Lion Date: 08 Apr 13 - 02:48 PM Oh, teeheeheeheehee... Don't think I shall bother to open this thread again. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Effsee Date: 08 Apr 13 - 02:59 PM "Targets" by Harvey Andrews. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Dave Sutherland Date: 08 Apr 13 - 03:18 PM "The Grocer", "The Android" and "Thatcheroo The Vampire" all by Ewan MacColl |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Sue Allan Date: 08 Apr 13 - 03:24 PM Pete Coe's the Waves of Tory is brilliant: an excoriating critique of Thatcher and her policies. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Lizzie Cornish Date: 08 Apr 13 - 03:48 PM 'The Waves of Tory' - Red Shift |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,grumpy Date: 08 Apr 13 - 03:50 PM Elvis Costello - Tramp the Dirt Down |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Jim McLean Date: 08 Apr 13 - 03:52 PM Maggie |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: 2581 Date: 08 Apr 13 - 03:58 PM Of course, Elton John's brilliant "Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher" from the play "Billy Elliot". "Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher" Elton's version |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Georgina Boyes Date: 08 Apr 13 - 04:00 PM Lal Waterson's - "Hilda's Cabinet Band" Georgina |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE ANDROIDS (Ewan MacColl) From: GUEST,Lizzie Cornish Date: 08 Apr 13 - 04:03 PM Wow! The lyrics are in the link.... The Grocer - Ewan MacColl 'Androids' - Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger (With thanks to Dave Hanson for these lyrics, which I found on a thread here started by dear Barry Finn. Sending up a big hug, Barry! x) THE ANDROIDS words and music by Ewan MacColl, from The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook. Has it ever crossed your mind to ask yourself why Mrs T talks funny, Have you never paused to wonder why the lady's so obsessed with saving cash ? Why she hates the working classes more with every day that passes, Will she one day up and vanish in a flash, If you have then I would ask you to forgive her. She's only lately come to us from outer space, She's a poor deprived commuter who was built by a computer, She's an android, a stranger to the human race. Has your nervous system never been upset by Mrs Thatcher's martial posture, Have you listened to her laying down the law and not been scared out of your skin, Heard her rattling her sabre, scaring all the friends and neighbours, She's impatient for the next war to begin, If you have, then show a little understanding, The way that she was programmed it was really grim, She was built to man the toll shack in a region called the coal sack At the very furthest edge of the galactic rim. Have you never had occasion to suspect when watching her speak on the telly, And noticed the occasional wild look and sudden glazing of the eye, She looks spooked, bombed out and funky, yes, and oddly like a junkie, As the stuff begins to send one up on high, If you have, then do not give way unto panic, She doesn't mean to scare you, it is just a game, Just remember what you're seeing's not a normal human being, Though I grant you that it rather looks the same. If you're under the impression that our baby-faced Lord Chancellor is a Terran, Or that Heseltine or Prentice both belong to Homo Sapiens, you're insane, And you suffer from delusions if you think Sir Keith is human, Or behind those brooding pop-eyes lurks a brain, They are exiles from a far galactic cluster, They malfunctioned and were thrown out in disgrace, They are made of wire and things and little wheels and bits of string They are androids, strangers to the human race. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Georgina Boyes Date: 08 Apr 13 - 04:06 PM And Ray Hearne's songs on her destruction of the steel industry, "The German's Couldn't do it like the Grocer's daughter can" and "January Snows" Georgina |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 08 Apr 13 - 04:13 PM I sill sing "Maggie's Pit Ponies" |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: kendall Date: 08 Apr 13 - 04:19 PM I like Ian Robb's song best. ..I joined to have a job, it was either that or rob and I never thought I'd curse Brittani's rule... |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST Date: 08 Apr 13 - 04:30 PM Can't find either of those, Georgina...but I found this, albeit only 'footage' of Thatcher (towards the end) The Unthanks...and a site filled with footage and songs from the Shipyards..Is this to do with The Radio Ballads? I can't link to it, I'm afraid, as the 'make a link' won't work due to the odd address on it, but if you copy and paste it into your browser, it *will* show up correctly... To hear the songs press 'Watch Film' in each chapter, which you scroll down to reach. 'Songs from the Shipyards' thespace.org/items/s0000t26 |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Lizzie Cornish Date: 08 Apr 13 - 04:32 PM Sorry, 'guest' was me.. Oh, for an EDIT button! |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Peter the Squeezer Date: 08 Apr 13 - 06:18 PM What shall we do with Margaret Thatcher? What shall we do with Margaret Thatcher? What shall we do with Margaret Thatcher? Earlye in the morning. Burn burn burn the BASTARD Burn burn burn the BASTARD Burn burn burn the BASTARD Earlye in the morning. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST Date: 08 Apr 13 - 06:28 PM Didn't somebody make an album called "Margaret Thatcher: My part in her downfall"? And I believe Chumbawumba have had a celebratory record pressed up and ready to post out on this glorious day for a few years now. Elvis Costello's Tramp The Dirt Down still gets gold for me though. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: melodeonboy Date: 08 Apr 13 - 06:36 PM "Mother Knows Best" by Richard Thompson. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,JTT Date: 08 Apr 13 - 06:44 PM Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding, where a father looks forward to the chance of getting work again when they open the shipyards, despite the fact that his son will die on the ship he builds. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Rob Naylor Date: 08 Apr 13 - 07:06 PM Well I sang "A Long Strong Black Pudding Up Margaret Thatcher" along with Grimm and several hundred others several times as a student, but I do find this gleeful outpouring of bile just a tad distateful. She had a lack of humanity and compassion??? ....hey, "pot"....meet all these "kettles"! |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Dave Hanson Date: 09 Apr 13 - 03:57 AM And who can forget the worlds greatest hypocrite telling the Polish Government that they ought to listen to the trade unions, words fail me. Dave H |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Myrtle's cook Date: 09 Apr 13 - 06:32 AM Returning to the thread... Billy Bragg's 'Between the wars' seems to perfectly capture the feeling of living in Thatcher's Britain in the 1980s. There has to be a bitter irony that whilst she reportedly spent her final days in the 5* Ritz hotel, many of her contemporaries in former coal mining and steel communities are living out their days in towns and villages blighted by decay and deprivation. