Get all 46 Joe Solo releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Farewell Hatfield Main, Sledgehammer Songs, Twenty From Twenty, Answer Machine/See You When I Get There, These Are My People, Fight The Good Fight Club Revisited, Upstairs At Park Street, Collected, and 38 more.
1. |
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I've been banging my head against a brick wall all day
And what's left of my soul is slowly wasting away
But I ain't gonna die here, alone in the gloom
I'm gonna start a revolution in an empty room
I'm gonna sing out
Too-ra-la-la yeah
Too-ra-la-lay
Put your best foot forward, brother
Come what may
There maybe only me and my shadow
In the light of the moon
But I can start a revolution in an empty room
But it don't mean nothing
Unless you shout it out loud
To four corners of silence
Or the cries of the crowd
You see we know something's wrong here
Yet we all just assume
We can't start a revolution in an empty room
But we're wrong now
Too-ra-la-la yeah
Too-ra-la-lay
Put your best foot forward, brother
Come what may
There maybe only you and your shadow
In the light of the moon
But you can start a revolution in an empty room
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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2. |
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Everybody got a cross to bear
Yet everybody's trying to get somewhere
Everybody's got their fight to fight
But what so wrong with trying to do things right?
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
Nothing good will come without a fight
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
Everybody says that life ain't fair
Yet everybody's out to get their share
We feed the greed and we concede the fight
But what's so wrong with trying to do things right?
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
Nothing good will come without a fight
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
I believe that in the heart of man
There's something makes us do the best we can
Let's drag it kicking out in to the light
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
Nothing good will come without a fight
What's so wrong with trying to do things right?
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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3. |
New York City Girl
03:52
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The doctors say, the doctors say I'm dying Miss
The doctors say I'm dying don't you know
And I've a little list of things I wanna do
Before that old fat lady sings and I've got to go
And I never swam with dolphins in the ocean
And I never sailed away around the world
And I never helped Guy Fawkes with an explosion
And I never kissed a New York City Girl
But then maybe you can, maybe you can help me Miss
Maybe you can help me ease my load
And help a poor boy with a dying wish
Fot tomorrow I'll be off on down the road
And I never swooped with Swallows in the summer
And I never found an oyster with a pearl
And I never got to shake hands with Joe Strummer
And I never kissed a New York City Girl
Your mother, yeah your mother, well she taught you right
And you should just turn me out of here to die
But they said a little tender loving care at night might help me
It's a long shot, but I guess it's worth a try
I never swam with dolphins in the ocean
And I never sailed away around the world
I never felt, I never felt emotion
Like when you kiss a New York City Girl...
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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4. |
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When I blow down the road knowing how the wild wind feels
When I ain't got that Black Dog a-howling at my heels
When I roll like a river rolls, with no memory
When that day comes there'll be no stopping me
When my shadow's passed like the last cloud on the hill
When my breeze has blown out and your meadow grass is still
When my colours run like a sunset on the sea
When that day comes there'll be no stopping me
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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5. |
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When there ain't no point in trying
Cos everything you do goes wrong
When all your old get up and go
Has got up and gone
When you're feeling like an also-ran
That never had a shout
And your hopes and dreams are cigarettes
That life keeps stubbing out
Keep on keeping on
When you've one foot in the past
And that's what stops you moving on
Like a School Reunion full of strangers
Dancing to that song
That no-one ever liked and never will
Still it's 'those were the days...'
It's time to burn the bridges down
The flames will light the way
Keep on keeping on
We wanted no more heroes
So we stripped em of their crowns
We put them on that pedestal
And then we pulled it down and now it's
Primetime Sellevision when they once
Were all the rage
The pink receding mohawk
Of Punk Rock in Middle Age
Keep on keeping on
To the freaks and to the misfits
To the wounded and the weak
To the locked out ones with answers
But who have no voice to speak
It's no use knocking on their door now
Cos they'll tell you 'Go To Hell!!"
Your Culture isn't culture
If your Culture doesn't sell
Keep on keeping on
So we're spoonfed paranoia
Til we hate and fear and blame
While the self-help guru's try to turn
Self-loathing into fame
And we analyse our lives through the lens
Of a mobile phone
And we wonder why with all them 'friends'
We still feel so alone
Keep on keeping on
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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6. |
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You'll never have a song to sing
If you're ducking every battle
You're never gonna change a thing
Following the cattle down
A dead end street
In a one-horse town
You're never gonna win a hand
By folding with the Aces
You're never gonna make a stand
Tripping over laces tied
Together forever
In a knot of pride
You never let the light go out
You need a little spark and so
You never let the light go out
No, no, no, no, no
You never let the light go out
It'll leave you in the dark I know
You never let the light go out
You're talking like a hammer, yeah
But you're living like a nail and
You ask me why I even try at all
When I know I'm gonna fail and
I tell you every dog'll have his day
That's why I'm barking and I'm biting
Cos if I'm going down now
I'm going down fighting
You never let the light go out
You need a little spark and so
You never let the light go out
No, no, no, no, no
You never let the light go out
It'll leave you in the dark I know
You never let the light go out
You either take a look around now
And say that apathy beat us
Or you try to rev it up now
Until there's nothing can defeat us
You never let the light go out
You need a little spark and so
You never let the light go out
No, no, no, no, no
You never let the light go out
It'll leave you in the dark I know
You never let the light go out
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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7. |
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Ain't got no money I ain't got no money, no
Ain't got no money I ain't got no money, no
Ain't got no money got no money no
Ain't got a penny in my pocket any more than I owe
Ain't got no money I ain't got no money, no
They ain't never had nothing so they don't know how it feels
