1. |
Make Me A Winner
03:28
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MAKE ME A WINNER
When the messengers seek to create the news
The people forget they've got a right to refuse
If they tell you long enough that their product is right
You'll make them their stars overnight
Greasy palms oil cogs of machines
The celluloid flickers as they sell you their dreams
When you awake you'll have none of your own
The seeds have been sown
Oh god, make me a winner, please make it so
I could never quite do it on my own
I need a helping hand, a guiding light
So please make me a winner, a winner tonight
Let me tell you what You're gonna get
From the jaws of the media from your TV set
We're talking 'bout a cultural coup d'etat
When all of a sudden life imitates art
And let me tell you what you're gonna see
When they monopolise the market and democracy
There's a table on the wasteland where the have-not's dine
Scrambling in the mud with the swine
Oh god, make me a winner, please make it so
I could never quite do it on my own
I need a helping hand, a guiding light
So please make me a winner, a winner tonight
The false idols of a sterile generation
Fills the void of their rest and recreation
Culturcide is a fair exchange
Don't expect any change
The illusion of abundance from freedom of choice
A thousand words from one common voice
The dictators words are softly spoken
The barcode is broken
Oh god, make me a winner, please make it so
I could never quite do it on my own
I need a helping hand, a guiding light
So please make me a winner, a winner tonight
Oh god, make me a winner, please make it so
I could never quite do it on my own
I need a helping hand, a guiding light
So please make me a winner, a winner tonight
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2. |
Unconditional
02:57
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UNCONDITIONAL
Now I see it, slip slipping away
Sometimes I notice, just how I have aged
Drawing conclusions, in the lines on my face
Run out of fingers, trying to count the days
You know what really, bothers me the most
I never could allow, anything that close
Keep my distance, well behind the lines
Everything's taken, taken away...
In time, I will lose everything I care about
In time, either you or me will have to learn to live without
In time, the coins will overflow the wishing well
In time, maybe this will all cease to be so unconditional
Unconditional, unconditional, unconditional
Not so long ago, it all seemed viable
But now theory's so, unreliable
There's never any doubt, you can fulfill your dreams
When indestructible, teenage machines
I'm still angry, but now I realise
I see the cycle slowly, turning in my eyes
It's irretrievable, so easily won or lost
Like terrafirma, lying dormant in permafrost
In time, I will lose everything I care about
In time, either you or me will have to learn to live without
In time, the coins will overflow the wishing well
In time, maybe this will all cease to be so unconditional
Unconditional, unconditional, unconditional
You can only hold on, for a short time
'Til your fingers will, lessen their grip on the twine
Tired muscles, find it hard to cope
Before you know, you're at the end of the rope
There's never gonna be, near enough time
You're always gonna be, cut down in your prime
I can't afford to let, let myself forget
The wheel's in motion, the hourglass is set
In time, I will lose everything I care about
In time, either you or me will have to learn to live without
In time, the coins will overflow the wishing well
In time, maybe this will all cease to be so unconditional
Unconditional, unconditional, unconditional, unconditional
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3. |
Subterranean Zone
03:44
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SUBTERRANEAN ZONE
They're stepping up production at the power plant
The bosses count the profits while the workers chant
They're digging ever deeper for increased demand
As the ore trundles down the conveyor belt
And the orange furnace fires begin to smelt
Live exclusive broadcasts watch the icecaps melt
"You'd better put your backs into it gang!"
The foreman cried out as the shift sirens rang
His voice tinged with panic their hands shook with haste
As the steam rose in columns the tombs were encased
While the property men were assessing the worth
Of luxury housing deep in the earth
The wealthy viewed mansions carved out of stone
Down in the dark, in the dark, subterranean zone
Down in the dark, in the dark, in the dark, in the dark, in the dark
Subterranean zone, subterranean zone
Subterranean zone, subterranean zone
The only grades that matter are centigrade
In comparison everything seems to fade
When it's one fifty five Fahrenheit in the shade
On a February morn, your veins choke and freeze
At minus ninety five degrees
Skin breaks like plastic, brittle arteries seize
"You'd better put your backs into it gang!"
