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crass - taking sides lyrics

over half the world’s population is starving
crucified… by the greed of landowners
helpless… against the imbalance of priorities
practiced by the major powers who, if they wanted to, could help
every minute of the day millions upon million of pounds
are spent on the machinery of war
if only a half of that was spent on the machinery of peace
there would be no more starvation on this planet
yet governments pay no heed to the cries of suffering
they perhaps make token gestures to appease their consciences
but no real improvements are made
because to ensure control the superpowers need to maintain the imbalance

natives are slaughtered
in their homelands
by governments seeking out
new possessions
most of the wealth of the so called developed nations
has been gained at the expense of the third world

from whom natural resources
both mineral and human
have been unscrupulously exploited

peoples’ pride and dignity
is burnt in napalm
and hand-held flame-throwers

the poor and underprivileged are raped and tormented
by leaders who use their power not to -ssist, but to oppress

at the wave of a gloved hand these people can, and do
send young men to their death, but not before others too
have fallen from their bayonets and guns!

such armies are invariably called ‘peacekeeping forces’
the hypocrisy is as appalling as it is obvious

the wealthy, educated
privileged and secure
make the lives of those less fortunate a complete misery

million upon millions of people are dying
from malnutrition
because, to stabilise their economies…
governments destroy food rather than giving it to the needy!

“let them eat cake” said marie antoinette
as she wiped the calf’s blood from her lips

“proud to be british” said margaret thatcher
as she wiped the falkland’s blood from her hands

the ruling elite have no concept of what it is to suffer want
yet it is they who are directly responsible

in a world where there are people who can’t afford a crust of bread
these arrogant scabs drive around in bentleys and rolls royces

perhaps it amuses them to rub sh-t into the faces of the poor
but there’ll come a time when such overt displays of wealth
will not be tolerated by the people in the street

in a sane society wealth and possession would not be an -sset

a few years ago a politician was on the radio
saying that no one in the uk suffered from want
next day i saw an old man pleading for a handful of coal:
his wife was dying of cold and he was penniless

maybe in the morning, as the politician sipped breakfast tea
she lay cold and dead before the empty grate
every year thousand of people die of hypothermia
too hungry, too cold
too poor to stay alive

at times of national crisis it’s always the poor who suffer
“back britain” we’re told
as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer

at times of international crisis it’s the same story
“back britain” we’re told
as the rich get richer and the poor get k!lled

in the event of a nuclear crisis
the rich will retreat to private bunkers with their wealth and possessions

the injustice of inequality is sanctioned by the church
with its tradition of finance from the gentry
the church has always been obliged
to ensure that its flock remains servile

“repent ye sinners or be devoured in the flames of h-ll.”
those very same flames that devoured their enemies in countless religious wars

so often the church has marched hand in hand with the military
casting its blessings upon the writhing bodies of the battlefield
each stab of bayonet is god’s word
each crash of steel is god’s word
each torn limb and splash of blood is god’s word
for he so loved the world he gave our only begotten sons
each sodden grave and sodding death is god’s word
for he so loved the world he gave our only begotten sons
for he so loved the world he gave our only begotten sons

in christian societies executions are attended by representatives of the church
goggle-eyed before the gallows, the electric chair and the gas-chamber
they administer their christ’s blessing

in america poison is injected into the blood-stream
another christ dies, jacked up by the state
another glorious advance for civilization
one small step for man
one giant step for mankind
for he so loved the world
he gave us his only begotten son
and likewise we are expected so to do
for he so loved the world

violent, vicious hypocrisy
how is anyone supposed to deal with these contradictions
confusions and lies?
they defy reason!

oh yes, you can inwardly laugh at the absurdity
satirise the obscenity, but the hysteria soon wears thin
and the tears wear a colder complexion
humor can offer diversion
but it dilutes real anger
and nothing gets confronted
we are ruled by dangerous mad-people
what’s funny about that for f-cks sake?
the world is daily threatened with annihilation
is that really something to be trivialized?
the world is under constant threat
against this background of fear
we struggle to create our own authority
while being bludgeoned into conformity
we struggle to find our inner selves

of course i feel uncomfortable when i’m laughed at in the streets
but i don’t want to be one of them
i want to be an outsider
at the same time i’d like to come in out of the cold

urgency overrules personal fears
against the scenario of total destruction
we demand a sanity that might save the world
that alone excludes us from the mainstream of thought
history offers no solutions
quotes from mao or stalin, hitler or marx
simply confirms the oppression
i’m tired of political experts
tired of ‘if onlys’
they have always been the same people
grey visionless robots
who would have us all share their death
history is simply a justification for oppression
written by those who practice it
it is being constantly changed and rewritten
to conform to the requirements of the ruling elite
a tempest of convenience that blasts across the blistered bodies of the dead
we receive at best only filtered truths
most of what we see and hear is lies

the falklands war was rewritten as it happened
it was not a glorious victory for the british spirit
nor an heroic defeat of a fascist dictator
it was a callous and savage piece of electioneering
designed to cover up horrific domestic problems
at a time when a peaceful settlement was a possibility
thatcher personally ordered the sinking of the general belgrado
k!lling over three hundred men
and horribly mutilating many more!

