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 was born in black and white
As the 60s lost their swing
As Punk Rock came along
I was Kodacoloured in.
The Dansette Generation
The scourge of your small towns
Sprung from prefab cities
In brand new hand me downs
At school I broke no records, no
I guess it weren't for me
All the wrong circles played at
45 and 33
We were Betamax not Filofax
We grew up taking turns
My favourite teachers were
Joe Strummer and Jake Burns
Chorus:
We fell in and out of love
Like we fell in and out of bars
Got lifts out with mates
Lifts home in police cars
'No Gods, No Leaders'
We put faith in our guitars
We were young when we were young
Thatcher's Britain taught me that
That I never would belong
Striking Miners showed me
Which side I was on
They could kick it in your head
But not into your soul
They had law and order, yeah
But we had Rock'n'Roll
Chorus
I'm older and wiser now
But my youth has gone
I still know my Left from Right
Yeah, and my right from wrong
You have to cling to something
Or they'll break you, don't you see?
Something they can never tame
Cos that's what makes you free
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2. |
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I know who my friends are
And who they are not
I roll with the punches
Is that the best, the best you got?
If you've got me in your sights
Then go on take that shot
I know who my friends are
And who they are not
I know who my friends are
And who they are not
They're right at my shoulder
And there they stay no matter what
And when you got friends like that
They sure do mean a lot
I know who my friends are
And who they are not
I know who my friends are
And who they are not
They come in two kinds, yeah
And sometimes they're hard to spot
When you threw me to the wolves
You showed what kind I'd got
I know who my friends are
And who they are not
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3. |
Trouble
03:05
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Look out here comes trouble
I never understood what they meant
But the trouble
Oh the trouble
Seemed to follow me wherever I went
I'm not mad
I'm not bad
I'm not dangerous to know
So I never understood why the trouble
Had to follow me wherever I go
Chorus:
Look out here comes trouble
But we're the right kind of trouble
The right kind of trouble
Look out here comes trouble
But we're the right kind of trouble
The right kind of trouble
The kind of trouble that's going to make a better world one day
Look out here comes trouble
I'd hear that over and over again
But it seemed to me
As far as I could see
Most of the trouble was them
I'm not mad
I'm not bad
I sure don't mean any harm
But I was born into a whole world of trouble
And I'm only trying to sound the alarm
Look out here comes trouble
You're damn right that I am
All along
If I've seen that something's wrong
I've done the best that I can
I'm not mad
I'm not bad
I'm not dangerous to know
But I gotta warn you now that my trouble's
Gonna follow you wherever you go
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4. |
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Who gets to decide?
Who draws the line?
Who gets to be judge and jury and hangman
In any one time?
And do they play it straight?
Is it all that it seems?
Is it a means to an end like they say
Or an end to the means?
Chorus:
See they twist what you shared
Until you're frightened of words
And they make you so scared you give in
That's how they beat you
But you must never let them win
Are they saving our souls?
Or are they breaking our will?
Are all of those phasers they hold set to stun
Or are they set to kill?
Cos if you follow it back
Past the boom and the bust
Til you get to the money
Does that come from people you trust?
So they set the trap
To kill who got caught
Thrown to the wolves
After trial by kangaroo court
They can kill what you mean
If they can kill what you are
But sonny, I've bled for each one of the stickers
On this guitar
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5. |
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This road we're on will never change a thing, my brother
Stumbling from one defeat into another
Waiting in the darkness for the sun to rise
We need to agitate and educate and organise
Why are we anticipating opposition?
Waiting for a sir to take a Class position
With counter-revolutionary compromise.
We need to agitate and educate and organise
Chorus:
Sing up sing loud
Sing out sing proud
And let's just see how far we can get
Stand up stand tall
Cos at the end of it all
The future isn't over yet
Changes only ever came because we forced em
Crumbs from off the table when the boss endorsed em
Won the round but never ever claimed the prize
We need to agitate and educate and organise
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6. |
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These are my people
We're red, green and blue
We don't fit in boxes like you want us to
These are my people
We're black, brown and white
We dance and we laugh and we love and we fight
These are my people
They're all good by me
From tenth generation to new refugee
These are my people
When all comes to pass
We are many colours but one Working Class
These are my people
We're all just like you
Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Jew
These are my people
Let harmony ring
From the 10,000 ways we can say the same thing
These are my people
Our tribes and our clans
We're lesbian, gay, straight, we're bi and we're trans
These are my people
When all comes to pass
We are many voices but one Working Class
These are my people
We're old and we're young
Our stories untold and our deeds are unsung
These are my people
Our lives intertwine
My struggles are theirs and their struggles are mine
These are my people
We don't reason why
In peacetime we're poor and in wartime we die
These are my people
When all comes to pass
We're your cannon fodder we're one Working Class
These are my people
The ones you attack
You've kicked us so long now we need to kick back
These are my people
You can't keep us down
We all spit tomorrow and you bastards drown
These are my people
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7. |
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What would Woody Guthrie do
If you said you'd had enough?
