Jack Cade
In 1450 he made his stand
Wars of the Roses bled the country dry
The common people made a cry
Saying "Fie opon your taxes King Henry
Fie opon your lawyers and your ministry
You lost us France and have got debts
To hell with your bribery and favorites"
The King went to Warwickshire to take refuge
The people to Southwark in revolution mood
Five thousand rebels all came up through Kent
To take their grievance to the government
It wasn't just the peasant but Lord and Magnate too
They made a manifesto demanding what was due
Saying that the King is not above the Law
But that the Law is what he's put there for
They paused at the London Boundary stone
Which Cade he then struck with his sword
This by tradition made him Lord Mayor
He said he was related to the Mortimers
Then they all marched over London Bridge
To the Guildhall then the Tower their demands to give
They captured and beheaded the Lord Treasurer
Displayed his head on a spike with several others
Then Cade and some rebels had a looting spree
Which he had often said was not going to be
Officials gathered forces down at the Bridge
To stop them in their riot of violent rage
Bloodshed lasted there all through the next day
Insurgents taking heavy casualties
Till Archbishop and Chancellor Lord John Kemp
Persuaded Jack Cade to make it end
Promises were made to grant demands in full
Official pardons were given round as well
Yet very soon many were made to die
Cade was killed and quartered on the Twelfth of July
Does this history a moral tell?
That violence breeds the same very well
Remember now that these were brutal times
And today does seem to work on similar lines
Eleanor
She was the Duchess of old Aquitaine
Poitiers and Gascony both held her name
The greatest heiress of the Twelfth Century
A highly intelligent great beauty
Her Grandfather was called the first Troubadour
He sung his own songs of forbidden amour
He learnt this skill whilst out on Crusade
Then his Grand daughter made it all the rage
Her first husband was King Louis of France
They had no son so it wasn't to last
They went on Crusade to the Holy Land
But just could not win back Jerusalem
Of Courtly Love were her Troubadour's songs
Conservative French found this morally wrong
Though everyone there agreed that it taught
Them all much better manners in her Court
She secondly married King Henry D'Anjou
This was a most astute thing to do
Their lands now stretched over England and France
At politics though Henry gave her small chance
Two famous Kings were amongst her sons
Richard the Lionheart and Bad King John
Richard was older and her favorite son
She taxed her realms harshly for his ransome
She pilgrimed to Rome at age sixty eight
Was jailed by Henry for a decade
Old age saw her Queen of England and France
Well remembered and much romanced
Christian Crusaders
The Infidel has broken through
These were words of Church and State.
God Wills it
God Will's it my Son
God Wills it
Come ye all come on Crusade
God Wills it
That Saracen, that swarthy man
He has done the very worst he can
And stolen Jerusalem
For their other God
For their other God no less
For their other God
They've stolen Jerusalem
For their other God
Our God is a vengeful one
Pope made a dispensation
Penitential Warfare
Will now get you to Heaven
Will now get you to Heaven
Will get you to Heaven
Penitential Warfare
Will now get you to Heaven
No more prayer for Salvation
All you have to do is kill
Kill the sinful Infidel
And your soul is saved
And your soul is saved my son
And your soul is saved
Kill the sinful Infidel
And your soul is saved
Leave your work and families
Come and join in Righteous Might
Christian Crusaders
Marching on to War
Marching on to War my lads
Marching on to War
Christian Crusaders
Marching on to War
So they came in thousands
And made for the Levantine
Across land and sea they went
And over mountains tall
Across the land and sea they went
Over the mountains tall
Across the land and sea they went
And over the mountains tall
But things didn't go quite as they wished
The Holy Land was not given to them on a dish
With ups and downs and some new Crowns,
Crusader States, their fall of late
Saladin and those like him
They'd never seen such sophisticated soldiers like these
Who crucially were on their own territory
The stakes were up the chips were down
Slowly over two hundred years and more
The Christian was beaten out of Town
Could we draw comparisons
With modern day Afghanistans
At very least regarding
War in their sandy lands?
War in their sandy lands you say?
War in their sandy lands
At very least regarding
War in their sandy lands
Oh how can these wars be won
They run rings round everyone
It's our overstepping greed
I think we should go home
I think we should go home you know
I think we should go home
It's our overstepping greed
I think we should go home
Back then in the first Crusades
What was it most progress made?