The foreman cried out as the shift sirens rang
His voice tinged with panic their hands shook with haste
As the steam rose in columns the tombs were encased
While the property men were assessing the worth
Of luxury housing deep in the earth
The wealthy viewed mansions carved out of stone
Down in the dark, in the dark, subterranean zone
Down in the dark, in the dark, in the dark, in the dark, in the dark
Subterranean zone, subterranean zone
Subterranean zone, subterranean zone
The remnants of mankind take their places and sit
In a shaft lined with torches blackened faces are lit
By the echoes of silence in this bottomless pit
In the huddled confusion startled eyes dart around
Staring fixed skyward at the slightest small sound
As their eyes grow accustomed to the light underground
Subterranean zone
Subterranean zone
Subterranean zone
Subterranean! Subterranean! Subterranean!
Subterranean zone!
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4. |
Remote Control
03:25
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REMOTE CONTROL
Rational thought is demonised
The outside world must be despised
Any thought for the common good
Has been removed from your neighbourhood
Hide inside and lock your doors
And venture out to superstores
Increased consumer loyalty
Our market's your community
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Remote control, remote control
Remote control, remote control
A thousand bits of plastic crap
Packed and stacked in shrinkwrap
It's the brand new latest craze
We'll hook you in a thousand ways
See the tracksuit zombies drool
And part with cash to think they're cool
Logos in every hue and size
You pay us then you advertise
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Remote control, remote control
Remote control, remote control
In the crowd you brave the storm
Find comfort in your uniform
The gogglebox it took your brain
The expression of a born again
The image, box, design and style
There's nothing there behind the smile
Your mind is blank, your thoughts are bought
Your life is now spectator sport
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Corporate identity - remote control
Remote control, remote control
Remote control, remote control
Remote control, remote control
Remote control, remote control
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5. |
The Home Front
02:50
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THE HOME FRONT
This is a message for the people at home - hey!
This is a message for the people at home
This is a message for the people at home - hey!
This is a message for the people at home
This is a message for the people at home
You're so impressive when you grumble and groan
Warm and contented with your cathode ray views
All your opinions are given to you
All is quiet on the home front
It's too quiet on the home front
Refuse to buy it for a moment, a moment
For all is quiet on the home front
This is a message for the people at home - hey!
This is a message for the people at home
This is a message for the people at home - hey!
This is a message for the people at home
This is a message for the people at home
You have invested in what you condone
Soak up the bullshit 'til your appetite's quenched
Buy into freedom but you are entrenched
All is quiet on the home front
It's too quiet on the home front
Refuse to buy it for a moment, a moment
For all is quiet on the home front
Switch on, of an evening and soak up what's been prepared for you
Choose from, the seven shades of dog shit you're permitted to
Don't touch that dial, it's our window into your living room
After this message from our sponsors, viewing is resumed
Worship at the supermarket checkout, and exchange your green
Punch in your number, at the high street automatic cash machine
You can smoke and drink, on a Saturday you can go berserk
As long as, on Monday morning you're in a fit state to return to work
This is a message for the people at home - hey!
This is a message for the people at home
This is a message for the people at home - hey!
This is a message for the people at home
This is a message for the people at home
Just keep eating 'til your twenty three stone
There's no concern if you continue to buy
We'll still make money if you're waiting to die
All is quiet on the home front
It's too quiet on the home front
Refuse to buy it for a moment, a moment
For all is quiet on the home front
Home front, home front, home front, home front
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6. |
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YOUR GODS WON'T SAVE YOU NOW
If your gods are present and Jesus saves
Why are children digging their own graves
Taking bullets for some madman's cause?