They ain't never had nothing so they don't know how it feels
They ain't never had nothing, they don't know how it feels
When you're going without, so your kids can have meals
They ain't never had nothing so they don't know how it feels
Give a man a gun he can rob a bank boys and girls
Give a man a gun he can rob a bank boys and girls
Give a man a gun he can rob a bank boys and girls
Yeah, but give a man a bank and he'll rob the whole damn world, yeah
Give a man a gun he can rob a bank boys and girls
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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8. |
Strollin'
02:16
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Still kicking
Still screaming
Still hoping
And I'm still dreaming
Still rollin'
Still strollin' along
I ain't broken
I ain't bitter
Ain't quit
Cos I ain't no quitter
Still rollin'
Still strollin' along
Two things you can rely on
Orion my old friend
You'll be gone by morning
And I'll be back again
I ain't a-looking back
And a-crying
I'll live forever or I'll
Die trying
Still rollin'
Still strollin' along
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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9. |
Beneath Your Flags
03:34
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The box in the corner is still simpering away
But I just can't reconcile those words with what I've seen today
From the bunting in the gutter as we trudged home in the rain
To the girl who said 'God Save The Queen'
Then asked me for some change
And we're one step from eviction and we're barely scraping through
But that's the world beneath your flags
Of red and white and blue
Now Mr Singh has run that shop for 27 years
And his father fought the fascists with the Royal Fusiliers
But the 'Made in England' barcode posse put his windows through
That's the world beneath your flags
Of red and white and blue
Now a thief can pick your pocket, and a girl can break your heart
But a goverment can take your job and tear your world apart
I took that humiliation, now I'm taking this one too
You wave as I drown in a sea
Of red and white and blue
Sure I love my country as the proud land of my birth
But my measure is compassion, not how much a man is worth
So I call the ghost of William Blake, cos I know he'll understand
Why I'd try to build Jerusalem, in this grey unpleasant land
And until it's fit for heroes I'm afraid I've work to do
To change the world beneath your flags
Of red and white and blue
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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10. |
Learning To Crawl
03:29
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In the City of Reason, you queue on the corner of doubt
Like a wise man who whispers at fools who are drowning him out
And if ever there's writing there, someone will whitewash the wall
You're just like the others here
You're learning to crawl
When you tell that story, you're showered in glory it seems
You're a Working Class Hero, yeah, just like you are in your dreams
But here in your company tie you're not walking so tall
You're just like the others here
You're learning to crawl
So we crawl to the corner and queue at the end of the street
Not a one of us wondering if as one we rose to our feet
Would we each find that we had the answer right here after all?
If we stood shoulder-to-shoulder
Instead of just learning to crawl
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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11. |
From NY to LA
05:47
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My and Jimmy we grew up round here
And we always talked of getting out
But raised on chips and beans and TV
We was never in with much of a shout
We'd spread a map out on my bedroom floor
And draw a pencil line from coast to coast
We'd sit and whisper at the back of the class
About the best place to meet Elvis's ghost
We always swore that we would fly out there
And buy ourselves a big old Chevrolet
And hit the road, boys
Hit the road, boys
From New York to LA
We left school and Jimmy moved away
And me and Julie settled down
To supermarkets and to overtime
There's not much else in this town
She'd sometimes ask what I was thinking of
And I'd say nothing, like us blokes do
But I'd be out there on some open road
In a big old Lincoln '52
We always swore that we would fly out there
And buy ourselves a big old Chevrolet
And hit the road, boys
Hit the road, boys
From New York to LA
Days turn into weeks and months to years
Your life slips away so fast
Julie said I should have grown up now
I'm still that loser at the back of the class
I lost my job, they shut the factory down
And Julie left me for some bloke
Who worked for someone shutting factories down
And they say God don't like a joke
Then I met Jimmy in the street one day
He'd been through the mill like me
We raised a glass for dreams that never were
And a dozen more for what could be
We're in the airport now to fly out there
And buy ourselves that big old Chevrolet
To hit the road, boys
Hit the road, boys
From New York to LA
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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12. |
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It's that light at the end of the tunnel of your darkest day
It's the moment you know, that everything'll be ok
It's how we live, it's how we breathe, it's how we cope
It's that crazy little thing called hope
It's that island of calm in the eye of the storm
It's that coat on your back in the blizzard that's keeping you warm
Can turn a mountain to a gently rising slope
It's that crazy little thing called hope
When the rain's set in, and it's looking like it's here to stay
Hope's that little bit of blue sky, to chase the clouds away
It's a step from the shadow of doubt
That says I didn't make this problem
But I'm damned-well gonna figure it out
Turns on the spotlight and turns off the microscope
It's that crazy little thing called hope
It's how we live, it's how we breathe, it's how we cope
It's that crazy little thing called hope
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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13. |
Dissenter's Lament
02:32
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I knew this day was coming
And I've known it all along
When rights fought long and hard for
Have been taken one by one
I knew this day was coming
And I've known it from the start
But you will not break my spirit
And you'll never break my heart
When my body's cold and lifeless
And you think you've finally won
When at last my voice is silenced
By your tear gas and your gun
When my body's cold and lifeless
And you've tossed it on the cart
Know you did not break my spirit
And you'll never break my heart
To you Water Cannon Diplomats
With your baton-round replies
You can try to kill the answers
But the question never dies
I'm just one man of many
And I've been proud to play my part
You will not break my spirit
And you'll never break my heart
Words and music
by
Joe Solo
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Joe Solo Scarborough, UK
Joe Solo is an award-winning musician, writer, poet, activist, broadcaster and washing machine engineer from
Scarborough.
Live he has an ever growing reputation as both a performer and raconteur, being thought-provoking, comical and punch-the-air political often in the same breath.
He is not an artist you forget in a hurry.
... more
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