Never Mind The Ballots

The second album.

Always Tell The Voter What The Voter Wants To Hear

Welcome to Never Mind The Ballots. The phone lines are now open. If you'd like to put a question to the candidates the number to ring is oh five three two seven seven nine six four three
You want jobs? I've got jobs!
Hospitals? Top of my list!
Tax cuts and platform shoes
For every small businessman
Just give me your vote
Just give me your vote
Schools, prisons? Of course we'll build them!
Condoms for the American GIs!
Nuclear reactors breed like rabbits
Police oppression? You can have it, sir!
Just give me your vote
Put your cross in the box
Hello, we've got our first caller. You're name's Martin. Hello Martin. You listened to our stated policy. Well Martin to tell you the truth I couldn't agree with you more. It's outrageous, disgusting. But unlike my colleague on my right, we're the party who say what we do, do what we say. You can bank on us Martin.
Good evening, Shirley. I'm so glad that you've rung. The matter is as dear to me as it is to you. Give me four years and I'll get right down to it. Because unlike my little balding colleague on my left, we don't make promises we can't keep.
You still there, Martin? Good, just one more thing. Give us your vote
You want houses? See me afterwards
Want my autograph? See my bodyguard
Pre-election budget handouts
You want a war? No problem!
Just give me your vote
Just give me your vote

Come On Baby (Let's Do The Revolution)

Come on baby, let's do the revolution
Six for the record, and seven for the T-shirt
A picture of the band
And a ticket for the promised land
Watching all the bouncers
Systematically beating up the dancers
To the rhythm of a pocket of change
Here's the group with all the answers
Vote for the party and keep your mouth shut
Same chains of command
All the power taken out of our hands
Politics pays the piper in this company land
Come on baby, let's do the revolution
They say we'll all be equal
When they take control
Vote for the party and wallow in our rock and roll
Roadie! My guitar!

The Wasteland

Said the party to the ad-man
We'll conjure up a gimmick
The way to lead an ass
Is with a carrot and a stick
Dig down for minorities
Promise them concessions
Ride in on their backs
And then teach them all a lesson
Unemployment means depression
You're just victims of the recession
We can count on their support
If we can channel their emotions
(Chorus)
Populate the wasteland
Between leisure and the grave
Work and pray and place your vote
And some day you'll be saved
All these myths come tailor-made
To suit the company director
Myths that praise the dignity
Of cheap, disposable labor
Two different routes
To an industrial heaven
Work for boss and parliament
And all will be forgiven
It's the fear of being sacked
That lets the boss step up the pace
Because the minute you step out of line
There's someone took your place
(Repeat chorus)
Said the MP to the media
Can't we juggle this around
Sprinkle sugar on the dog shit
And we'll keep the figures down
Never let the left hand
See what's in the right
No-one's any wiser
And the problem's out of sight
Take your democratic choice
Take a scheme or starve
Job clubs, restart, YTS, CPs, EAS
Company profits doubled
Wages chopped in half
(Repeat)
(Repeat chorus)
Offer your life to the one true church
In the name of the conservative party
The labor party
And the liberal alliance
The promised land where banks outnumber churches
And your cars shall be martyrs to the cause
Capitalism in crisis
But on the third day it shall rise again
But on the third day it shall rise

Today's Sermon

And now, the Reverend Abraham Meekly, saver of souls
Though they broke my legs
They gave me a crutch to walk
Though they broke my legs
They gave me a crutch to walk
Though they broke my legs
They gave me a crutch to walk
Their laws to guide me
And a crutch to walk
Brothers and sisters, I have sinned more than sinning, I have been away these last four long years, but now I am returned to the fold to be among my flock. I come as humble shepherd embodied by the almighty, the power above, the power which is in me. Because I am reborn, brothers and sisters, I am living proof that government saves. Brothers and sisters, I want you to show our faith in the powers that be, for we are the true believers. I want you to come forward together, come to me, and let us feel the power of the cross. Today's lesson, stay in your homes except on Thursday, do not stray from the path, as our signpost says, you can't miss it really, and we're open all day. Now there's no need to rush, we've got plenty of pencils for everyone. Now there're collecting tins for ordinations, check, credit card facilities are payable, government savings, stickers and badges on sale, T-shirts in small, medium, or large, all at competitive prices. Put a down-payment on your place in heaven, and buy me another four years, brothers and sisters. Dance wherever you may be, I am the lord of the dance said she. And if you don't dance, we have ways of making you dance. Government be with you!
Amen

Ah-men

A visionary pause in the cycle
When she refused to buy or sell
When the daughters of perfect wives
Said there must be more sacrifice
Needed more than symbolic change
More than silent wasting away
In factories and sterile marriages
He was God, she was powerless
With a brick for every year of life
She set out for the house of lies
The old boys' club under siege
His lordship cowered under his seat
Called for brandy and reinforcements
Blasted away at every movement
Close to breaking down the door
Past thick blue line and stupid laws
Black Friday left her bruised and stubborn
One brick from winning the struggle
Rapunzel hacked at the ivory tower
Asquith quickly rose to the hour
Appealed to patriotism, oily smiles
Gave nothing, called it compromise
Gauging the situation perfectly
Said ladies, ladies, listen to me
Nineteen fourteen, we're on the brink of war
Pick up a flag, drop your cause
Your targets are counter-revolutionary
Take my hand in democracy
Here's a piece of paper
You're officially free
Here's a list of instructions
For you to obey
And here's sharp knife
To cut your own throat
Small sacrifice in return for a vote
Whispered word in Pankhurst's ear
Visions of the first woman peer
Led women down the garden path
And into the arms of the enemy
Jail and force-feeding, waster martyrdom
Sold her songs for the national anthem
Slotted the smile back neatly into place
Served refreshments
At the end of the race
All demands reduced to a joke
X marks the plague, abandon hope
Butlers still pouring brandy for the rich
Excuse me pass me the privilege
A woman's voice, the state's idea
Same vested interests, same dirty deals
Currie and Williams immersed in the times
Examples to keep the rest in line
Currie and Williams two of a kind
Examples to keep the rest in line
Absolute power
Absolute power
Ladies, ladies, listen to me