Frederick of Germany
Three nations made for free
Three nations made for free
Three nations made for free
For ten years our German Fred
Three nations made for free
He was more the diplomat
In Palestine he drew no sword
Bethlehem and Nazareth
Jerusalem got with words
Jerusalem he got with words
Jerusalem with words
Bethlehem and Nazareth
Jerusalem got with words
There had been more friendly times
Muslim/Christian balance fine
Tolerance on either side
But all of that it changed
All of that it changed for worse
All of that it changed
Tolerance on either side
But all of that it changed
The Templars took the knowledge down
Troubadours their Father found
What is ringing in this sound
That resonates today?
That resonates today
That resonates today
What is ringing in this sound
That resonates today?
Eleanor of Aquitaine was said to have canvassed dressed up as an Amazon
If that's not 'sexing up the dossier' on the campaign trail, I don't know what is
With the Spear of Destiny, Odo saved the day
When in rotting Antioch, besieged they lay
How do men easily believe
Anything in need
When taken in by clever spin
From past to future wars to win
While others grin and rake it in
The faces change the motives range
War's exploitation is the same
Who'll come and join the Crusade?
No Sense of Remorse
No Sense of Remorse
Of fear and war the twisted truth is money made from arms
By companies who surely know their products will be harm
The buisness is an old one, their premises are clean
It all goes on with no sense of remorse
A cancer of components is part made within the gates
Where precision engineers made triggers to rain hate
On enemies around the World, whoever they may be
Their fate is sealed with no sense of remorse
Of national security the manager calmly spoke
Had making deals with Israel made him a poker face bloke?
But security for England has mutilated Iraq
And his money has no sense of remorse
A surrounding fence was placed when people did proclaim
Get out of our fair city now, get out you work for shame
With their racket of saucepan lids 'gainst the horror of all bombs
But work goes on without a sense of remorse
The servile soldiers are equipped with weapons and then trained
In warfare for a father-land and never to complain
But if there were no weapons made then there would be no war
And there would be no feelings of remorse
One factory is only small compared to the arms trade
The nessicery componants however there are made
Is this what we pay our taxes for, why must it be this way?
And Death drives out with no sense of remorse
The questions they all run so deep if you go and question war
The language speaks about defence, attack is what it's for
And causes made to kill others will one day return home
And families may feel a sense of remorse
I asked what would employers do with their considerable skills
If they had another job than making tools to kill
It seems they are happy in their work, must be eager for more war
War pays their wage with no sense of remorse
B52's and cluster bombs are well know in the trade
Obliterating innocents is where it chiefly pays
Do we subscribe to legal murder or say we shall have no more
Or do we also have no sense of remorse?
Black Shamrocks
The name it is Erin
I am the most old
And millions of travellers
Have come to my shores
We built New York in friendship
Green shamrocks we'd gift
But now the black shamrock
Points out the rift
There's Hawks in the Shannon
Iraquis to kill
And they are deployed there
Not with our goodwill
Their prescense in Ireland
Is detested and wrong
We give you black shamrocks
You do not belong
"Remove all the bombers"
Protestors did ask
But Mary contrary
Attacked one with an axe
Costing millions of dollars
To an aeroplane of shame
We send you black shamrocks
'Cause she ain't to blame
Over in England
Court cases were won
The Fairfield Five
Aquitted each one
The war is illegal
This much it proves
We'1l send you black shamrocks
Until you move
Ireland's occupation
Eight hundred years old
Always oppressors
This much I know
American bombers
Last in a long line
Its time for black shamrocks
To highlight the crime
The scourge war and progress
The world it cloaks
The terrorist threat
A constructed hoax
A cancer that eats
At the people's freedom
Deserving black shamrocks
'Till freedom comes
Pixie Recruiting Drive Song
(To the tune of Arthur McBride)
Come all ye brave pixies from all round this land
And bring a little something that only you can
All round this fair world we are being killed off
While the planet is taken for ransom
Its mined and built over and poisoned and choked
By corporation bandits in deceptive cloaks
Who'll take all they can till there's nothing left
And nothing will live here at all
Come warlock and warrior we need you all
Many pieces to the puzzle all parts of a whole
So join in this one because it's better than
Death culture as life masquerading
And all round this one world I do have to say
Is on amber to red alert so don't be afraid
Pixies come dance to a transmuting tune
And we'll all come round again
Come hobgoblins leprecauns this is the fright
Therd through Tara heads straight to endless night
Get active all pixies the land needs us
Bulldozers are ripping it's heart out
There's many mischiefs a pixie can find
To help the situation out of this sad bind
And under the flag of the gold harp on green
We'll show everyone how its done
If pixies aren't something you take seriously
And you never talked to the spirit in a tree
Then you don't know the first folk to care for this land
And welcome the sun in the morning
There's no sergeant major no papers to sign
Its direct it's action our lives are on the line
Whoever you are there is something to do
And you can be who you are
So this is the pixie's recruiting drive song
It's for desperate dreamers who want to carry on
Living in this world or maybe afar
But we wont have a chance without Mother
Come folk of the underworld help if you will
And take some action to ride out the ill
Wind that is blowing all round this fair globe
Pixies come out to play
******************************
Do you remember the Rainbow Centre?