Would he turn his back on you
And say: 'You think you got it tough?
Well I bore that load down an old and dusty road!'
What would Pete Seeger do
If you sang no more songs?
I think he'd sing a few to you
And say: 'These words righted wrongs.
And yours do the same. You're the keeper of that flame!'
Chorus:
What would Joe Hill say?
What would Joe Hill say?
If you just gave up now
And you walked away?
What would Joe Hill say?
What would Joe Hill say?
If you'd had enough now
And called it a day
What would Joe Hill say?
What would Victor Jara do?
Do you think he'd understand?
Or would he say: 'You sing your truth,
And let it ring across this land.
Cos if someone tries, my spirit never dies!'
What would Fred Hampton do
If you told him no-one cares?
I think he'd turn those eyes on you
And say: 'Where you see despair,
I see a place to start. And you must take heart!'
What would Joe Hill say?
What would Joe Hill say?
If you just gave up now
And you walked away?
What would Joe Hill say?
What would Joe Hill say?
He'd tell you to get up
And go find a way.
That's what Joe would say.
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8. |
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It was magic how you helped that girl
And gave her back some pride
How she answers to her name again
And feels some worth inside
It was magic how you helped her walk
When she could barely crawl
But the magic in that magic is
It's not magic at all
It was magic how you helped that man
Down there on his knees
How you put the twinkle in his eyes
As his pains began to ease
It was magic how you raised him up
When life had let hime fall
But the magic in that magic is
It's not magic at all
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9. |
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For me it was Joe Strummer
Who came and cracked the code
It's not what to think, but how to think
That set me down this road
No-one ever learns to talk
Before they've learned to listen
Who teaches the Working Class about Socialism?
I read Marx and Engels
And 'Bound For Glory' too
And when the days were darkest
Old Bob Tressel got me through
They led me to those notebooks
That Gramsci wrote in prison
But who teaches the Working Class about Socialism?
Chorus:
Who teaches the Working Class about Socialism?
Who'll fight because it's right, and not just for position?
Who's there to really care, and not just talk but listen?
Who teaches the Working Class about Socialism?
Once there was a union
It was big and brave and bold
It taught the working man to fight
To stick and not to fold
But we've lost it to a past
That's now been cast into derision
And who teaches the Working Class about Socialism?
So now you're on the doorstep
And you canvas for a vote
You can tell they want to ram
Your empty words back down your throat
It's time to take breath
Because you're both in this position
Cos no-one teaches the Working Class about Socialism
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10. |
Goodnight England
05:21
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Sprung from 1984
To double-think the new Class War
With the tweeting Alt-Right keeping score
As the liberals wring their hands
The fascists win the same old race
To wave your flag up in your face
And keep all Class enemies in place
Cos they'll never understand
As Brexit rolls in on the tide
To scream its bollocks from both sides
The coconuts now run the shy
And the whole world's taking aim
But them who really own the stall
Have pulled the wool and fooled you all
They've rigged the shares so rise or fall
They profit anyway
But it's you who drew the masterplan
With your hashtag short attention span
It's 'Can we fix it?' Course they can!
Cos you let em deal your hand
You didn't think and didn't think twice
You sold your soul at Name Your Price
Weren't nice to see you, see you nice
Goodnight England
Goodnight England
'Britons never shall be slaves'
Rings a note so high it's off the stave
As dogs bark Marx turns in his grave
And the Left sleep at the wheel
Their chauffeur driving the wrong way
Up a new not too Smart Motorway
While the workers scream 'GET OUT THE WAY!'
And queue for a Happy Meal
To our leader raise a toast
He'll represent who pays the most
And always be first past the post
While you always come in last
As the bulldog dozes in the shade
Next to the stinking pile he made
In Old John Bullshit's new arcade
Putting pennies in the past
There's a Butcher's Apron 1 for 2
It's stained with red and white and blue
Made in China shipped to you
Now you hold it in your hand
You wave it proud and wave it high
This thing that bleeds your country dry
Don't know if I should laugh or cry
But Goodnight England
Goodnight England
Never could your darkest dreams
Have summoned someone to your screens
Who knows what 'exponential' means
But who'd sacrifice the herd
History will judge the fall
Of this empire that had the gall
To slash and burn, destroy it all
And never even cared
It would change at the drop of a hat
If someone made an app for that
Until that day we sit where you're sat
And order in the beers
As hate and lies they zig and zag
From telescreen and Daily Rag
But wrap it all up in a flag
And everybody cheers
So kick and scream and drink and fight
Until a thousand wrongs they make a Right
I don't know how you sleep at night
And I'll never understand
I'm no celebrity, that's clear
But for God's sake get me out of here
You're welcome to your hate and fear
Oh Goodnight England
Goodnight England
Yet each day I get up and fight
Maybe sometimes out of spite
But I still think we could get it right
Good Morning England.
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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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