Primary
bands: Gang of Four, Au Pairs, The Cranberries, U2, Sham 69, Stiff Little Fingers, Simple Minds, The Pogues, The Police
Songs for study:
Au Pairs, "Armagh"
- from Playing with a Different Sex (1981)
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We don’t torture, we’re a civilized nation We’re avoiding any confrontation We don’t torture We don’t torture We don’t torture We don’t torture American hostages in Iran There are 32 women in Armagh jail We don’t torture, we’re a civilized nation |
Alleged crimes withheld information We don’t torture, we’re a civilized nation She gets no sanitation We’re avoiding any confrontation Dries her shit on her cell wall We don’t torture, we’re a civilized nation Feeling cold and sick We’re avoiding any confrontation She gets a couple of valium Now she’s relaxed for the next interrogation We don’t torture, we don’t torture An armed guard squad and she gets a beating We don’t torture, we’re a civilized nation (repeat) |
Before listening to Gang of Four's "Armalite Rifle," please consider the following lyrics from, "My Little Armalite." This is one of many well-known Republican (IRA/"Provo") fight songs from The Troubles.
1. "My Little Armalite"
(Air:
It's Home, Boys, Home) / (Sound of Armalite firing) And it's down in the Bogside, that's where I long to be, Lying in the dark with a Provo company, A comrade on me left and another on me right And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite I was
stopped by a soldier, said he, 'You are a swine', And
it's down in Crossmaglen, sure that's where I long to be, Sure
a brave RUC man came up into our street Sure
it's down in Kilwilkie, that's where I long to be, |
Sure,
the army came to visit me, 'twas in the early hours, With Saladins and Saracens and Ferret armoured cars They thought they had me cornered, but I gave them all a fright With the armour piercing bullets of my little Armalite And it's down in the Falls Road, that's
where I long to be, When Tuzo came to Belfast, he said, 'The
battle's won', And it's up in Ballymurphy, that's where
I long to be, |
"Armalite
Rifle" - from Entertainment! (1979) |
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Armalite
rifle Police and IRA Armalite rifle Use it every day Breaks down easy Armalite rifle Armalite rifle |
The
rifle does harm Shoots for miles If a bullet gets you in the arm Destroys your insides Armalite
rifle It'll
do you damage I
disapprove of it Damage! Damage! Damage! Damage! |
"Sunday,
Bloody Sunday" - from War (1983) |
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I
can't believe the news today I can't close my eyes and make it go away How
long, how long must we sing this song Broken
bottles under children's feet Sunday
bloody Sunday Sunday
bloody Sunday How
long, how long must we sing this song |
Wipe
the tears from your eyes Sunday
bloody Sunday And
it's true we are immune On
a Sunday bloody Sunday |
"New
Year's Day" - from War (1983) |
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All
is quiet on New Year's Day A world in white gets underway And I want to be with you Be with you night and day Nothing changes on New Year's Day I
will be with you again Under
a blood-red sky |
I
will begin again, I will begin again Oh and maybe the time is right Oh maybe tonight I
will be with you again And
so we are told this is the golden age |
The Cranberries, "Zombie" - from No Need to Argue (1994)
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Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken And the violence caused such silence Who are we mistaken? But you see it’s not me, it’s not my family In your head, in your head, they are fighting With their tanks, and their bombs And their bombs, and their guns In your head, in your head they are crying In your head, in your head, |
Another mother’s breaking heart is taking over
When the violence causes silence We must be mistaken It’s the same old theme since 1916 In your head, in your head they’re still fighting With their tanks, and their bombs And their bombs, and their guns In your head, in your head they are dying In your head, in your head, |
The Cranberries, "Icicle Melts" - from No Need to Argue (1994) |
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When, when, when When will the icicle melt, The icicle, icicle? And when, when, when When will the picture show end, The picture show, picture show? I should not have read the paper today, There's a place for the baby that died, How, how, how |
I don't know what's happening to people today, When a child, child, child, child, He was taken away There's a place for the baby that died, There's a place for the baby that died, Too long |
Sham 69 , "Ulster" - from I Don't Wanna (1978) |
Ulster boy
You know it's gonna last a few more years And when you see those tanks go past |
Ulster There ain't no winners And now you're lyin' in your hospital bed No more fun for you ain't no more |
Simple Minds, "Belfast Child" - from Street Fighting Years (1989) |
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When my love said to me Meet me down by the gallow tree For it's sad news I bring About this old town and all that it's offering Some say troubles abound Some day soon they're gonna pull the old town down One day well return here, When the belfast child sings again Brothers, sisters where are you now? One day well return here, |
Some come back Billy, won't you come on home Come back Mary, you've been away so long The streets are empty, and your mothers gone The girls are crying, it's been oh so long And your fathers're calling, come on home Won't you come on home, won't you come on home Come back people, you've been gone a while The streets are empty, the streets are cold The streets are empty One day we'll return here |
Stiff Little Fingers, "Alternative Ulster" - live in Germany (1980) |
Nothin' for us in Belfast The Pound so old it's a pity OK, there's the Trident in Bangors Then walk back to the city We ain't got nothin' but they don't really care They don't even know you know They just want money They can take it or leave it What we need is An Alternative Ulster Take a look where you're livin' |
An Alternative Ulster Grab it change it's yours Get an Alternative Ulster Ignore the bores, their laws Get an Alternative Ulster Be an anti-security force Alter your native Ulster Alter your native land They say they're a part of you Free free free Alternative Ulster |
Stiff Little Fingers, "Suspect Device" - from Inflammable Material (1979) |
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Inflammable material is planted in my head |
(Chorus) |
The Pogues, "Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six" - from If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988) |
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Oh farewell you streets of sorrow Oh farewell you streets of pain I'll not return to feel more sorrow Nor to see more young men slain Through the last six years I've lived through terror And in the darkened streets the pain Oh how I long to find some solace In my mind I curse the strain So farewell you streets of sorrow There were six men in Birmingham In Ireland they'll put you away in the Maze You'll be counting years |
A curse on the judges, the coppers and screws Who tortured the innocent, wrongly accused, For the price of promotion And justice to sell May the judged be their judges when they rot down in hell You'll be counting years May the whores of the empire lie awake in their beds You'll be counting years Counting years |
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[One,
two, three, four, five, six Oh oh oh oh oh oh] I
don't want to spend the rest of my life There
has to be an invisible sun |
It's
dark all day and it glows all night There
has to be an invisible sun And
they're only going to change this place There
has to be an invisible sun [Oh oh oh oh oh oh...] |