Early 90's 420 Kentish Town Rd
It was a church but we were pagan ravers
Eco-mental pixies come to save the world
Did you go to a rave there once on a full moon
Sit in a circle, paint your face or chant some Om?
Did you practice what you preach up on the One Love
Did you take it down the Tube and into Babylon?
chorus:
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ALL THE YOGHURT WEAVERS?
I HOPE THEY WOVE A WEB SO FINE
TO HOLD ALL THE MADNESS
'COS SOMEONE NEEDS TO
RAINBOW TRIBE ARE HERE ON TIME
Did you meet any of the Dongas Tribe there
Resting up from protesting Twyford or Solsbury Hill?
Where machines were cutting up the scenery
Which the D.O.T's stinking tarmac lanes now fill
Did you wear a crochet top? (like me)
Did you make a bender in the pews?
Did you pop up Hampstead Heath for a breather?
Or perhaps drop by for to pop some pills?
It was perfect anarchy at the Rainbow Centre
Activists and children doing it themselves
Shakers and makers at the Rainbow Centre
Teched-up, loved-up mainframe-wired
Environmental Elves
chorus:
We would go down for a demo in the City
And end up at Cooltan in Cold Harbour Lane
Leightonstone and Wandsworth didn't want the M11
Do the London circuit, Clairmont Rd and back again
Colourful information boards to give the picture
On actions of activists and what you can do
D-I-Y culture, Empowerment through Action
Autonomous groups came and met, but only one loo
chorus:
The police never bothered us at the Rainbow Centre
Even though it got truly skaggy come the end
They gave the cases they could not handle to us
"Take me to the Rainbow Centre" cried one guy off his head
There was a fire one party night in the Creative Space
Fire Brigade came, we had to leave the place
En masse in dribs and drabs we headed out to Newbury
After which 'environmental damage' became a household phrase
chorus:
Those days '93 through '96 there was less greenwash
After Newbury Road-protest everyone knew the score
And nagging feelings hidden beneath the surface
Were manipulated by ad-men, the fucking whores
I was there at the Rainbow Centre
It was the time of my life I'll tell
You wouldn't believe what went on at the Rainbow Centre
For a time we were invincible
chorus:
The Cause of War
The cause of war I might well say, is never very far away
When communication's down and frowns are all we wear
It sneaks into the unknown ground and makes it's deals right there
It's silver tongue gets everyone involved inside a snare
The history books tell it so well, we should not need reminding
That at each turn with bridges burned, mutual hate was binding
Us into a fearful state as war was all we were finding
The black night had stol'n our sight and to our fates was blinding
I had a friend, a friend so true, we'd see any situation through
We were two lines but then one time, our nation split our lives in two
For country for creed for some stupid need, we were forced to bear emnities
Each fight against him we found it a sin and wished to return to our pleasantries
So make a prayer before the end I called to the other barrio
We cannot waste this precious time, make haste and do not tarry-o
And in that dark, we lit a spark, each from opposing sides married-o
And for an instant's link was made whilst the bullets o'er head did harry-o
And when the time came for the push I went, my head was fazing
Over we went, my mind was spent, my thoughts they stopped their racing
And in that hell of lead-shot rain, I heard my name, then stabbing pain
I fell into the mud to lay as the grenades and gunshot went blazing
And as I lay I had a dream such as like I have never seen
And saw them freely speaking lies, oh so many worm-tongues squeaking
The cause of war that we deplore is manufactured hate
I woke to wish these lies untied, but I just lay there bleeding
Now others on that stinking bridge were watching all the while in dread
For any who would come the way, cross No Man's Land by orders led
"Avaunt take Heed to this Decree", it was a Spirit speaking
A comet sped over our heads, across the sky went streaking
All soldiers stood in holy awe, they could not fire a shot no more
The Spirit spoke and it spoke strong, it spoke of that which they did long
Equanimity and family, to be free from political intrigue
And with it's voice it gave a choice, which to a man did please
Whose was this voice you may well ask? Who was this commanding Spirit?