she did this because her political neck required bloodshed
to prove her wisdom in releasing the task force
the history books will not doc-ment her as a cold-blooded murderer!

i’m tired of the dull rationalization of the politicians
weighed down with their sums and inadequacies
i feel only anger and bellied hatred for them
how can anyone become so distorted?
how can anyone be so far from real human values?
i feel only disgust for their twisted minds
how can peace be achieved through threats of violence?
what kind of hope is there in that strait-jacket?

the authority of those who oppress us
is supported, maintained and defended
by those who are themselves the most oppressed;
those who, because they have no alternative, are in service to the rulers

how can i feel anger towards the squaddy?
weighed down with his guns and inadequacies
i can feel only pity and bellied comp-ssion

how can anyone be so distorted?
how can anyone be so far from real human values?

i can only feel pity for his twisted mind
how can freedom be achieved if the poor fight to uphold
the privileges of those who directly oppress them?

we look through one eye hoping the other won’t see
that way we only need deal with a half of it
like bl–dy ostriches, oblivious
not because we are, but because we choose to be

most people see through the lies
but are too afraid to admit it
it’s so much easier to be the p-ssive observer
how much longer can people afford to just sit by like this?
all the indications are there
m-ssive unemployment, recession, depression
but who’s looking? who cares?
tamely the population is being led down the road to total bondage
government is daily strengthening its powers
those who stand against it are ridiculed, discredited or abused and punished
those in power are totally cynical
rather than -n-lysing the seriousness of the problem
they simply strengthen the army and police to combat it
they are ready for the inevitable response
it happened in brixton, toxteth and moss side
it happens daily in northern ireland
under thatcher’s regime there has been m-ssive increases in police brutality
in london police shot down a man
only to find it was the wrong person
we regret to inform you
regret to inform you
regret to inform you
we regret to inform you…
that today another christ was shot in the back of the head
we regret to inform you
regret to inform you
that another christ, not yet ten years old, was shot today
by agents of her majesty’s government, with a plastic bullet
they say that plastic bullets were designed not to k!ll
they do
i say that human beings were not designed to k!ll, not us, not me;
we do
we regret to inform you

1984 is a book about the positive danger of totalitarianism
under thatcher’s unfeeling guidance the scenario is one year early
with the cold mechanism of the pinball arcade
we’re flicked around as numbers by the hidden computers
software in the hardware
doc-mented and filed
we have no access to the information that they have stored on us
ticker-tape alter egos, print-out portraits
we are becoming another

as individuals within that mechanical system, we are arbitrary
wanted only for what can be taken from us

our future is of no concern to the mega-corporations
who determine the nature of our economic well-being
thatcher’s policies require m-ssive unemployment
which makes her order to ‘support our boys’ nothing but a f-cking insult
when they were eight thousand miles away dying for her arrogance
she fabricated what was a complete mockery of comp-ssion
when they’re at home, jobless on the streets
she doesn’t give a f-ck for them
self determination and self enterprise are her big lines
but just how much of that does she offer to others
in her contemptible use of people?
she was prepared to risk world peace
saying that it was for the self determination of the falklanders
those very same people who over a year ago
she was prepared to abandon without a thought
and now, for all her empty talk
they are forced to live in a fortress waiting for further hostilities
thatcher has recently sanctioned a loan of one hundred million pounds to argentina
claiming that it was to stabilize world economy
the purchase of further exocets and the development of nuclear potential
should do much for world economy, but very little for world security
just what the f-ck was all that bloodshed for?

