The Clash, “This is England”, Cut the Crap, 1985.
“This is England.
That I’m supposed to die for.
This is England,
Never gonna cry no more.”
The Kinks, “Brainwashed”, Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), 1969.
“You’ve got a job and a house,
And a wife and your kids and your car.
Yeah, you’re conditioned to think,
What they want you to think,
And be happy to be where you are.
Yes you are,
Get down on your knees.”
Pink Floyd, “On The Turning Away”, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987.
“Don’t accept that what’s happening,
Is just a case of others’ suffering,
Or you’ll find that you’re joining in,
The turning away.”
Greg Lake, “I Believe in Father Christmas”, Single, 1975.
“They said there’d be snow at Christmas,
They said there’d be peace on Earth.
Hallelujah, Noël, be it Heaven or Hell,
The Christmas we get, we deserve.”
Gordon Lightfoot, “The House You Live in”, Summertime Dream, 1976.
“When you’re caught by the gale, and you’re full under sail,
Beware of the dangers below.
And the song that you sing, should not be too sad,
And be sure not to sing it too slow.
Be calm in the face of all common disgraces,
And know what they’re doing it for.
And the house you live in will never fall down,
If you pity the stranger who stands at your door.”
ABBA, “If It Wasn’t for the Nights”, Voulez-Vous, 1978.
“Somehow I’d be doing alright, if it wasn’t for the nights.
(If it wasn’t for the nights I think that I could make it.)
I’d have courage left to fight, if it wasn’t for the nights.
(If it wasn’t for the nights I think that I could take it.)
How I fear the time when shadows start to fall,
Sitting here alone and staring at the wall.”
ABBA, “Hole in Your Soul”, The Album, 1977.
“You feel bad, let me tell you, we all get the blues.
Sometimes life is a burden, way down in your shoes.
When it’s bad, worse, worst,
And you think you’re cursed,
Well if there’s one thing for the better, that can turn you loose,
It’s gotta be rock ‘n’ roll,
To fill the hole in your soul.”
Buster Pointdexter, “Hot Hot Hot”, Buster Poindexter, 1987.
“I’m hot! You’re hot!
He’s hot! She’s hot!
How you feelin’?
HOT! HOT! HOT!”
Theatrical poster for Badlands (1973). Directed by Terrence Malick.
Kevn Kinney, “Scarred But Smarter”, The Flower and the Knife, 2000.
“Poor man, rich man, blind man, dead man,
Hoped for more than they had all planned.
Just then they suffered a serious blow,
As the real world cut the line they hold.”