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THATCHER'S DOWNFALL (Fred McCormick) From: GUEST,Fred McCormick Date: 09 Apr 13 - 06:39 AM Here's part of a song I wrote at the time of Thatcher's Downfall, which is what I called the song. Apologies for not being able to remember all of it. Apologies also for it not being better polished. But as Ronald Reagan used to say, "They didn't want it good. They wanted it Thursday". It goes to the tune of Bold Robert Emmett, The Darling of Erin. The votes they are counted, the outcome decided, And a new leader they will have to cheer. And I am defeated and shamefully treated. And I, Maggie Thatcher, am out on my ear. After fifteen long years at the helm of the party, I can tell you I am highly annoyed. Though the jobless I created and their numbers inflated, I never expected to join the unemployed. But the worst of this pox is that the cardboard boxes Are taken by the homeless I put out on the street. And since we old souses sold off council houses, I've only a back bench to lay down and sleep. And as for the bleeder they chose for their labour, Around him they'll rally and they will him salute. But come the next crisis, then my good advice is, To break out the long knives - give the buggar the boot! Yeah, I know. But there's people in the music industry being paid shedloads of money for stuff that's even worse. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,mike m Date: 09 Apr 13 - 07:26 AM i sang shirt of blue last night by the men they could not hang about the miners strike |
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Subject: Lyr Add: IRON LADY (Nigel Parsons) From: Nigel Parsons Date: 09 Apr 13 - 08:06 AM IRON LADY Nigel Parsons 9/4/13 Tune: River Lady (as sung by Roger Whittaker) The day Hell freezes over is the day she'll start to care. She called herself "The Iron Lady" but her policies weren't fair. She sacrificed our miners, and our seamen bold and brave. When they turf over her casket we will dance upon her grave. South Atlantic water's freezin' Just two minutes in, life signs are ceasin' Floatin' away from the ship with my fingers turning blue Back on the ship the decks are burnin' Metal to flame & liquid turnin' All because Thatcher's flexing her muscles and her powers Sending us out to fight for islands that were never ours. The pit wheels have stopped turning, from the policies she had She said that coal made losses, and we really should be glad. Her place was University, among the caps and gowns But she chose to go to Parliament, and killed our mining towns. Sou-th Atlantic water's freezin' Just two minutes in, life signs are ceasin' etc. The above comments appear to reflect views displayed on Mudcat, but are not necessarily the views of the author. NP |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE HOUNDS THAT WAIT OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR From: GUEST Date: 09 Apr 13 - 09:08 AM A Canadian perspective from Spirit of the West, The Hounds That Wait Outside You Door, written after they'd toured the UK at the height of Thatcherism... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_FwTfyavc8 There's a siren ringing loud a call of distress it's winding through these streets making all you people deaf i think you're hearing fine just choosing to ignore the hounds that wait outside your door i think your keeping sane by not keeping score of the hounds that wait outside your door this is a fragile situation an island made of glass this is an unstable structure a structure built on class i think you know full well just choosing to ignore the hounds tha wait outside your door i don't want a stock in what the future has in store it's the hounds that wait outside your door she's back in the chair again i don't know who put her there it seems the silent majority spoke to sway the tory vote the walls are tumbling down and madame has the floor and the hounds that wait outside your door the apple of your eye has gone rotten to the core like the hounds that wait outside your door ah but you have the answer for brittania's sinking ship you need a nice cup of tea and a stiff upper lip old blight's goin' down still you're asking for more of the hounds that wait outside your door god save the queen let the home fires roar above the hounds that wait outside your door |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: 2581 Date: 09 Apr 13 - 10:24 AM Guest Mike - Where can I hear "Shirt of Blue"? Best wishes, Tony |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST Date: 09 Apr 13 - 10:45 AM Battlefield Band's 'Celtic Hotel' protested at Thatcher's marginalisation/punishment of all the parts of the UK which were not tory strongholds. "Thousands are out here trying to get in Roosting at the edge asking what to do to win Begging cake from that rich woman's hands We want to know, we need to know, and they'll have to show Why we're not able To sit with her At the banquet table." |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SHIRT OF BLUE (Men They Couldn't Hang) From: GUEST,mike m Date: 09 Apr 13 - 01:51 PM Hi Tony www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7_kwTj0J5Q sorry not worked out the blue clicky yet but its a great song hey now Tommy have you got a new shirt is its colour a fine bright blue? Has your mother sent you off to your school? From the street with a pretty view Shall we wrestle in the old school yard Like the other children do? We can scuff these shoes You can tear your hands And I'll rip that shirt off you Hey there Tommy since you moved away They've taken our town and they've made it new And now there stands a chemical plant Where the cherry orchard grew And I married Lucy from the back of our class Who once wrote letters to you And we've got kids and we send them to school From the street with a pretty view Oh in your shirt of blue Oh in your shirt of blue (Chorus...) Maybe Tommy We grew up too quick From the fields Where the flowers grow From a butterfly stick To a baton and a brick You changed your uniforms far too soon Hey there Tommy shall we meet again In the morning wet with dew Me at the gates of the colliery And you in your shirt of blue Shall we wrestle in the muddy patch like the other poor miners do? We can scuff our boots we can tear our hands And I will rip that shirt off you Oh in your shirt of blue Oh in your shirt of blue if I can help you more I will best wishes mike m |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,SO! Date: 09 Apr 13 - 02:15 PM Here's one called "The Night that Thatcher Died" I found on Reddit: https://soundcloud.com/emmett-doyle-1/the-night-that-thatcher-died Quite funny. