1. |
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I need to work for little or for nothing
For little or for nothing
No choice at all
I don’t want to be a commodity
Undervalued, expendable
Low pay, no pay, cycle
Forced to be meek and docile
So the rich can get richer, while the poor get poorer
The damp from the walls is clinging to my lungs
Sticking to my lungs
The moisture aggravates
The eczema which covers my legs, which covers my legs
Is bright red and stinging
Low pay, no pay, cycle
Forced to be meek and docile
So the rich can get richer, while the poor get poorer
In flexible labour markets, in flexible labour markets
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2. |
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Odd corpses and carved bits of wood
Float to Europe on the West wind
Storms hurl ships into monster’s jaws
On route to their place of origin
Gold, silver, spices, and pearls
Encouraged conquistadors
To cross sinister seas
To extend God’s reign over earth and men
Open Veins, open veins, open veins
Lush trees of such beauty
An earthly paradise
The Garden of Eden resides here
The banana’s the forbidden fruit
Christ and slavery were imposed
On those who knew nothing of swords
Indigenous peoples beaten by terror
Terror, horses and bacteria
Open Veins, open veins, open veins
The sign of the cross on the hilt of the sword
A lust for riches and raw materials
The hacking of blades; the breathing of pestilence
Bred unequal development
Conquest brings joy
Lights up hearts
Fattens bodies
Satisfies desires
Open Veins, open veins, open veins
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3. |
Surface Appearances
01:53
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Only diamonds mined by the most impoverished African children will do, to show, to prove, my undying love for you
Only a dress stitched by ill-treated garment workers in Bangladesh will do, to state my desire to possess you
Surface appearances mask exploitation, alienation, dehumanisation
This illustrious decay: affluence, debt, subjecting a periphery
Only a meal cooked with food grown on stolen peasant land will do to express my passing interest in you
Only wine made with grapes picked by abused migrant labour will do to help fulfil my dreams of sleeping with you
Surface appearances mask exploitation, alienation, dehumanisation
This illustrious decay: affluence, debt, subjecting a periphery
Opulence can only exist, side by side abject poverty
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4. |
This World
02:34
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This is still the predatory phase of human development
Capitalist class power has been restored
The forward march of labour has been halted
But we have not yet reached the end of history
It took Rome centuries to martyr Christ
It may take as long for this world to become civilised
Privatisation is the theft of common property
Legalised fraud forms the basis of free markets
We, the public, are always told that there’s no money left
When, in fact, money is plentiful just highly concentrated
It took Rome centuries to martyr Christ
It may take as long for this world to become civilised
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5. |
1945
02:47
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Farewell Winston Churchill
You’re no hero
The war was won but not with your blood
We’d rather elect a party that states in its manifesto that:
‘This party is a socialist party and proud of it’
No more austerity; social ills can be cured
If we alter our conceptions of the world
Like in 1945
This was no road to serfdom
It was a democratic revolution
And recompense for the suffering of two world wars
No more austerity; social ills can be cured
If we alter our conceptions of the world
Like in 1945
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Ross Pollard Lincoln, UK
Punk-folk singer from Lincoln, UK. I'm 'the Real Deal' according to BBC 6 Music's Tom Robinson.
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