Lyrics!! Lyircs!! Lyrics!!

On one hand this is a new batch of songs, the second I've posted in just a few hours. The first were songs which, with one exception, I had created a week or months ago. This batch are all new. They're from a variety of sources, some involve twisting lyrics (see this for an explanation) those will be ID'd with ++ as a symbol.

For the rest of the poems click on the "lyrics" label at the bottom (there are at least two pages worth of posts, so click on the "older posts" at the bottom of the first page).

I think that's about it. As usual, I start with the least impressive and end with the most.
1. University of Freedom. The 1981 Irish Republican Hunger-Strike.
2. Stand up and Be Counted (IRA). Guess.
3. Scum of Britain. About Ian Stuart Donaldson, the late leader of the world-wide Nazi skinhead movement.
4. The Great Esacpe. Allied POWs in WWII.
5. Son of America. Martin Luther King, Jr.
6. Soldiarity. The American Left and N. Ireland.

“University of Freedom” based on “Bowels of the Devil” by Body Count (Ice-T's heavy metal band), original lyrics are here.

1. Irish republicans often would refer to the main prison that held many of them, Long Kesh, as the “University of Freedom” becaue they did a lot work educating themselves and eachother in anti-imperialism and (for the majority) left-wing politics.
2. ASU is an Active Servicce Unit. Most of the IRA (it’s not super clear, but I’m pretty sure this was not univeral throughout the organization) adopted a structure where the ASU was the smallest unit. The Company was another, larger unit of the IRA.
3. There are 32 Counties in Ireland.
4. Squaddies is a term for British soldiers.
5. The Falls is a republican area.
6. In the late 1970s the British tried to break the republican family by criminalizing republican prisoners. See this and this (most of the last 1/2 is about the hunger-strike era). The prisoners resisted this effort, culminating in the 1981 Hunger-Strike when 10 men died, Bobby Sands was the first.
7. The Hunger-Strike resulted in the prisoners’ demands being quietly conceded by the government, which meant that the British failed to break them, and although it involved 10 men dying on hunger-strike, it strengthened the struggle. It also involved the incorporation of electoral politics into the republican struggle which greatly strengthened that struggle.
8. It's basically about someone in the prison during the struggle against criminalization, and who is speaking between then and 1997.
9. I eliminated some of the Ice-T stuff (“yo”), but left some of it.
10. I ended up using the word “learns” the way that people say “teaches.”
11. The "North's LAPD" refers to the police, the RUC. I thought it was a nice way of thanking Ice-T for the original lyrics. Also, I've heard that very recently the LAPD has improved, and you could say that even before that change started, the LAPD was not as bad as the RUC.
12. the seperate race line is probably GREATLY exaggerating, especially in terms of how widespread that sentiment is.
**13. 71% of this version is me, 29% is the original.
14. I give this song/poem three stars out of five.
15. UPDATED 2/8/16 Based on what might be called a fairly scientific look, only about .2% of the IRA's operations intentionally resulted in civilian death.
16. Is about the IRA, but it's not a bad moment to remind readers that around 80% of the nationalist community supported the hunger-strikers.
17. UPDATE 5/1/17 A "nine" is a gun.
18. UPDATE 6/8/18 The first two lines might sound like I'm calling the British Army the "North's LAPD." I didn't mean that and I think it makes sense to see the first line is about the BA and the second is about the RUC police, but I wanted to make CERTAIN there is no confusion.

Out one night, fighting Brits with my Company
We fight for our people, against the North’s LAPD
Got a nine at my waist
Brits think we’re a seperate race
They fuck with West Belfast right here'll be their resting place.
Some squaddies, they tried to put a move on the Falls
I shot them in the face, but I was captured in the brawl
Then I was in Long Kesh, They wanted us to crawl
they thought they’d break us, but we remained standing tall

Chorus:
University of Freedom,
let me tell you what that muthafucka learns,
its faculty filled with revolutionaries
liberation, socialism, the people’s concerns.
University of Freedom,
listen close, 'cause I've been there before
And those who died there,
They are why we will win this war,
THEY ARE WHY WE WILL WIN THIS WAR!

Aiming the mortars at the British Army base
With the people’s support we’ll get them out of this place,
and my ASU’s down, we don't mess around,
Brits fuck with us, They’ll be six feet underground.
Prison couldn’t break us, we’ll resist to our last breath
Thatcher, that motherfucker, is responsible for Bobby’s death.
That's right, homeboy couldn’t be broken by the bourgeoisie
up there in Freedom’s University.

Chorus

******

++“Stand Up And Be Counted (IRA)” based on “Stand Up And Be Counted” by The Klansmen original lyrics are here.