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Desert Dancer Date: 09 Apr 13 - 02:25 PM A couple of the many articles on this topic... (further links to the songs are at the main links) "Margaret Thatcher: the villain of political pop, Punk had sharpened its claws, and by the time Margaret Thatcher took power a generation of musicians was ready to pounce" (Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian Music Blog) Protest songs thrive on combat. Complicated policy details may cause the songwriter's pen to freeze but larger-than-life politicians who polarise opinion enable the ink to flow. It is striking that, despite all the frustration and ferment of the punk era, nobody wrote a memorable song about Jim Callaghan. But to musicians on the left Margaret Thatcher was an irresistible super-villain who threw all the conflicts of the time into sharp relief. Penny Rimbaud of anarcho-punk radicals Crass once told me: "I think Thatcher was an absolute fairy godmother. Christ, you're an anarchist band trying to complain about the workings of capitalist society and you get someone like Thatcher. What a joy!" also, "Margaret Thatcher: The politician British pop music loved to hate" (Los Angeles Times) The English Beat's "Stand Down Margaret"; Heaven 17's "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang"; Klaus Nomi's "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead"; The Specials' "Ghost Town"; The Varukers' "Thatcher's Fortress"; the Larks' "Maggie Maggie Maggie (Out Out Out)"; Morrissey's "Margaret on the Guillotine"; and Elvis Costello's "Tramp the Dirt Down." ~ Becky in Long Beach |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Ian Hendrie Date: 09 Apr 13 - 03:06 PM Margaret Thatcher : My Part in Her Downfall by Robb Johnson. A 4 CD set! |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST Date: 09 Apr 13 - 03:29 PM "Coal not Dole" doesn't mention her by name but doesn't need to - one of THE great songs of the last 75 years. If the TUC had come out for the miners and supported a General Strike in 84 her evil crew would have been brought down and this country would be very different. Never forget. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Bonecruncher Date: 09 Apr 13 - 05:59 PM It is a shame so few of the above contributors, many of whom were neither born nor infants in the '80s, should show such little respect or common decency that they should not offer condolence to the relatives. Still, I suppose that "thought for oneself and all others go hang" is typical of the current approach today, promoted by Blair and his views on education. RIP Mrs. Thatcher and my condolences to Mark and Carol. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Dave Sutherland Date: 10 Apr 13 - 04:02 AM Mike Waterson's "A Working Chap (What a Crime)" would not be out of place here. (Posted by one who was born and lived through her vapid regeim and was out of work twice during the eighties) |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Ian Hendrie Date: 10 Apr 13 - 05:10 AM Condolences to relatives, certainly. Celebrating her demise, not happy with that. But refraining from expressing a contrary opinion in the face of her glorification by some of the Tory press, you're joking. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE BALLAD OF THE M4 CONVOY (Mick Tems) From: GUEST,Mick Tems, cookieless Date: 10 Apr 13 - 06:08 AM I was working as a journalist during the year-long Miners' Strike, when colliery workers took on Thatcher in defiant protest at the blatant destruction of the pits. I was late for work one day; police had closed the entire M4 motorway between Port Talbot and Llanwern to outflank the pickets, who were preventing coke being delivered to the South Wales steel industry. As I pulled onto the M4, police flagged me down and forced me to stop. I had an amazing grandstand view as lorry after lorry thundered past me, all laden with coke. I tried to count them, but there were too many - 150? Thatcher's government had even taken on old mothballed lorries destined for the scrapyard. The heavy police presence was startling. I realised that Thatcher was waging war not only against the miners, but the whole Welsh nation. I wrote a song, and called it... THE BALLAD OF THE M4 CONVOY CHORUS: Stand up for Law and for Order, Stand up for our bold Mrs T, If it wasn't for us brave lorry drivers Then where would this fine country be? Well, I'm glad that I voted for Maggie, it's been so hard on us businessmen, But with enterprise for our watchword it's all getting better again. For my lorries are all out of mothballs, and the cobwebs swept under our feet, And we're rolling away from Port Talbot with the sarge in the shotgun seat. The wheels of our lorries are turning, and the wheels of industry, too, There isn't much tread, and these old tyres could shred, but what can a poor driver do? I wish I could stop for a kip now, we've been going for sixteen hours straight, If the tachograph weren't disconnected I'd be putting my head on a plate. Well, it's tough when you're earning your living to keep everything just as you should; The steering could with replacing, and the horn and the lights ain't too good. The brakes are a wee bit uneven, and these chassis do tend to corrode; But we're fifteen tons over the limit, so that holds us down on the road. It's a grind up the hills around Newport, so we use all three lanes as we crawl, But it's eighty at least down to Coldra, so get out of the way, one and all. With the money I get from this contract, I could pay off the lorry's road tax; And this driving means plenty of practice for when I get my license back. There's a Range Rover packed full of coppers in front of the very first truck; There's a police car or two right behind us, and a few in the middle for luck. They don't mind if we don't all act legal, if we did then we'd never roll in – But if a miner should dare wave a banner – well it's law and it's order for him! CHORUS: Stand up for Law and for Order, Stand up for our bold Mrs T, If it wasn't for us brave lorry drivers Then where would this fine country be? © Mick Tems, 1984 |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,folkiedave Date: 10 Apr 13 - 09:50 AM I shall be playing Chris Woods and "The Grand Correction" on my radio show Friday. "Let the Grand Correction commence". |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: PHJim Date: 10 Apr 13 - 05:13 PM Billy Bragg's Thatcherites |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,cobra Date: 11 Apr 13 - 09:12 AM Bonecruncher said:- "It is a shame so few of the above contributors, many of whom were neither born nor infants in the '80s, should show such little respect or common decency that they should not offer condolence to the relatives. Still, I suppose that "thought for oneself and all others go hang" is typical of the current approach today, promoted by Blair and his views on education. RIP Mrs. Thatcher and my condolences to Mark and Carol." 