thatcher has signed away british self-determination in one single stroke
she has agreed to install deadly cruise missiles on british soil
over which the americans have total control
the american military presence is designed solely
to limit nuclear war with russia to the ‘european theater’
meanwhile we are sold the wicked lie of protection and deterrence
american war planners have repeatedly stated that they intend
to fight the third world war on european soil

cruise missiles greatly increase the danger of that happening

designed to avoid radar detection by skimming the earth’s surface
cruise missiles are seen as the ideal ‘first strike weapon’
they also guarantee a m-ssive response that would make britain into a nuclear desert
military naivety is astounding. the experts seriously believe
that they will be able to limit war to the ‘theater’
in this particular show the world will be the stage
there’ll be no encore

thatcher and her cronies talk of ‘limited tactical response’
and ‘executive action’ causing ‘collateral damage’
these terms are borrowed from their american counterparts
and are designed to mask the ugly reality that they describe

in everyday language ‘collateral damage’ simply means civilian deaths

in the event of nuclear attack on britain
that would amount to thirty-eight million people

is it any wonder that these crazy psychotics
invent jargon to -ssist them in their studied madness?

every year hundreds of innocent people still die horrific deaths
as a result of the bombs dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki

it is probably that an all out nuclear war
would destroy all life on planet earth

we are not talking fantasy
nor preaching doom
we are talking of an existing reality;
the one that we allow to exist around us

defence secretary heseltine disputes the kind of information that we offer
claiming that it has ‘no basis in fact’
there are no words to describe the utter contempt
that we feel for people of his kind

they sit in their seats of power
distorting and perverting all human decency

how can they dare be so blatant?

how can they dare be so hypocritical?

who is this heseltine with his corrupt lies?

who is this thatcher with her arrogant deceit?

these hideous mutants cast their shadows
across all that is worthwhile and good

cruise missile will be installed because thatcher has created some kind of deal with reagan
we will probably never know
the details of that arrangement
it will almost certainly involve some kind of economic juggling act
the m-ssive corporations turning political thumbscrews
on u.s. investment in britain

russian tanks in afghanistan are nothing
compared with the bargaining power of american capital in the uk
whatever the nature of that deal is
it has made britain into america’s front line
the fifty-third state, with no rights of citizenship
to many people that might not matter
fed from birth on american propaganda and hollywood trash
the resistance levels are low
as long as we p-ssively accept american domination
we can except no real advance
we are being sold down the line!!

to many people the missiles and warheads might not matter
to many people nuclear reality is too huge to contemplate
yet for all people the reality looms constantly in nightmares
in the nuclear state we are expected to accept those nightmares

is this really all that we can hope for as life?

is this really all that we can hope for as death?

maybe our lives don’t matter that much
but why impose our madness on future generations?
or is it perhaps that you no longer believe that there will be future generations?

in your p-ssive acceptance of it
you have already allowed the holocaust to happen

the future is ended!

we are not talking fantasy
nor preaching doom
we are talking of an existing reality
the one that we allow to exist around us

the nuclear hardware produces in the last three decades
will pollute the earth for thousands of years
a nuclear war will destroy it!
is that why the cherry trees blossom?
you are destroying and corrupting!
in condemning them to the nuclear nightmare
are you willing to accept the burning of tomorrow’s unborn?
they know nothing of this sorrow!!

suffer little children to come unto me
suffer little children to come unto me
suffer little children to come unto me
suffer little children to come unto me

in your refusal to act against these hideous dangers
you are guilty of being the gutless p-ssive observer
are you so inhuman that you will let this happen?
just a helpless bystander waving your flag in mute acceptance?
take up your eyes and see!
take up your ears and hear!
take up your mind and think!
take up your life and act!

it is up to us all as responsible citizens of earth
to work towards the downfall of the powerful elite

their rule has created dreadful suffering!
their insanity precludes all reason and comp-ssion!
they lie, trick and manipulate!
they are the maggots in the flesh of decency
the vultures that pick at the bones of hope
the carriers of famine, war, pestilence, and death

they must be stopped!
why should people die for their insanity?
why should people starve for their insanity?
why should people suffer the spitefulness of their greed?
we must not be intimidated by the authority that they appear to have
we must be prepared to oppose them on every level
to fight back in the knowledge that if we don’t

we will have failed in our responsibility to life itself
it has happened before that the powerless have risen against the oppressor
only to be beaten back!

but there have been cases where they have succeeded:
ours is a just cause
it is up to each one of us, alone, to do our best

we must learn to overcome our fears!

we must realize that the strength that they have
is the strength that we give them!

it is you, the p-ssive observer who has given them this power!

you are being used and abused
and will be discarded as soon as they’ve bled what they want from you!

you must learn to live with your own conscience
your own morality
your own decision
your own self!

you alone can do it:

there is no authority but yourself

“one squaddy, horrifically burnt in the falklands war, was approached by prince charles during a presentation

‘get well soon’ said the prince, to which the squaddy replied

‘yes sir, i will’.”

- crass lyrics

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