1. The original is a classic Klan song, but the version I heard is by a side project of Ian Stuart Donaldson of Skrewdriver, a British Nazi skinhead band which was very supportive of the British and loyalist causes in Ireland.
2. Since the original is American racist, I made a point of including certain elements, see this.
3. This is not meant as an endorsement of armed struggle since the IRA’s declaration of a cease-fire in 1997.
4. AK-47s are rifles.
5. The Plough is the Starry Plough, the symbol of republican socialism.
6. The Sunburst is the symbol of the old youth wing of the IRA..
7. Bread is a symbol of economic justice.
8. I went with Tory instead of Brit because A: it involved further twisting, and B: the Tories are a much bigger part of the problem, probably something like 1/3 of Labour are friendly to Sinn Feiin, probably something like 1/3 are okay-good, and probably 1/3 are more or less (less) Unionists.
**9. 47% of this version is me, 53% is the original.
10. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
UPDATE 2/2/11 I just replaced the word "mortar" with the word "Tri-Color" (the flag of Ireland) in the 2nd verse.
11.  UPDATED 2/8/16 Based on what might be called a fairly scientific look, only about .2% of the IRA's operations intentionally resulted in civilian death.

Chorus:
Stand up and be counted, we’ll make a stand today
Stand up and be counted, and join the IRA

We are anti-fascists, who love our country too
We always can be counted on, when there's a job to do
We serve our people day and night, and soon they will be free
Proudly wear the mask, fighting for our community.

Chorus

Survival calls for vigilance the symbols of our fight
The Sunburst and Plough, Tri-color and AK, we know we are right
In search for freedom and bread we fight with rifle in hands
We must defeat the Tory to unite our Irish land

Chorus

******

++“Scum of Britian” based on “Son of Britain” by Saga, original lyrics are here.

1. Bonehead is an anti-racist term for Nazi skinhead.
2. Suss seems to mean, in British, smarts or something like that.
3. Ian Stuart was the leader of Skrewdriver, which in the 80s and early 90s was the world’s leading white supremacist skinhead band; he died in a car accident in 1993.
4. Valhalla is part of Norse mythology, it is where warriors go when they die, although there’s some debate about whether or not you have to die in combat. The nazis love Valhalla and are all convinced that Ian Stuart went there, but an anti-Ian Stuart song by the Stage Bottles says that he didn’t because he was killed in a car accident; I’d imagine he was more a musician than a fighter, and then there’s the idea that people who attack others (likely smaller and/or weaker) through bigotry are not eligible for Valhalla; so I’m open-minded about whether or not he’s in Valhalla (that is, if I believed in it, and I sort of pretend to just to have some fun at the expense of the fash, and to make a good point).
5. Musically he was actually very gifted; I don’t believe in Hell.
6. The RA is the Republican Army; Ian Stuart was a supporter of the British and Unionist causes in N. Ireland.
7. The line about Nazis driving is inspired by a professional anti-Ian Stuart song by MDC called "Nazis Shouldn't Drive."
8. You could argue that, like Hitler, he will long be remembered, but I don’t think so.
**9. 66% of this version is me, 34% is the original.
10. I give this song/poem three stars out of five.
11. If not for the 2nd to last line I would say there's nothing about anti-racist violence and in my opinion that anti-racist violence would be a small or tiny part of things- small if we're just talking about dealing with Nazi skinheads, tiny if we're looking at the larger picture.
UPDATE 2/2/11 12. When I refer to a nightmare and a greatest enemy, I'm sure I'm kind of exaggerating, ESPECIALLY with the latter. For a large number of individuals, it has been a nightmare. And as far as I can tell, in terms of physical violence, armed or unarmed, they have the potential to do huge amounts of damage.
 UPDATE 2/4/20 I just added the word fascist to the second line of the chorus.

From the boneheads of Great Britain, a nightmare came to us.
He brought us hate and terror, The man who had no suss
Ian Stuart has now died, but our hatred for him still lives on.
So it will continue, until all the Nazi hate has gone.

chorus:
Their ranks are filled with boneheads, marching down the street.
They are our greatest fascist enemy since the Axis regimes were beat
Ian Stuart is no longer marching, but nor is he in Valhalla
His music sucks, he’s in Hell, and Up The Irish RA

Ian Stuart's downfall, was that Nazis don’t know how to drive
unfortunately the other nazi bonehead scum they all survived
A messenger of hate, a man who helped us see
That we must always be vigilant against the return of the Nazis

Chorus

When all the Nazi hate is gone, we will soon forget the man,
who weakened the working-class, because he could not understand.
The smashing of his mission is now our destiny -
To democratize our nations, and to set the working-class free.

Chorus

*****

UPDATE 6/11/09 I am renaming songs that had retained the original name.

++"The Great Escape" based on "Men Behind The Wire" by the Thornlie Boys, original lyrics are here (not exactly what I used, but close enough).

