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  1. Homebreakers (Paul Weller/Mick Talbot)
  2. All Gone Away (Paul Weller)
  3. Come To Milton Keynes (Paul Weller)
  4. Internationalists (Paul Weller/Mick Talbot)
  5. A Stones Throw Away (Paul Weller)
  6. The Stand Up Comic's Instructions (Paul Weller)
  7. Boy Who Cried Wolf (Paul Weller)
  8. A Man Of Great Promise (Paul Weller)
  9. Down In The Seine (Paul Weller)
  10. The Lodger's (or She Was Only A Shopkeeper's Daughter) (Paul Weller/Mick Talbot)
  11. Luck (Paul Weller/Mick Talbot)
  12. With Everything To Lose (Weller/Steve White)
  13. Our Favourite Shop (Talbot) [Instrumental]
  14. Walls Come Tumbling Down (Paul Weller)

The Style Council

 

       

HOMEBREAKERS

 
   

Good morning day, how do you do?

 

I wonder - what will you do for me?

 

I should be on my way, I should be earning pay

 

I should be all the things that I'm not

 

And I've tried on my own, now there's nothing to keep me at home

 

Like my Brother has too - gotta leave to get out of this view

 

You see they, tell you to move around

 

If you can't find work in your own town.

 

As I rise from my bed I can hear the old man

 

Blaming Heaven & Mother for this

 

30 Years with one firm, 13 months redundant

 

Yes I'd say that's unlucky for some

 

Now our tears fall like rain, as my Mother walks me to my train

 

With a kiss & a wave - "Come home weekends" - that's if I can save.

 

I swear I'll take it out on the man

 

Who ever devised this economy plan.

 

All the love in the world - can't put

 

Dinner on the table

 

All the hate that I feel no love could put right

 

Good morning day, how do you do

 

I wonder - what will you do for me?

 

I should be on my way, I should be earning pay

 

I should be all the things that I'm not

 

And I've tried on my own, now there's nothing to keep me at home

 

All the love and the strength has been taken by this Government

 

You see they, tell you to move around

 

If you can't find work in your own town.

 

Father's in the kitchen, counting out coins

 

Mother's in the bedroom, looking through pictures of her boys

 

One is in London, looking for a job

 

The other's in Whitehall - Looking for those responsible!

 
   

ALL GONE AWAY

 
   

The wind blows whispers down the street

 

Having free reign with the town so bleak

 

Like everything else it's - all gone away

 

The Town Hall clock gives forth its chime

 

For no-one there to ask the time

 

Like everything else they've - all gone away

 

The Grocer's shop hangs up its sign

 

The sign say's closed it's a sign of the times

 

Like everything else they've - all gone away

 

But somewhere the party never ends

 

And greedy hands rub together again

 

Shipping out the profits that they've stolen

 

An eerie wail comes from the pit

 

The ghosts of the men take the morning shift

 

Just like clockwork - rusting away

 

Come take a walk upon these hills

 

And see how monetarism kills

 

Whole communities

 

Even families

 

There's nothing left so - They've all gone away

 
   
 

COME TO MILTON KEYNES

 
   

May I walk you home tonight

 

On this fine and lovely night tonight -

 

We'll walk past the luscious houses,

 

Through rolling lawns and lovely flowers -

 

Our nice new town where the curtains are drawn

 

Where hope is started and dreams can be borne.

 

Let us share our insanity

 

Go mad together in Community

 

Boys on the corner looking for their supper

 

Boys round the green looking for some slaughter -

 

We used to chase dreams now we chase the dragon

 

Mine is the semi with the Union Jack on.

 

In our paradise lost we'll be finding our sanity

 

In this paradise found we'll be losing our way -

 

For a brave new day.

 

May I slash my wrists tonight,

 

On this fine Conservative night tonight -

 

I was looking for a job so I came to town

 

I easily adopt when the chips are down -

 

I read the ad about the private schemes

 

I liked the idea but now I'm not so Keyne.

 
   

INTERNATIONALISTS

 
   

If you believe you have an equal share

 

In the whole wide world and all it bears

 

An' that your share is no less or more than

 

Your fellow sisters and brother man

 

Then take this knowledge and with it insist

 

Declare yourself - an internationalist!

 

If you lay no blame at the feet of next door

 

An' realise this struggle is also yours

 

An' that without the strength of us altogether

 

The world as it stands will remain forever

 

Then take this challenge and make it exist!

 

Rise up as - an internationalist!

 

If your eyes see deeper than the colour of skin

 

Then you must also see we are the same within

 

An' the rights you expect are the rights of all

 

Now it's up to you to lead the call

 

That liberty must come at the top of the list

 

Stand proud as - an internationalist!

 

If you see the mistake in having bosses at all

 

You will also see how they all must fall

 

For under this system there is no such thing

 

As the Democracy our leaders would have us sing

 

No time for lies now as only truth must persist

 

Rise up now and declare yourself - an internationalist!