That non-corporeal had them held, then took their lost soul and filled it?
It was the fact of all who'd died led by mendacity madness
The jaws of war could make gore no more, the claws could cause no sadness
Though this is true
THOUGH THIS IS TRUE, I KNOW LOVE CAN REACH THROUGH
Here's a tale, I tell it true, concerning abuse of power
And unhappy lives it leaves behind, growing more each and every hour
Far oversea did Europe go, to fill the New World untainted
So took that World by force of war, before we were very much aquainted
With hypocrisy of church and state, and their lust for gold, which could not wait
Though Quaker colonies I do not implicate, the land was stripped of Man Innate
The Wars of Independence, of which in history lessons you will have heard the date
Were all on the land of a butchered race, the like of which will never be seen again
With the trade of slaves and tobacco, which take dignity from a man
From Jamestown out the modern world was made, from such bad seed began
Though Independence had it's declaration, such a high-minded concept
What came to pass wasn't quite so fine and left us with reasons for regret
The years went by and with new technologies, the world was getting smaller
From ships and guns to atomic bombs, the shadows they grow taller
And after World War number Two, many smaller wars ensued
Much the same but more, it's true, robbing poor peoples through and through
Now the many goods that the West consumes, little asking from where they issue
From chemical food to training shoes, are from countries very badly abused
And Shopping Malls in every town keep the exploitation High Street
Have sucked the very breath of life. Chrome and Glass are all we see
Such a system of production is not a ever-steady structure
The supermarkets rise, like Goliath's size, could fall hard and so be fractured
From Seattle to the City Mile, from Genoa, Prague and Copenhagen
People are smashed who raise the cry, protesting against the Institutions
And yet, beneath these Edifices of Modern Order, a song is sung that says "No more please"
People re-address the situation and cause awakefulness from this death grip dream
0
Treasures of the Heart
Can you hear the voices on the wind
What kind of messages do they bring?
Have you lived to tear your life apart
Or have you grown the Treasures of the Heart?
chorus
A maid was living in a tower tall
Her heart it could hold no love at all
She was isolated and in the end
She died up in her tower with no friend
chorus
A rose grew in the garden where that tower stood
It wanted to grow as it knew it could
It climbed up high upon the tower's wall
And plain amazed the sad, lost people all
chorus
Where have you been and where are you gone
Do you heed the words written in this song?
Cultivate the treasures of the heart
With kindness and love until we part
chorus:
There are treasures of the storehouse
Treasures of the body there art
But most important of all
Are the Treasures of the Heart
What kind of messages do they bring?
Have you lived to tear your life apart
Or have you grown the Treasures of the Heart?
chorus
A maid was living in a tower tall
Her heart it could hold no love at all
She was isolated and in the end
She died up in her tower with no friend
chorus
A rose grew in the garden where that tower stood
It wanted to grow as it knew it could
It climbed up high upon the tower's wall
And plain amazed the sad, lost people all
chorus
Where have you been and where are you gone
Do you heed the words written in this song?