Mr. Heseltine Meets His Public

Mr. Heseltine you drove into our town
The northern rain always drizzling down
Shoppers at the window stopped to look
As you signed another copy of your book
'Cause you have all the power
And you have all the wealth
And we've got nothing but ourselves
We've got nothing but ourselves
We've got nothing but ourselves
So we'll do away with leaders, bosses and police
Reclaim our actions, rediscover our voices
Salvage our integrity, reassert our dignity
Power in the heart of the community
Mr. Heseltine listen to me
We don't want power
And we don't want money
We're fighting for the right to decide
How the power and the wealth
Be equally divided
Old people in Seacroft need money for bills
Single mums with kids want decent meals
And we all want new coats
When all's said and done
They're all worn out
From being walked upon
There comes a time when we organize
When we take control of our daily lives
When we don't obey orders from authority
When we disbelieve the myths of democracy
Democracy Street, Britain's longest running soap, with the added illusion of audience participation. Our act tonight, on the left, capitalism that's right, on the right, capitalism is it, in the middle, probably the best capitalism in the world. Remember it's your choice, your five seconds worth of action that counts. I mean that most sincerely voters. Sit tight, keep quiet, 'till the next time. The next time being one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days away. Well if freedom is the choice between greed and practically the same impression (?), then I'll take the one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days. Never mind the ballots, here's the rest of your life.
Mr. Heseltine drove away
Two more appointments in the north today
Helpless and powerless
We join the queue for the metro bus
And Mr. Heseltine I've made up my mind
I'll never give support to you and your kind
(Repeat)

The Candidates Find Common Ground

Full employment, slave labor, and schemes
An unemployed workforce, the capitalist's dream
But lets keep Britain working--either way we must keep Britain working
Conventional weapons to kill people nicely
Nuclear weapons to keep the peace
But weapons definitely--either way we must defend ourselves
Nationalization, with one big boss
No, privatization, with lots of little bosses
But someone in control, of course, either way there must be someone giving orders
(Chorus)
A toast to democracy
The prison guard of this society
Sides in the voting game
Disappear into the same machine
The same machine
A toast
To US bases and nuclear weapons
To stopping pickets pulling down fences
To the British troops in Northern Ireland
To the wonderful victory in the Falklands
To the plastic bullet and the riot police
To the UDM, to the TUC
To isolating gays and to law and to order
To richer bosses, to poorer workers
(Repeat chorus)
To longer hours and to less pay
To the courts for those who get in our way
To the beating of people who step out of line
To the use of troops to break a strike
To the expulsion of extremists and political witch hunts
To repatriation, to benefit cuts
To peaceful settlements, and to no strike agreements
To authority, to power, to governments
One, two, three
To the annual rise in the MP's wage
To vested interests, to privilege
To the party who wins the next election
By definition a victory to capitalism

Here's To The Rest Of Your Life

Why settle for what we're shown
When there is so much more
Sometimes the book of law
Is only half the story
Means and ends
Deciding where to draw the line
Loss of work in Sellafield homes
Or the threat of cancers yet to come
The choice seems obvious
There is no choice
Only the option of looking outside
This narrow definition of
What you see is all there will ever be
There comes a time--that time is now
When every second, every day
When every action, every though
Will tell the world how you cast your vote
They break our legs
And we say thank you when they offer us crutches
Tired of mild reform
Sick of hand-me-downs
We topple all the theories to the ground
All real change
Must come from below
Our bosses must live in fear
Of the factory floor
And when they smile
And they ask for my support
I'll give them these words
And a bloody nose
You don't help your enemy
When you're at war
There are moments in all of our lives
Tiny sparks still deep inside
When a new-born baby cries
When you're watching clouds in a summer sky
The first time you walked out on strike
Love and sex and holding tight
Things that can't be bought
By promises and votes
I hate the things I love being criminalized
I hate the straight-jacket schools I grew up in
I hate MPs, judges, and magistrates
I hate being taught to base my life on TV stars
I hate being kept waiting by bureaucrats
I hate wars, and all the people who love them
I hate the idea of living on other people's backs
I hate being filed and registered and classified
I hate being watched and monitored
I hate police
I hate the way you talk down at me
I hate being told what to do
I hate you when you don't listen
I hate the way you distort my sexuality with pornography
I hate the pain we inflict on each other, on animals, and on the earth
And I hate how love songs have become cliches
Through endless, shallow repetition
Each angry word
Every cynical put-down
Every song is carefully born
From a hope of something better to come
All jumbled-up
Love and hate and love
Each prompted by the other
For the cause of peace we have to go to war
Refusing to sleep
Whilst there's a world to win
Yet happy to dream
Dreams make the plans to change this world
Not just some future heaven
But today and every day
In our place of work
In the queue for the metro bus
Organize!
Here's the rest of our lives!
(Repeat)
A tiny spark still deep inside
(Repeat)
We can and will run the factories and mills
We can and will educate ourselves
We can and will work the fields
We can and will police ourselves
We can and will run the factories and mills
We can and will educate ourselves
We can and will work the fields
We can and will police ourselves
We can and will create and build
(Repeat)