1. What relevance whether or not people were born in the 80s or no? Are you old enough to remember WW2? Regardless, I bet you have strong opinions on the participants whether picked up from family, schoolbooks, newspapers or whatever. History is passed from generation to generation. Hell, on this site above all others, so much of what is posted/ songs recounted etc is waaay beyond the lifespan of anyone on here. 2. As for "thought for oneself and all others go hang" and you citing it as something (invented and) promoted by Blair, words fail me! Wasn't it Thatcher who originally said there is no such thing as society - in other words, bugger everyone else. 3. As for respect for Thatcher in death. Why, pray tell, should she receive respect in death when she manifestly had none for the people whose lives she ruined in life? People whose livelihoods and communities she wilfully destroyed, people who experienced the suicides of loved ones because of her barbarour ideological cruelty. Families of the 300 killed when she sunk the Belgrano even though it was sailing away from the war zone. Criminal action, nothing more, nothing less. And as for her offspring. Her idiot son couldn't find his own arse with his two hands never mind find his way across the Sahara. One thing bugs me. What exactly did he do to merit a knighthood, other that avail of mummy's contacts to sell arms. Then there is his little adventure in southern Africa. Sure enough, the apple does not fall far from the tree. I applaud all the songs cited on this thread. May the bitch rot in hell. Yours aye, speaking as one old enough to have lived through her disastrous spell in charge and to have suffered on a personal level as a direct consequence of her evil and divisive policies and actions. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: cooperman Date: 11 Apr 13 - 09:45 AM Well said Cobra! Cameron says she saved the country - I think she ruined it. She divided the nation and it's still divided. Not a good legacy in my view. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Georgina Boyes Date: 11 Apr 13 - 04:17 PM Mark didn't do anything to merit his title, he didn't even have to trouble himself to do anything apart from survive his father. Margaret Thatcher's husband, Denis was given a peerage in 199- and became Baron Thatcher of Scotney. Unlike almost all created peers these days, he was given a life peerage but a hereditary one (the only non-member of the royal family to get one in ages). Mark simply inherited the peerage when his father died - hence 'Sir' Mark Thatcher. Mrs Thatcher was also given a life peerage in her own right in 1992. I leave you to guess the kind of titles attached to members of the Thatcher family in South Yorkshire, but it's not 'sir' or 'lady'. Georgina |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Georgina Boyes Date: 11 Apr 13 - 04:24 PM "Unlike almost all created peers these days, he was NOT given a life peerage but a hereditary one! NB Always use preview button before pressing 'submit message' |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Bert Date: 11 Apr 13 - 04:51 PM You've got your dead skunk in the middle of the road.... |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Jane of 'ull Date: 11 Apr 13 - 05:12 PM When we did Singing Together in junior school in the 80s, one of the songs they taught us was 'La Cucaracha'. But we made up our own version, which went thus: Kill Maggie Thatcher, kill Maggie Thatcher, Whirling round and round she'll go, Kill Maggie Thatcher, kill Maggie Thatcher, Bury her in Mexico! |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Suzy Sock Puppet Date: 11 Apr 13 - 05:34 PM I really enjoyed this thread. Thanks everyone! |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Betsy Date: 11 Apr 13 - 08:37 PM I sang this a few times locally, either a duff song, or too many Tories in the audience. Ahem!! I wrote it on the back of John Major victory 1992 – I couldn't believe it. You know I wouldn't doubt the intellect of any of you, but understanding the songwriters muse may not be immediately apparent. 1st Verse ……..Negative Equity 2nd Verse ……Care in the community (and "strange" people being "let out" to fend for themselves) 3rd Verse……..Self explanatory With thanks to Dave Allen's departing phrase – remember it? THATCHER said it clearly, she said it to you and me, there are men, there are women, there are families, but no such thing as "Society". Come all you friends and lovers, holding hands tonight, May your god go with you, keep you safe and tight. Come all you friends and lovers, trying to weather a storm, May your god sail with you, and help your seas run calm. Come all you friends and dreamers, making the wildest plans, May your god go with you, give you a guiding hand. Come all you friends and dreamers, excitement on each face, May your god go with you, and help you find your place. Come all you cold and homeless, out on the street tonight, May your god go with you, strengthen your awful fight. Come all you cold and homeless, who never did any harm, May your god sleep with you, and keep you safe and warm. Cheers Betsy |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: LadyJean Date: 12 Apr 13 - 01:38 AM I'm not sure if it was the Corries or the MacCallmans, who recorded a song that went; Wha'll take the ba frae Maggie Thatcher? Kick it through another goal. Ye'll have plenty of time tae play at footba, While ye're livin on th' dole. I fear that's all I remember. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: 2581 Date: 12 Apr 13 - 02:04 AM Let's not forget John McCullagh's powerful "I'll Dance On Your Grave, Mrs. Thatcher"... "I'll Dance On Your Grave, Mrs. Thatcher" - John McCullagh |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Johnny J Date: 12 Apr 13 - 08:13 AM Margaret Thatcher, as a political force, effectively "died" when she was ousted from power in 1990. At the time of her actual "physical" death, she was a frail old woman who was incapable of inflicting harm on anyone. By all means, have a debate and don't lets forget all the negative aspects(there are many) of her career. I don't believe in glossing over things either. I also disagree with the expense etc of this funeral. It is certainly provocative and the present Tory leadership are using her death for their own propoganda purposes. However, to be fair to the woman, it is on record that she said she didn't want all of this herself and had said it would have been a waste of money. I'm afraid that I'm not the sort of person who can find satisfaction and pleasure in gloating over the death of another human being. So, I feel a little uncomfortable about those who are celebrating her demise. I hated Margaret Thatcher's policies and most of what