 
   

A STONES THROW AWAY

 
   

For liberty there is a cost - its broken skulls and leather cosh

 

From the boys in uniform - now you know whose side their on

 

With backing - with blessing

 

From earthly gods not heaven

 

A stones throw away from it all

 

Whatever pleasures those who get - from stripping skin with rhino whip

 

Are the kind that must be stopped - before their kind take all we've got

 

With loving - with caring

 

They take great pride in working,

 

The stones throw away from it all.

 

Whenever honesty persists - you'll hear the snap of broken ribs,

 

Of anyone who'll take no more - of the lying bastards roar -

 

In Chile - In Poland

 

Johannesburg - South Yorkshire,

 

A stones throw away: Now we're there.

 
   
 

THE STAND UP COMIC'S INSTRUCTIONS

 
   

Get 'em laughing - keep 'em there,

 

You hold your own and they'll hold their's,

 

Hold their glasses - can't hold their beer

 

Tell 'em the one about the fucking queer.

 

Do the one that always works,

 

'Bout the lazy blacks that don't like work,

 

And once you got 'em, keep 'em there

 

Raise their spirits! Raise their cheer!

 

Do that one that never fails,

 

'Bout the gang of white thugs and the Asian male,

 

And once you got 'em, they'll be with you!

 

See this lot's loyal, through and through.

 

Tell Irish jokes and you can't miss,

 

Do the building site one and how they're all thick.

 

Keep 'em laughing - you'll have it made,

 

We're a friendly lot and you'll be well paid.

 

But keep 'em laughing don't let it stop

 

Or the truth might catch up and spoil the plot.

 
   

BOY WHO CRIED WOLF

 
   

As the rain comes down, upon this sad sweet earth

 

I lie awake at nights and - think about me

 

All those usual things like what a fool I've been

 

I curse the awful way - that I let you slip away

 

For what was forged in love, is now cooling down

 

With only myself to blame for playing that stupid game

 

I thought I need only call and you would run

 

But that day you never showed honey - well I sure learnt -

 

That it seems I need you more each day

 

Heaven knows why that it goes that way -

 

Now it's far too late - an' I've lost this time -

 

Like the Boy who cried Wolf

 

An' yes - I know it's far too late

 

To ever win you back -

 

No tale of nightmare's at my gate -

 

Could make you turn -

 

My lost concern

 

And now the night falls down, upon my selfish soul

 

I sit alone and wonder - where did I go wrong?

 

It always worked before you kept the wolf from my door

 

But one day you never showed and honey - Now I'm not so sure -

 

That is seems I need you more each day

 

Heaven knows why that it goes that way

 

Now it's far too late - an' I've lost this time

 

Like the Boy who cried Wolf

 
   

A MAN OF GREAT PROMISE

 
   

I bought the paper yesterday and I saw the obituary

 

And I read of how you died in pain

 

Well I just couldn't understand it

 

If I could of changed that, then Lord knows I'd do it now

 

But there is no going back

 

And what's done is done forever

 

But you were always chained and shackled by the dirt

 

Of every small town institution and every big town flirt

 

And I think of what you might have been,

 

A man of such great promise

 

Oh but, you seem to forget the dream

 

And the more you saw you hated

 

But let's not talk of blame, for what is only natural

 

Like a moth going to a flame

 

You had a dangerous passion

 

But you were always chained and shackled by the dirt

 

Of every small town institution and every big town flirt

 

All the things that you might have been - but who am I to say?

 

Still I wonder

 

If it's the cold earth you prefer to lay

 

If it's the cold earth - you prefer to stay

 
   

DOWN IN THE SEINE

 
   

Catch me I'm falling so fast and I can't seem to find

 

All the reasons I had when the purpose was mine

 

Now I stumble so fast rolling into the night

 

Kiss me quick before I land and am broken in two

 

Keep me on the right track, hold my dreams in tact too

 

I get lost in this place - I get lost, yes its true

 

Quand on n'a plus rien en soi - Quand on n'a plus de refuge

 

Quand on ne peut plus fuir - Quand on ne sais on courrir

 

Noir comme la nuit - Oui, noir comme mon ame

 

Noir comme les eaux - Dans les quels je sombre

 

Help me I'm sinking so fast into waters unplanned

 

That I once held onto but have got out of hand

 

Now the things that I loved are the things I can't stand

 

Squeeze me slow before I come to that part of the ground

 

It's a million miles up and a million miles down

 

I get lost in between and I wait to be found

 

Quand on n'a plus rien en soi - Quand on n'a plus de refuge

 

Quand on ne peut plus fuir - Quand on ne sais ou courrir

 

Noir comme la nuit - Oui noir comme mon ame -

 

Noir comme les eaux - Dans les quels je sombre

 

And in the waters I sink and in the waters I drink

 

Until I rise to the top which in truth is not

 

To make you feel your alright, to make you feel there's no fight

 
   

THE LODGER'S (or SHE WAS ONLY A SHOPKEEPER'S DAUGHTER)

 
   