When there's slaughter seven days a week
The earth inherits the poor and meek
Swallowed whole through it's six foot jaws
Where the land doesn't flow with gold and black
The empire hesitates at striking back
Like Pilate it turns to wash it's hands
But if a worthy despot suddenly approaches
His small town ethos somehow encroaches
On the lifestyles of our free lands
If your gods could save you now
Do you think that they would allow
Genocidal games practiced in their names?
Your gods won't save you now
If your gods could save you now
Do you think that they would allow
Genocidal games practiced in their names?
Your gods won't save you, won't save you now!
If the propaganda is to be believed
Then we should be proud of what we've achieved
Now the need for survival has been removed
But no-one wants the truth to be known
Of our foundations laid on others bones
So all history has been disproved?
If your gods could save you now
Do you think that they would allow
Genocidal games practiced in their names?
Your gods won't save you now
If your gods could save you now
Do you think that they would allow
Genocidal games practiced in their names?
Your gods won't save you, won't save you now!
The two thousand years you celebrate
Were built on genocide and hate
So drink to the atrocities of war
Were your gods down there among us
When they shot, gassed and hung us
In Bosnia, Treblinka, Warsaw?
If your gods could save you now
Do you think that they would allow
Genocidal games practiced in their names?
Your gods won't save you now
If your gods could save you now
Do you think that they would allow
Genocidal games practiced in their names?
Your gods won't save you, won't save you now!
Won't save you now... your gods won't save you now
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7. |
Emergency Broadcast
03:52
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EMERGENCY BROADCAST
They do whatever they see fit
And we let them get away with it
Initiate as they please
Designs to keep us on our knees
Manufactured deception
Corporate conception
The darkest intent From silent consent
Burn the script and change the cast - cast!
Tell the children teach them fast - fast!
To do away with all things past - past!
This is an emergency broadcast
We are all under scrutiny
When we should be in mutiny
Instead of breaking our backs
To pay their new tax
Creeping totality
Orwell reality
Consumption decree
You buy to be free
Burn the script and change the cast - cast!
Tell the children teach them fast - fast!
To do away with all things past - past!
This is an emergency broadcast
Feel good factor minus ten
Prozac and Ibuprofen
Swallow whole two soundbites
And forfeit all your human rights
Above board and kosher
In a full-colour brochure
Politricks to be taught
On how not to get caught
Burn the script and change the cast - cast!
Tell the children teach them fast - fast!
To do away with all things past - past!
This is an emergency broadcast
We participate to enslave ourselves
The lies are flying off the shelves
Forming queues and rabid flocks
To be like the electronic box!
Unentertaining
Humanity draining
Visual dope
Vote without hope
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8. |
Memento Mori
04:22
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MEMENTO MORI
The wrought iron fence, the rush hour traffic
Passes on one side
On the other lies a thousand plaques
To commemorate those who've died
A calm silence from the Cedar trees
The branches twist and weave
And I swear I heard, a whispered word
Float down with the leaves
You can't escape from death and taxes
From mother's arms to sackcloth and ashes
So quell the rage, turn the page
Put some meaning in between
You can't escape from death and taxes
From mother's arms to sackcloth and ashes
So quell the rage, turn the page
Put some meaning in between
Here lies Irene, born in sixty three
And she died in thirty one
And next to her is her husband John
And their beloved son
I know nothing more than an epitaph
Carved amongst the moss
But I guess that they're lucky ones
To have more than a wooden cross
You can't escape from death and taxes
From mother's arms to sackcloth and ashes
So quell the rage, turn the page
Put some meaning in between
You can't escape from death and taxes
From mother's arms to sackcloth and ashes
So quell the rage, turn the page
Put some meaning in between
Through sun and rain and ice and sleet
Here lies the mass of no elite
Quietly pass in silence greet
Humanities journey is done, complete
In loving memory
Pause to sit beneath the tree
Carve the bark for all to see
For all eternity...