Cultivate the treasures of the heart
With kindness and love until we part
chorus:
There are treasures of the storehouse
Treasures of the body there art
But most important of all
Are the Treasures of the Heart
10
Tom Paine
chorus:
OH TOM PAINE, OH TOM PAINE
MAY YOUR AGE OF REASON EVER REMAIN
Tom Paine was a radical writer
A revolutionary pamphleteer
He was born in Thetford England
In Seventeen Thirty Seven
He came from a family of Quakers
Their profession was courset-makers
After several years at sea
And working excise duties
He sailed to Americay
Wars of Independence as a private he did support
"These are the times that try Men's souls" he did report
chorus:
Jefferson the future president
Read a pamphlet called "Common Sense"
That was written by Paine and inspired
The Declaration of Independence
Common Sense it was widely read
But it didn't go to everybody's head
John Chalmers called him "A political quack"
John Adams called it "Crapulous Mass"
Newly formed Congress made him a secretary
And he met Iraquois Indians, saw harmony and dignity
chorus:
But he lost his position it is true
When to secret talks with France he did allude
Paine was sent over there to aquire a loan
Returning with silver and gold
This improved his lot to be sure
They gave him an estate, he took little more
Franklin was involved and Washington too
The money went straight into their cause
This was the only real estate that Paine ever owned
In Bordertown New Jersey he made his intermittent home
chorus:
When back in London in Seventeen Eighty Seven
Paine was living a private life
Revolution once again called his name
And he went back over to France
The Bastille fell in 'Eighty Nine
But it felt very different this time
Edmund Burke wrote a critique, "Reflections
On the Revolution in France"
Many people wrote replies but Paine's they wanted burned
His shocking, eloquent and dangerous 'The Rights of Man'
chorus:
It was William Blake the poet
Who tipped Tom off to head for Paris
When the State cried "Sedition" and "Libel"
This was one boat he didn't miss
Paine was tried 'in absentia'
Because the government must have felt the fear
They had agents make hate mobs and burn effigies
Just to make their feelings clear
Paine answered, "If it is libellous to promote Universal Peace
And expose the fraud of Monarchy, let 'Libeller' be written on my grave"
chorus:
Even though he spoke no word of French
Thomas Paine was elected Deputy
Of the National Convention
Where he voted with the Girondists
At the trial of King Louis the Sixteenth
It was said that Thomas Paine alone
Would have it that the King was granted
Asylum in America
After all, it was the Royalists who gave silver to his Revolution
Even for the Monarchy, he saw executions were no solution
chorus:
Now Robespierre and the Montagnards
Had risen up into power
As an ally of the disfavoured Girondins
Paine was arrested and banged up in some tower
Knowing he might meet the guillotine
Thomas once again took up his pen
To assault established religion
With his book 'The Age of Reason'
A chalk 4 on the door meant death in the morn
But Paine was ill, the door ajar for a breeze, the mark was missed,
Death's Angel passed him o'er
chorus:
The new American Minister to France
Successfully argued the case
For Paine's American citizenship
And he was re-admitted to the Electorate
He opposed the new constitution
Of Seventeen Seventy Five
It was a Montagnard document
Which for some the vote it denied
It is said that he met Napoleon and plotted an English Invasion
Bonaparte doted on Paine, who decided he was "The Completest Charlatan"
chorus:
Paine believed that now America
Had betrayed Revolutionary France
French and English politics disgusted him
He was really losing friends very fast
Back to America he went
But his popularity it was spent
People had read his Age of Reason
-Too much for their deluded religion
Paine thought that Washington had abandoned him
And accused him of private betrayal and public hypocrisy
chorus:
Thomas Paine died at age Seventy Two
When it seemed his reputation was through
Only six people came to his funeral
Including Negros two
"Shunned, abhored and execrated"
So many had wanted him dead
Though his name was dirt to most
"He preserved the poise of his soul"
Paine had been unshaken, his convictions remained intact
Still a freedom soldier, he never gave the hatred back
chorus:
Paine had lived the life of a Deist
He said "My mind is my own church"
He thought that private ownership
Robbed the people of the Right of their birth
He proposed emancipating slaves
And also the pension for old age
And a National Fund for everyone
Compensating for land taken away
William Cobbett exhumed his bones and took them back to England