No peace for the wicked - only war on the poor

 

They're batting on pickets - trying to even the score

 

It's all inclusive - the dirt comes free

 

And you can be all that you want to be

 

Oh an equal chance and an equal pay

 

But equally there's no equal pay

 

There's room on top - if you tow the line

 

And if you believe all this you must be out of your mind

 

There's only room for those the same

 

Those who play the leeches game

 

Don't get settled in this place

 

The lodger's terms are in disgrace

 

Getcha brains blown out - in a captain's mess

 

Stand for the Queen if you can stand the test

 

It's all thrown in and the lies come free

 

And you can be all that they want you to be

 

(Chorus)

 

Oh if you work hard you can be the boss

 

But if you don't work at all then that's nobody's loss

 

There's room on top - if you dig in low

 

And the idea is what they reap you sow

 

With an old school tie and a reference

 

You can cover up crimes in their defence

 

It's all thrown in and the lies come free

 

And you can be all that they want you to be

 
   
 

LUCK

 
   

Luck fell in the right place for me

 

The day you happend to come by -

 

You caught me feeling all was useless

 

And left me feeling ten feet high

 

Now nothing again will be quite the same

 

You gathered my fears and threw them away

 

Luck dropped in just at the right time

 

The time when I felt most alone -

 

All my dreams had seemed to vanish

 

Now my nightmares have upped and gone

 

I'm not scared of farewells, nothing's the same twice

 

I stride through the day and I float through the night

 

How much choice do we have in this?

 

Like some almighty hand smashing your life into pieces

 

One day you're washed and drowned -

 

And the next minute you're put back on land

 

Now nothing again can be quite the same

 

I gather my fears and I throw them away

 

Luck - when you hold me closely

 

Ooh - feels like summertime

 

Luck - when you hold my hand

 

I - want it all the time

 

Luck - in your country kisses

 

Ooh - I love your outlook

 

Luck - in your hills and valleys

 

Go on talking my babbling brook!

 
   
 

WITH EVERYTHING TO LOSE

 
   

From the playground to the wasteground

 

Hope ends at 17

 

Sweeping floors and filling shelves

 

Forced into government schemes

 

11 years spent to dig out ditches,

 

Forget your schoolday dreams

 

Guarantees and lie-filled speeches,

 

But nothings what it seems

 

Qualified and patronised and with everything to lose.

 

No choice or chance for the future

 

The rich enjoy less tax

 

Dress the girls in pretty pink

 

The shit goes to the blacks

 

A generation's heart torn out

 

And covered up the facts

 

The only thing they'll understand

 

Is a wall against their backs

 

The only hope now left for those - with everything to lose.

 

In desperation empty eyes,

 

Signed up and thrown away

 

There's drugs replacing dignity,

 

The short sharp shock repaid

 

There'll be no money if you dare to question

 

Working the Tory way

 

The truth is up there carved in stone,

 

Where 21 dead now lay

 

A family's loss for a few pounds saved

 

With everything to lose.

 
   

WALLS COME TUMBLING DOWN

 
   

You don't have to take this crap

 

You don't have to sit back and relax

 

You can actually try changing it

 

I know we've always been taught to rely

 

Upon those in authority

 

But you never know until you try

 

How things just might be

 

If we came together so strongly

 

Are you gonna try to make this work

 

Or spend your days down in the dirt

 

You see things can change

 

YES an' walls can come tumbling down!

 

Governments crack and systems fall

 

'cause Unity is powerful

 

Lights go out - walls come tumbling down!

 

The competition is a colour TV

 

We're on still pause with the video machine

 

That keep you slave to the H.P.

 

Until the Unity is threatend by

 

Those who have and who have not

 

Those who are with and those who are without

 

And dangle jobs like a donkey's carrot

 

Until you don't know where you are

 

Are you gonna realize

 

The class war's real and not mythologized

 

And like Jericho - You see walls can come tumbling down!

 

Are you gonna be threatend by

 

The public enemies No. 10

 

Those who play the power game

 

They take the profits - you take the blame -

 

When they tell you there's no rise in pay

 

Are you gonna try an' make this work

 

Or spend your days down in the dirt -

 

You see things CAN change -

 

YES an' walls can come tumbling down!

 
   

Notes

     

Homebreakers

(1) The whole piece is a portrait of Britain at the time of the Thatcher government (eighties) when heavy restructuring and the abandonment of economic activities no longer considered strategic, brought a wave of layoffs and a sharp increase in unemployment in the industrial regions of the country. Regions which, however, were typical Labour majority districts, then irrelevant for the purposes of voting for the conservative prime minister) and a strong weakening of the British Trade Unions. So the song is about young people who go to other cities in search of work, the protest against the government and the Parliament (Whitehall) and fathers suddenly without their jobs.
It is the same period described very well in the movies  Billy Elliot (in which are used songs as Weller's  A Town Called Malice) and Full Monty.
     

© Original Lyrics by Style Council - Polygram / Commercial use not permitted /

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