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9. |
All American War
04:08
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ALL AMERICAN WAR
There's only one reason that you need to fight
And it's not for your honour or pride
It's cuz your busy making bucks for the corporates
Bombing craters three miles wide
Salute the bloodied flag of the stars and stripes
For your prophecy is heaven sent
So let the bombs rain down from the blackened skies
For Jesus and the president
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American war
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American, all American, all American... WAR!
You can walk on water you can part the waves
Clutching ribbons for those who've died
But harken to the days of the negro slaves
And try to tell me you believe in pride
In your schools you are fed to be easily led
Descendants of the chosen few
But if we're all spooks, commies, wops and gooks
Will you tell me what the fuck are you?
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American war
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American, all American, all American... WAR!
You're not fucking fighting for a holy war
You're fighting for your system's life
Cuz if they can't sell their tanks and bombs
Capitalism will not survive
The whole things floats on guns and notes
And concentrating on keeping you poor
So stand in line and cast your votes
Cannon fodder for American war
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American war
All American war - flags are not bulletproof!
All American, all American, all American... WAR!
All American, all American, all American
All American, all American, all American
All American... WAR!
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10. |
Broken Pane
03:09
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BROKEN PANE
Looking out through this broken pane
Figures scurry and flinch from pain
As they splash the yellowed puddles in the poison rain
Two children fight amongst shop displays
They mimic traits they'll need one day
The shattered window mannequin that got in the way
Steam rises up through the cracks
From underground railway tracks
Black soot floats down spewed from the chimney stacks
The grass and trees have long since died
Contorted nature's petrified
The indelible scars on a habitat we defied
The unmarked cars leave wound and scars
Their hired guns police our slums
And there's a broken pane where the bullets rain
The night patrol will cleanse my soul
With class war populace control
And there's a broken pane where the bullets reign
We're hypnotised by the oil drum blaze
The old man's stories of summer days
Seem far fetched in this disused factory maze
A hail of sparks from the pylon frame
Start to flicker the lights again
As we stamp to keep warm in this cold black freezing rain
There's no escape from this cordoned slum
Without fail by night they come
The ruthless night patrol shoot on sight at anyone
The curfews always seem to cleanse
The trespassers leave evidence
Torn fabric flutters on the circuited perimeter fence
The unmarked cars leave wound and scars
Their hired guns police our slums
And there's a broken pane where the bullets rain
The night patrol will cleanse my soul
With class war populace control
And there's a broken pane where the bullets reign
The unmarked cars leave wound and scars
Their hired guns police our slums
And there's a broken pane where the bullets rain
The night patrol will cleanse my soul
With class war populace control
And there's a broken pane where the bullets reign
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11. |
Playground Politics
03:08
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PLAYGROUND POLITICS
I guess that wonders will never cease
You been hanging 'round with the thought police
You wear the badge but never take the oath
Covert ops and sideways glancing
Are the politics of dancing
If it's nature or nurture, I'd opt for both
Tell tall tales, backstab and bitch
Two-faced yellow-bellied snitch
Spineless words and dirty tricks
Fuck your playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
The new kids have only been in school one week
They're already pulling rank in the schoolyard clique
They beat them to submission until they bowed
I saw them give the order as they jeered and kicked him
He was told to get in line as a fashion victim
A folly to the whims of the class in-crowd
Tell tall tales, backstab and bitch
Two-faced yellow-bellied snitch
Spineless words and dirty tricks
Fuck your playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
I assure you it was never my intention
The price of disagreement is a weeks detention
A note to mum and a thousand lines
My pride is scuffed and my faith is torn
And there's trust all down my uniform
I've lost my faith in nursery rhymes
Tell tall tales, backstab and bitch
Two-faced yellow-bellied snitch
Spineless words and dirty tricks
Fuck your playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