Where in youth, the jeering mobs at Thetford stocks made concern for justice his natural opinion
chorus: chorus: chorus
OH TOM PAINE, OH TOM PAINE
MAY YOUR AGE OF REASON EVER REMAIN
Tom Paine was a radical writer
A revolutionary pamphleteer
He was born in Thetford England
In Seventeen Thirty Seven
He came from a family of Quakers
Their profession was courset-makers
After several years at sea
And working excise duties
He sailed to Americay
Wars of Independence as a private he did support
"These are the times that try Men's souls" he did report
chorus:
Jefferson the future president
Read a pamphlet called "Common Sense"
That was written by Paine and inspired
The Declaration of Independence
Common Sense it was widely read
But it didn't go to everybody's head
John Chalmers called him "A political quack"
John Adams called it "Crapulous Mass"
Newly formed Congress made him a secretary
And he met Iraquois Indians, saw harmony and dignity
chorus:
But he lost his position it is true
When to secret talks with France he did allude
Paine was sent over there to aquire a loan
Returning with silver and gold
This improved his lot to be sure
They gave him an estate, he took little more
Franklin was involved and Washington too
The money went straight into their cause
This was the only real estate that Paine ever owned
In Bordertown New Jersey he made his intermittent home
chorus:
When back in London in Seventeen Eighty Seven
Paine was living a private life
Revolution once again called his name
And he went back over to France
The Bastille fell in 'Eighty Nine
But it felt very different this time
Edmund Burke wrote a critique, "Reflections
On the Revolution in France"
Many people wrote replies but Paine's they wanted burned
His shocking, eloquent and dangerous 'The Rights of Man'
chorus:
It was William Blake the poet
Who tipped Tom off to head for Paris
When the State cried "Sedition" and "Libel"
This was one boat he didn't miss
Paine was tried 'in absentia'
Because the government must have felt the fear
They had agents make hate mobs and burn effigies
Just to make their feelings clear
Paine answered, "If it is libellous to promote Universal Peace
And expose the fraud of Monarchy, let 'Libeller' be written on my grave"
chorus:
Even though he spoke no word of French
Thomas Paine was elected Deputy
Of the National Convention
Where he voted with the Girondists
At the trial of King Louis the Sixteenth
It was said that Thomas Paine alone
Would have it that the King was granted
Asylum in America
After all, it was the Royalists who gave silver to his Revolution
Even for the Monarchy, he saw executions were no solution
chorus:
Now Robespierre and the Montagnards
Had risen up into power
As an ally of the disfavoured Girondins
Paine was arrested and banged up in some tower
Knowing he might meet the guillotine
Thomas once again took up his pen
To assault established religion
With his book 'The Age of Reason'
A chalk 4 on the door meant death in the morn
But Paine was ill, the door ajar for a breeze, the mark was missed,
Death's Angel passed him o'er
chorus:
The new American Minister to France
Successfully argued the case
For Paine's American citizenship
And he was re-admitted to the Electorate
He opposed the new constitution
Of Seventeen Seventy Five
It was a Montagnard document
Which for some the vote it denied
It is said that he met Napoleon and plotted an English Invasion
Bonaparte doted on Paine, who decided he was "The Completest Charlatan"
chorus:
Paine believed that now America
Had betrayed Revolutionary France
French and English politics disgusted him
He was really losing friends very fast
Back to America he went
But his popularity it was spent
People had read his Age of Reason
-Too much for their deluded religion
Paine thought that Washington had abandoned him
And accused him of private betrayal and public hypocrisy
chorus:
Thomas Paine died at age Seventy Two
When it seemed his reputation was through
Only six people came to his funeral
Including Negros two
"Shunned, abhored and execrated"
So many had wanted him dead
Though his name was dirt to most
"He preserved the poise of his soul"
Paine had been unshaken, his convictions remained intact
Still a freedom soldier, he never gave the hatred back
chorus:
Paine had lived the life of a Deist
He said "My mind is my own church"
He thought that private ownership
Robbed the people of the Right of their birth
He proposed emancipating slaves
And also the pension for old age
And a National Fund for everyone
Compensating for land taken away
William Cobbett exhumed his bones and took them back to England
Where in youth, the jeering mobs at Thetford stocks made concern for justice his natural opinion
chorus: chorus: chorus
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