Slap!

Chumbawamba's third LP moved them out of the punk world and into the world of pop and politics. Songs are Ulrike, Tiananmen Square, Cartrouble, Chase PC's Flee Attack By Own Dog, Rubens Has Been Shot!, Rappaport's Testament: I Never Gave Up, Slap!, That's How Grateful We Are, and Meinhof.

Ulrike

(Chorus)
You sometimes wonder and you sometimes wonder
Ten thousand Deutschmarks to hand me over
Oh you sometimes wonder and you sometimes wonder
You can make a living sometimes wondering
Don't think these bones can be sold when I'm long gone
Don't think that I should want to sell my soul for the Sundays
Don't wait for me to say I'm sorry--I won't
Who wants to be a green MP? I don't
(Repeat chorus)
Wise men say only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Don't think I walked into banks to stand in the queue
Don't think I pressed up to the plexi-glass just to talk to you
Don't wait for me to say I'm sorry - I won't
Who wants to be a green MP? - I don't
(Repeat chorus)

Tiananmen Square

Heads bowed, eyes down, here comes the enemy
To hail the people's victory! Which people? What victory?
It's the People's Army that murdered the people
They've come to glue the shattered, battered statues in the square
Heads bowed, eyes down, here comes the enemy
With a haircut and a trigger-finger, that could be me!
Tanks tearing a hole in the silence
I've got armor-piercing rockets in my pocket--watch out!
(Chatter)
You must've seen it, the boy in the white shirt
You want a fight? Yeah, you and whose army?
The people is bigger than the People's Army
My dad is bigger than your dad, and one day, one day
Raw and angry in front of the enemy
So it's turn back or kill. Boy versus tank
You want a fight? Yeah, you and whose army?
Here soldier, have a watermelon--this'll cool you down!

Cartrouble

Big tall courthouse, a clock upon the wall
A hammer on the table and a copper on the door
A judge in front and a jury at the side
A judge in front and a jury at the side
A judge in front and a jury at the side
And a Bible on the stand to say I won't tell lies
Well it's one o'clock, two o'clock, any old o'clock
Between the rock and roll devil and the fear of god
Big brotherly love runs shallow as skin
In the deep south of America
Can the lady take the stand now? Blah, blah, blah
And how comes a black woman drives her own car?
And what gives you the constitutional right
And what gives you the constitutional right
And what gives you the constitutional right
To drive a car through a junction on a red stop light?
Well it's one o'clock, two o'clock, any old o'clock
Between the rock and roll devil and the fear of god
Big brotherly love runs shallow as skin
In the deep south of Yorkshire
Well of course I drove the car through a red stop light
But well, I thought that law was just for whites
I saw the white folks drive through on green
I say, I saw the white folks drive through on green
I say, I saw the white folks drive through on green
So when the red light flashed, I thought this must be for me
Well it's one o'clock, two o'clock, any old o'clock
Just a fear of the people with a fear of god
Lancashire white girl tries to sing the blues
Well, I woke up this morning like I usually do

Chase PCs Flee Attack By Own Dog

(Woof, woof, woof, woooo)
Got my photograph taken with Elvis
Circled round the earth in a rocket ship
Found the world cup in a garden
And I must've saved a million drowning babies
You can imagine what a come down
Drug-busts and house fires
I didn't orbit the earth to be bossed around
By someone wearing flares!
Ain't nothin', ain't nothin', ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Ain't nothin', ain't nothin', ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Ain't nothin', ain't nothin', ain't nothin'

Rubens Has Been Shot!

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree
How bent your branches seem to be
Nineteen twenty-one and all's well
Another fifteen years and we'll be laughing in hell
One bullet straight through the heart
Rubens caught a ricochet, Durer's lady cried today
Cracked old masters up against the wall
Blue-faced Wendy Woolworth--she's seen it all
Housepainter, housepainter
Hanging your swastika wallpaper
Rows of pretty cabbageheads to gobble up your words
Laughing along to your blah, blah, blah

Rappaport's Testament: I Never Gave Up

(Chorus)
And if you survive me
I Never gave up
Tell them this
I Never gave up
And if you survive me
I Never gave up
Tell them this
Almost as if I were planning ahead
I drank, I ate, I made love
I learnt to snatch whatever I could
I never asked for pity and I never gave up
(Repeat chorus)
Twenty months I kept accounts
And in the end they'll balance out
Sometimes I vomit happy memories
Sometimes I laugh out loud just to crack my face
(Repeat chorus)
And if I meet Hitler in the other place
I'll spit this precious soup in his face
And all my accounts will be settled, you see
'Cause Hitler never ever got the better of me
(Repeat chorus)
I never gave up, I never gave up
I crawled in the mud but I never gave up
(Repeat)

Slap!

One, two, three, four
Slap
Fleet Street fell in love
But the girl proved hard to get
Took a seat at the old boy's club
But wouldn't share the bed
Cuppas for the troops
Bubbly-gum and wire
Trojan horses, Black & Tans
They're running for their lives
Royals came to call
Mister Paisley save her soul
Heavens here's the naughty girl
Wouldn't say her prayers
Bloody Monday morning
The rat who did the talking
Here's Ginger to the rescue
Take that! And that!
Take that! And that!

That's How Grateful We Are

OK, lay some drums on me
Gimme some bass
Working in a forge, black lungs, burnt skin
Callouses, arched back, hammering, hammering
Stalin watching over us pigeon shit head
We'd spit on the floor at this red bastard god
That's how grateful we are
(Repeat)
Bronze statue, pink marble, built to last
We brought him to his knees in a single night
And the boots that remained I attacked, I attacked
Hammering, hammering, the past is past
That's how grateful we are
(Repeat)
And the noise rang out, metal on metal
Pigeons flit, dust settled
Out from the shadows we took to the streets
David chopping at the giant's feet
That's how grateful we are
Take it right down
You still want to come? Too late, too late
We're cut and we're fallen like harvested wheat
But we lived on our feet, at least, at last
And we will live on our feet, at least, at last
That's how grateful we are
(Repeat)