Playground politics, playground politics
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12. |
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THE LAST TRANSMISSION
Bacterium in silence
Spread faster than the speed of light
It attacked them on a sub-cell level
Well beneath their sight
It stalked all those that walked
Every living thing fell ill
But no-one realised
It'd be the day the earth stood still
The last transmission that they ever made
Was the image of a human face crying as the music played
As the credits rolled the static interfered
Six billion died with the icons they revered
The last transmission that they ever made
Was the image of a human face crying as the music played
As the credits rolled the static interfered
Six billion died with the icons they revered
The last transmission, the last transmission
No American superhero
Stepped in to save the world
No-one overcame the odds
And went back to get the girl
Humanity wasn't crushed
By empires, wars or tyrants
The global sub-electric hum
Just quaked then fell to silence
The last transmission that they ever made
Was the image of a human face crying as the music played
As the credits rolled the static interfered
Six billion died with the icons they revered
The last transmission that they ever made
Was the image of a human face crying as the music played
As the credits rolled the static interfered
Six billion died with the icons they revered
The last transmission, the last transmission
Microchips and microwaves
Going down in a blaze of DNA's
Megabytes, satellites
Reach new heights, turn out the lights
Acid rain, mutated grain
Technological runaway train
Five year mission, nuclear fission
Darkness fell with the last transmission
Microchips and microwaves
Going down in a blaze of DNA's
Megabytes, satellites
Reach new heights, turn out the lights
Acid rain, mutated grain
Technological runaway train
Five year mission, nuclear fission
Darkness fell with the last transmission
Microchips and microwaves
Going down in a blaze of DNA's
Megabytes, satellites
Reach new heights, turn out the lights
Acid rain, mutated grain
Technological runaway train
Five year mission, nuclear fission
Darkness fell with the last transmission...
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13. |
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WHITE COLLAR WORKER
Step out through the door
Packed lunch and fastened tie
Walk along and stare at the floor
Pull your car into lane
It's like another day at school
The guy next door is thinking the same
Reversing into the space
Lock your door, display your card
Don't forget your leather bound case
Quickly wave to the guard
Stifled coughs in the lift
A photograph identity card
How can you sleep at night?
Your soul is black, your collar's white
What do you aspire to
When you're standing at the bus stop second from the back of the queue?
What do you aspire to, standing at the bus stop second from the back of the queue? How can you sleep at night?
White collar worker, white collar worker
Nine to five, nine to five, nine to five, nine to five,
Nine to five, nine to five, nine to five, nine to five!
Grey desk, swivel chair
You wonder if they've noticed
That you may be slightly losing your hair
Numbers on the screen
Coffee thermoplastic cups
Fall sideways from the faulty machine
The seconds tick in your mind
It never stops day or night
You find it really hard to unwind
The tax deductible cheque
That dangles like a carrot
From the noose that tightens 'round your neck
How can you sleep at night?
Your soul is black, your collar's white
What do you aspire to
When you're standing at the bus stop second from the back of the queue?
What do you aspire to, standing at the bus stop second from the back of the queue? How can you sleep at night?
White collar worker, white collar worker
Nine to five, nine to five, nine to five, nine to five,
Nine to five, nine to five, nine to five, nine to five!
Working late overtime
You miss the rush hour traffic
But you rarely reach home before nine
Fall asleep in your food
You try to kiss the missus
But she never seems to be in the mood
Observe the nine o'clock news
Waiting for the sitcoms
That never fail to keep you amused
Jokes about working life
Another day another dollar
Working for the nine to five...
Nine to five, nine to five, nine to five, nine to five
Nine to five, nine to five, nine to five, nine to five!
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Four Letter Word Cardiff, UK
Punk rock band formed in 1991 in Cardiff, U.K. Released debut EP in 1995, debut album in 1998 on BYO Records. Toured U.S./Canada in 1998. Released second album on BYO in 1999 before Trade Mark issues with the first of many name claimers. FLW fought and won and soldiered on releasing two further albums and a handful of EPs, toured the U.S. again, before in 2011 they called it a day after 20 years. ... more
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