she represented(In many ways, she was just a figurehead and puppet) and was delighted when she was kicked out of office. Mind you, those who have followed in her footsteps, including even Labour Prime Ministers, have done nothing to reverse her actions and have even "tightened the screws", in many respects. The time to speak out against her was when she was in power. Of course, I detested what she stood for but when she left office, we all had the opportunity to "get over it". We've had 23 years when we could have done something to reverse her policies and over 40 years to re-introduce school milk. I don't remember the 74-79 Labour Government offering to to do anything about that either. As Billy Bragg says "Don't celebrate - organise!" |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,JTT Date: 13 Apr 13 - 02:24 AM The Proclaimers' Letter from America, with its bitter chorus listing all the Scottish industrial centres closed down and ruined by Thatcher: Methil no more Irvine no more. Bathgate no more Linwood no more Methil no more Lochaber no more and its opening verses, so angry and sad: Well Broke off from my work the other day I spent the evening thinking About all the blood that flowed away. Across the ocean to the second chance I wonder how it got on when it reached the promised land. When you go will send back a letter from America? |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Brakn Date: 13 Apr 13 - 08:00 AM This used to be on a few juke boxes in Manchester in the 80s. Sean Brady - The Thatcher Song. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST Date: 13 Apr 13 - 10:43 AM Music inspired by Thatcher? There's a campaign for a national two minutes of "rough music" under the name of "Ran Tan Maggie" on Wednesday at 10:58 am, the two minutes before the start of the state funeral. Revive a noble British tradition. A national "rough music" for Thatcher on the day of her funeral. Two minutes of non-violent non-silence. Just imagine if, all over the country, people came out of their houses, offices and whatever factories are left and banged saucepans, blew horns or played banjos. Then went quietly back to work. What could be more appropriate? From Wikipedia: Rough music, also known as ran-tan or ran-tanning, is an English folk custom, a practice in which a raucous punishment is dramatically enacted to humiliate one or more people who have violated, in a domestic or public context, standards commonly upheld within the community. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ECONOMIC MIRACLE (MacColl/Seeger) From: Jim Dixon Date: 26 Apr 13 - 09:28 AM This is my transcription from the recording that I heard on Spotify. As an American, a few terms seem strange to me and may need to be corrected. Also, I was often uncertain when to capitalize—that is, how to distinguish the names of specific corporations from generic terms. And I'm not sure I can trust my spell-checker when it's set to "English (UK)." ECONOMIC MIRACLE As sung by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger on "Naming of Names" (1990) 1. You'd never guess, but once upon a time, this land of ours Was sick, infirm, and doddering, robbed of all its powers. People lay in bed all day, Only arose to collect their pay. Life for them was just a bowl of flowers. 2. They bred like rabbits, coupling day and night, Claimed the child allowance as their right, Fell sick of diseases of all descriptions Just to collect the free prescriptions, Often broke a limb just out of spite. 3. Eye and dental treatment they were free, Part of the welfare-state conspiracy. Cheap housing and cheap transport, They were tricks to lead us all astray And see life as an endless holiday. 4. The poor were disaffected, with ideas above their station, Like jobs for all, and free school meals, a decent education. The writing it was on the wall, Then was heard the clarion call, And Finchley's queen rode over the horizon. 5. "I hope to God," she cried, "I'm not too late To perform a miracle and set things straight, To fight the good fight and raise the flag For a new society of grab(?) And fashion the modern cost-effective state." 6. She'd need(?) the unions in the crutch(?) with scorn, Saying, "I mean to do what I have sworn," Shatter the night with fractured vowels, Gripped and twisted the nation's bowels, And the economic miracle was born. 7. And then the January bumper-sale was organised, And patriotic spears(?) and multinationals were advised That the country was up for grabs and so Whoever turned up with a pile of dough Would get a chunk of Britain as the prize. 8. She stood behind the counter full of zeal, Sold telephones, Rolls-Royce, and British Steel. She sold what wasn't hers to sell, Like British Airways, gas as well, And threw in north sea oil to clinch the deal. 9. When she talks of future plans, she waxes lyrical, While some of the rest of us become hysterical. Water, DHSS, and coal mines Are in the privatisation pipeline Along with railways, the army, prisons, Royal Ordnance, the electricity system, education, et cet'ra, et cet'ra, and even perhaps the air we breathe— And this is the lady's economic miracle. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Snuffy Date: 26 Apr 13 - 11:37 AM "She'd knee'd the unions in the crutch with scorn" crutch = crotch; the area of body where the legs fork from the trunk. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: JUST THE TAX FOR ME (Seeger/MacColl?) From: Jim Dixon Date: 26 Apr 13 - 12:16 PM Snuffy: I know what a crotch is; I didn't know anybody pronounced it "crutch." Thanks for the clarification. Here's another one: JUST THE TAX FOR ME As sung by Peggy Seeger & —? on "Naming of Names" (1990) I'm going to pay the poll tax. I want to pay the poll tax. I'd love to pay the poll tax. It's just the tax for me. My gran will pay the poll tax. My kids will pay the poll tax. My cat will pay the poll tax, And so will you and me. MPs will pay the poll tax. VIPs will pay the poll tax. Mrs T will pay the poll tax, So it's the tax for me. Hand, or foot, or thumb tax, Elbow, knee, or bum tax, It ain't insane or dumb tax. It's any tax for me. I would pay a rain tax, A train, a grain, a drain tax, But if they make a brain tax, It won't apply to me, Or Mrs T. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE LEGACY From: GUEST,Fred McCormick Date: 26 Apr 13 - 12:48 PM Here's one I knocked up earlier. Well, shortly after she left office in fact. I called it The Legacy and I set it to an Irish slow air called An Chaora Ghlas, which means The Grey Sheep. It seemed kinda fitting since there are 600+ of them in parliament and hardly any of them with the guts to stand up and tell the world what they really thought about Thatcher. Thank God for Glenda Jackson. To the ones who tasted victory, And boasted of the noble fight, With cruel hearts you turn your gaze, And shield your eyes and dim the light. So you won't see the hopelessness, And the anger of your fellow men, Who hang suspended by the rope Of your cruel economic plan. I will show you the boarded windows Of the shops that sank in the angry swell. I will show you the stifled factories With no work to share and no goods to sell. I will show you the drifting homeless And the mortgagees that couldn't pay. God help the weak and insecure. God help the ones stood in your way. In this wasteland you call Britain You will see the jobless millions pass. And on their faces written, The desperate plight and the hopeless quest. Like needles through the haystack, They search for jobs from pole to pole. How I long to see the sun arise On the day when you too draw the dole. You sold what was not yours to sell, The things that we'd sustained through life. To the very root and branch you took The butcher's blade and the surgeon's knife. And the jackals and hyenas, Who sold their souls for greed and gain, Would steal our very rights to life And sell them back to us again. I've heard described in words of praise, The way we've been brought to our knees. Dark was the hour and black the shroud, When the reins of power by your hands were seized. Your followers feast on the corpse, Like carnivores besmirched with blood. Did you really think that we'd believe, That this was for our country's good? |
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Subject: Lyr Add: MAGGIE WENT GREEN (MacColl/Seeger?) From: Jim Dixon Date: 26 Apr 13 - 03:32 PM MAGGIE WENT GREEN As sung by Peggy Seeger & —? on "Naming of Names" (1990) Maggie went green, green, green, But that was what she had to do. Maggie went green, green, green. Saatchi & Saatchi told her to. Built a wind machine on every hill and dale, Built up stock for a future sale. Maggie went green. It's the way the wind blew. If Maggie is green, green, green, It's the green of the slime on the stagnant pool. To learn the meaning of green, She'd have to go back to school And learn that green is a natural hue. It'll mix with the red if the red is true. Maggie's not green; she's a royal navy blue, And she'll tread on you In her blue-suede shoes. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Gio Date: 26 Apr 13 - 03:56 PM The british band Blow Monkeys, did various song about Thatcher. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: Jim Dixon Date: 26 Apr 13 - 04:25 PM DRACUMAG, as sung by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, was posted in another thread. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Cookieless at work Date: 27 Apr 13 - 11:09 AM A friend was being bedeviled by an urge to sing a snarky song she heard from Frank Harte years ago at Augusta with the astonishing line "how does Dennis do it, does she tie him to the bed?" and couldn't remember the rest. I immediately pegged it as something Robbie O'Connell recorded on his Humorous Songs album & passed it off to her to be able to solve that earworm problem, so without the liner notes I can't swear the Robbie O'Connell wrote it or not. JL |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Don Wise Date: 27 Apr 13 - 01:06 PM I once wrote a song about Maggie T and the rise of 'Cardboard City'. Since I'd already left the UK I never got around to letting it loose on the public. Then, a few years ago, I decided That I ought to do something about archiving my compositions. In the course of this I looked at "Thatcher Towns" again and decided that it had passed its 'sing-by' date. Then I picked up on what the Cameron-Clegg coaloition was up to and decided that all I needed to do would be to change Thatcher to CleggCameron........So just for the hell of it,here it is in the original: Thrown out of work, the factory closed down No future, no hope in some old northern town But the Jobcentre says there is work to go 'round 'Though it means moving south, moving to London town. There are jobs there in plenty, in that they don't lie Butthe cost of living there is so very high. When a cupboard sized room is beyond your weeks pay Where do you go at the end of the day? CH: Favellas, shantytowns, Hoovervilles They're all just the same, call 'em what you will. And when they start springing up on Britain's ground The only name for them? Thatcher Towns! Someone tips you the wink, the Embankments alright Where the homeless, the outcasts all meet for the night. Sally-Ann soup makes the night seem less raw But you don't get much peace, you're moved on by The Law. It's the same in the stations, the parks, down the tube You've scarce shut your eyes when it's "Get up and move!" With your clothes in a carrier, your box in your hand You see the new face of a caring England..... Weeks come, months go, and scarce a nights sleep Will this down and outs' life in a box ever cease? You're forever moved on, be it snow hail or rain Roaming like a vagrant 'til the dawn comes again. And the future you dreamed of is nothing but dust In a cold, heartless world your dignity's crushed In the Third World a shanty has walls and a roof And that's more than a First World Britain gives you....... And the Britain you live in is not the Britain you knew The clock's being turned back just to favour a few. Tip your cap to the toffs as they go blindly by Your place is the gutter, don't get out of line! In the districts that once housed the workers, the poor 'Nouveau Riche' have moved in, set you all 'fore the door Docklands, the East End, gentrified, cold For a new style apartheid, the apartheid of gold........ I know, it's a bit polemic but that's the 'Milk Snatcher Effect' for you. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HOW DOES DENNIS DO IT? (Robbie O'Connell) From: Jim Dixon Date: 29 Apr 13 - 07:53 AM HOW DOES DENNIS DO IT? As sung by Robbie O'Connell on "Humorous Songs – Live" 1. Now the world is full of wonders going back through history, But there's one thing above all else that's a mystery to me: When Margaret goes to bed at night and removes her armoured plate, And demands that her poor husband do his service for the state— CHORUS: Oh, how does Dennis do it? Does she tie him to the bed? Or does she try to fool him with a bag upon her head? Or maybe she arouses him with leather whips and chains? Or invites some kinky friends around to have some fun and games? Perhaps those lurid details should be left to history. That he can do the job at all is what bewilders me. 2. When Cleopatra ruled the Nile, her charms were known worldwide, And no man in his right mind would have shunned her as a bride, But when it comes to Margaret, there could be no buts or ifs. The men would run stampeding just like lemmings off a cliff. 3. Now if Margaret got frustrated, she could take a sudden fit And push the deadly button that would blow us all to bits, But Dennis never lets us down; he keeps her satisfied. You could very nearly say that we all owe that man our lives. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: BEAT THE DIRT DOWN (Elvis Costello) From: Jim Dixon Date: 29 Apr 13 - 08:52 AM TRAMP THE DIRT DOWN As sung by Elvis Costello on "Spike" (1989) I saw a newspaper picture from that political campaign. A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain. She spills with compassion, as that young child's face in her hands she grips. Can you imagine all that greed and avarice coming down on that child's lips? Well, I hope I don't die too soon; I pray the Lord my soul to save. Yes, I'll be a good boy; I'm trying so hard to behave, Because there's one thing I know I'd like to live long enough to savour: That's when they finally put you in the ground, I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down. When England was the whore of the world, Margaret was her madam, And the future looked as bright and as clear as the black tar macadam. Well, I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't haunted by every tiny detail, When she held that lovely face in her hands all she thought of was betrayal. And now the cynical ones say that it all ends the same in the long run. Try telling that to the desperate father who just squeezed the life from his only son. And how it's only voices in your head and dreams you've never dreamt. Try telling him the subtle difference between justice and contempt. Try telling me she isn't angry with this pitiful discontent When they flaunt it in your face as you line up for punishment, And then expect you to say "thank you," straighten up, look proud and pleased Because you've only got the symptoms; you haven't got the whole disease. Just like a schoolboy, whose head's like a tin can filled up with dreams, then poured down the drain, Try telling that to the boys on both sides, being blown to bits or beaten and maimed, Who takes all the glory and none of the shame. Well, I hope you live long now; I pray the Lord your soul to keep. I think I'll be going before we fold our arms and start to weep. I never thought for a moment that human life could be so cheap. But when they finally put you in the ground, They'll stand there laughing and tramp the dirt down. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: MERRY CHRISTMAS MAGGIE THATCHER (E John) From: Jim Dixon Date: 29 Apr 13 - 12:02 PM I must say I stand in awe of British political invective. If something like this had been written about Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, it would never get on American TV or radio. The idea that such a thing can be written by a well-known and loved pop star, and appear in a mainstream musical play of West-End/Broadway stature—that's completely mind-boggling to an American. When the Dixie Chicks said something much milder than this (and didn't even sing it) about GWB in 2003, it nearly destroyed their careers, and they ended up making a grovelling apology. Although the 1950s blacklist doesn't officially exist any more, I conclude that's partly because many American performers self-censor. MERRY CHRISTMAS MAGGIE THATCHER Written by Elton John As sung by the original cast of "Billy Elliott" (2005) 1. Can you hear it in the distance? Can you sense it far away? Is it old Rudolph, the reindeer? Is it Santa on his sleigh? It's heading up to Easington; it's coming down the Tyne. Oh, it's bloody Maggie Thatcher and Michael Heseltine. CHORUS: So merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher; may God's love be with you. We all sing together in one breath. Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher; we all celebrate today 'Cause it's one day closer to your death. 2. They've come to raid your stockings and to steal your Christmas pud, But don't be too downhearted; it's all for your own good. The economic infrastructure must be swept away To make way for business parks and lower rates of pay. CHORUS 3. And they've brought their fascist boot boys, and they've brought the boys in blue, And the whole Trade Union Congress will be at the party too, And they'll all hold hands together, all standing in a line, 'Cause they're privatising Santa this merry Christmas time. CHORUS TWICE TAG: Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Heseltine, You're a tosser, you're a wanker, and you're just a Tory swine. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: MORE TEA, MARGARET (Robb Johnson) From: Jim Dixon Date: 29 Apr 13 - 01:25 PM As I was transcribing this, I had a hard time figuring out where to put the line breaks. Ordinarily I would like to make every verse have the same number of lines, every line end with a rhyming word, and corresponding lines in different verses have the same number of syllables (or at least beats), etc., but sometimes you can't impose that kind of regularity on a song because it doesn't exist. Good luck to anyone who tries to figure out where to put the chord changes. MORE TEA, MARGARET? As sung by Robb Johnson on "Margaret Thatcher: My Part in Her Downfall" (a 4-CD set, 2009) More tea, Margaret? And would you like one lump or six? With your conviction politics, You'd prob'ly want the whole bowl And all the milk too. My, my! Now don't we look the part? Shameless in red like some old—aunt, Dead bodies buried in your handbag. More tea, Margaret? Won't you tell us once again About your time at Number Ten You and all those famous men. Kiss and tell! There was Ronnie Reagan, Margaret. Yes, but you also gave your hand to Botha, Augusto, and Saddam, too, Men now who no one understands, Like you did. More tea, Margaret? Tell us those tales that make us gasp Of how you broke the working class Upon ten thousand picket lines With all your laws, Margaret, You and your boot boys dressed in blue. Oh, those wicked things you used to do, Margaret, you broke this nation's heart in two, Didn't you? More tea, Margaret? |
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Subject: Lyr Add: I'LL DANCE ON YOUR GRAVE, MRS THATCHER From: Jim Dixon Date: 29 Apr 13 - 08:19 PM I'LL DANCE ON YOUR GRAVE, MRS THATCHER As sung by John McCullagh on "I'll Dance on Your Grave, Mrs Thatcher" (2009) 1. Just a lad of sixteen summers When the mining gates locked, I stood there with my brothers, Some with their rifles cocked. "Just hold onto your shirts, my boys. This is going the whole way." "Don't you worry," was the answer back. "We're with you, Arthur, all the way." CHORUS: So we'll dance; yes, we'll dance. We'll dance on your grave, Mrs Thatcher. We'll dance; yes, we'll dance. We'll dance on your grave, Mrs Thatcher. 2. She had come well prepared With the coal that she'd amassed. Every day she'd try to break us down, Take the flag down from the mast, But we stood there all united, Except the scabs down from the south, With their cries for a ballot, Taking food from our kids' mouths. CHORUS 3. For twenty years now since it came and went "But what for?" I hear you say. 'Cause for our right to earn a living wage In this country it's the only way. You talk to me about your union jack. You ask me why I'm not proud. That's because it killed my father, And can't you see that that's not allowed? CHORUS |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Cllr Date: 30 Apr 13 - 03:08 PM Rise again Rise Again that her name not be lost to the knowledge of men and those that loved her best and who were with her to the end will see that Margaret Hilda Thatcher Rise again This was given to me in the early nineties by an Economics Professor from Exeter University but i cant find the rest of the words anybody got them? cllr |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Larry Saidman Date: 30 Apr 13 - 03:54 PM Some could argue that London Calling by The Clash.....which came out shortly after Thatcher was elected and was recorded just before, was about Margaret Thatcher. Even their choice to re-do The Rulers "Wrong Em Boyo"....and it's focus on a society that doesn't care about others........may have been related to Thatcher's influence. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Fred McCormick Date: 01 May 13 - 06:30 AM " i cant find the rest of the words anybody got them?" No, thank God. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Elfcall Date: 01 May 13 - 08:09 AM For something a little more continental - Renaud's Miss Maggie Moi je me changerai en chien Si je peux rester sur la Terre Et comme réverbère quotidien Je m'offrirai Madame Thatcher |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Don Wise Date: 01 May 13 - 10:42 AM I seem to recall that when "Milk Snatcher" resigned, there was a feeling that John Major was merely a marionette and that MT would be running the show from the background. With this in mind I rehashed Lennon & McCartneys "Baby, you can drive my car" as "Major, you can drive my car". Luckily (for you?) the sheet of paper with the scribbled text eventually found it's way to the recycling bin. However, I can remember the chorus/bridge/middle 8........:- Major, you can drive my car But don't forget that I'm the star. Major, you can drive my car But drive it just as I tell you..... |
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Subject: Lyr Add: PINOCHET AND MARGARET THATCHER (D Holland From: Jim Dixon Date: 03 May 13 - 08:23 AM The singer sounds American. PINOCHET AND MARGARET THATCHER As sung by Deborah Holland on "The Book of Survival" (1999) Pinochet and Margaret Thatcher having tea, Pinochet says, "Margaret, thanks for having me." Margaret says, "If only I had followed your advice, I would still rule Britannia." Pinochet and Margaret Thatcher eating scones. Margaret says, "With you I never feel alone." Pinochet sighs, "Margaret, you're an angel more than twice Over Princess Diana." Pinochet is wiping something off his hands. Why it won't come off, Margaret can't understand. If karma really happened quickly, wouldn't it be nice? Someone would rock in España. Pinochet and Margaret Thatcher, Pinochet and Margaret Thatcher, Pinochet and Margaret Thatcher sitting down to tea. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Dr Jack Date: 05 Jun 13 - 10:53 AM Just composed a song to the tune of Dr Freud, which I heard by Pete Seeger in 1959. Always thought it had a touch of Tom Lehrer DING DONG ©Jack Warshaw 2013 Tune: Dr Freud (D Lazar) It was back in 79, not so very long ago When bankers weren't getting quite so rich That a Tory politician came to better her position And become the British nation's leading bitch Chorus: Ding dong, Lady Blue You're gone for good, let's give a rousing boo You'll fly around no more on that broomstick by the door And we'll never see another witch like you The little war she soon selected, well it got her re-elected Sold off every public service in a flash She freely swung the chopper till the poll tax came a cropper And vowed trade union rights would soon be smashed Cho. She snatched school milk away, supported Pinochet Doubled VAT and unemployment overnight Immigrants with darker skin were the enemy within While she handbagged every minister in sight Cho. Now the old witch has departed but not so the plan she started It's still gospel to her followers today Her ghost will be to thank for "screw the workers, up the bankers." And it's once again the poor who have to pay. Cho. |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Jim McCullough Date: 05 Jun 13 - 06:15 PM +2 for Renaud's " Miss Maggie". That song does not pull any punches. There's also a version in English, also called " Miss Maggie". |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST Date: 06 Jun 13 - 03:38 AM Has anyone written songs about Scargill he caused as much heartache and pain as anyone |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) Date: 06 Jun 13 - 04:37 AM 'If the TUC had come out for the miners and supported a General Strike in 84 her evil crew would have been brought down and this country would be very different'. LOL! |
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Subject: RE: Songs About Thatcher From: GUEST,Dr Jack Date: 06 Jun 13 - 01:22 PM "Has anyone written songs about Scargill he caused as much heartache and pain as anyone" Scargill's blunt but truthful abrasiveness or Thatcher's silky, murderous Wicked Queen? I know which I prefer. Loads of songs in support of the miners, led by Scargill. Here's one to the tune of "Hold the Line Again" (the Grunwick Strike song) www.amazon.co.uk/Hold-the-Line-Again/dp/B0051H4CAG penned by Jack Warshaw and Sandra Kerr for the miners benefit. HOLD THE LINE AGAIN – Miners version ©music by Jack Warshaw Lyrics by Sandra Kerr and Jack Warshaw It was in the spring of '84 the news was goin' round That Thatcher told MacGregor to run the coal mines down But in every mining village miners knew their cause was right With the NUM behind us this time we're gonna fight Chorus Brothers hold the line again, sisters hold the line again We'll be a little stronger if we hold the line again We held it once at Pentonville, at Saltley we did reign So let's all stand together and hold the line again Of all the hard times we have had the miner's had his share All through our labour history the miner's always there Now with their wives they've organised to show what can be done For a fight that's fought together is a fight that can be won Cho. The Tolpuddle martyrs back in 1834 Fought for the right to organise and we must fight once more We carry that tradition we can reap what they have sown When you're standing with the union, you never stand alone Cho. A job, a home, a decent wage, for all an equal share To each according to their need is only right and fair And you and I need unions like a flower needs the sun To stop the bastards taking back the things that we have won Cho. So now the strike is over but the struggle will go on Till there's justice for the miners don't let them stand alone We'll raise the union banner and like those who fought before We may not win every battle but we're sure to win the war Final chorus |
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