1. It's about Allied POWs in WWII. Frustratingly, it's only slightly twisted. The original is N. Ireland loyalist, and they did more or less support and fight in the Allied cause- sometimes, especially when they talk about the IRA and Nazi Germany and/or they're accused of being racist or friendly to British Nazis, you can't shut them up about how they helped defeat Nazi Germany : ). And even worse, it's not specific to a certain organiation, so I can only sort of point to the UDA being friendly with today's Nazis. You could imagine the character is an Irish-American Catholic, for whatever that's worth. As you can tell from the sampling of movies I watch on my profile, I'm really into Allied POW stuff (there's at least two other such movies I like besides "The Great Escape") and this was a good song for that. UPDATE 2/20/20 I just confirmed that the UDA was a majority of the loyalist paramilitary community and learned that the other main group, the UVF had some minor contacts with British fascists (contacts that followed some members who broke off and formed the LVF)) (UPDATE 2/21/20 I changed "cried out "No Pasaran,"" to "said a quick Hail Mary, thought." The Hail Mary prayer is MUCH MUCH more common with Catholics than Protestants, and I doubt more than a tiny minority of members of loyalist paramilitaries were raised to say it and probably stopped saying it as they became incredibly bigoted towards Catholics since Mary is a lot more important to Catholics than Protestants in general)
3. I imagine that only something like half of the American and British forces were motivated by anti-fascism (probably some moderate-sized minority were totally non-political and probably another moderate-sized minority were so conservative and/or anti-semitic and/or racist that they were open-minded about the Nazis maybe being okay), but I like to talk about it that way. As far as being anti-racist, this guy was part of the, let's say some very small minority of White American personnel who could be called anti-racist.
5. I felt like I had to switch two sets of two lines, and thus the second verse is a little awkward in terms of twice referring to "men behind the wire."
6. As far as POWs opposed to anti-semitism, realisticly probably some moderate-sized minority of the Allies. But they were determined to defeat the Nazis, who did hate the Jews.
7. What's that? It's "wierd" that my pro-IRA blog contains songs in favor of the Allies when the IRA accepted aid from Nazi Germany? Read this.
**8. 49% of this version is me, 51% is the original and I switched two sets of two lines, so maybe it's more accurate to say something like 60% me.
9. I give this song/poem three stars out of five.
10. UPDATE 10/6/11 I am not sure if "Jerries" is an offensive term (it's not like Germans (in recent decades) have been or are oppressed because they're German); Even if someone says it is offensive, I might leave it considering how that's how some of the Allies spoke at that time.
11. UPDATE 2/27/17 I changed "jerries" to "krauts."

it was a dark and grey november morn as we flew off towards Germany
in a cramped and cold B-29, we were going to bomb the enemy
when the flak got real heavy, we took some hits and went down for a crash
I said a quick Hail Mary, thought "bless FDR and fuck all the racist fash"

We crashed hard but my spirit was unbroken and my heart was still on fire
for soon I knew I would be with the men behind the wire
We were captured by Krauts and interrogated, but our situation was not dire
we were soon allowed to join our brothers, the men behind the wire

There were many faces strange to me, and many more I knew
who were solidly committed to smashing those who hate the Jews
and a love for dear old democracy, even in it's darkest hour
did shine within, these brave men, the men behind the wire

and when this war is over, and our victory is won
let us not forget the sacrifice made by these courageous sons
they were staunch and true, for me and you, so lift your glasses higher
where would we have been, without them, the men behind the wire

*****

++“Son of America” based on “Son of Britain” by Saga, original lyrics are here.

1. It’s about Martin Luther King Jr.
2. The reference about Americans isn’t meant to exclude people, but seemed a bit better than “people” or “humans.” (the original is “comrades” but that wouldn’t go over so well with most people at a MLK march)
3. Dr. King obviously had an impact beyond America, especially in N. Ireland.
4. America could become significantly more democratic, as I discuss in the post "American Democracy" and could happen in a way that could possibly be referred to as something close to a revolution, especially if several changes were made at once.
5. Towards the end of his life, he also addressed the Vietnam War and poverty. Besides his talk about poverty, I’d also say (in connection with the last line) that racism shackles the working-class (obviously it affects middle- and upper-class people, and what I’m thinking of will involve rolling back racism throughout society, but it negatively affects the working-class more).
**6. 42% of this version is me, 58% is the original.
7. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
8. Just non-violence.
9. UPDATE 7/5/16 I changed "Americans" to "people" in the chorus.

From the great city of Montgomery, a leader came to us.
He inspired courage and bravery, in a struggle that’s so just
Dr. King has now fallen, but his memory still lives on.
So it will continue, when all the hate is gone.

Chorus
Our ranks are filled with people, marching down the street.
We are preassuring the enemy, let's force them to retreat!
Dr. King is still marching, walking by our side.
His words are still clear and loud, his spirit spread world-wide!

Dr. King’s weapon, was the message he worked to spread
His spirit fills my backbone, and it will until I’m dead.
A messenger of justice, a man who made us see
eternal laws of equality in his words for you and me.

Chorus

When the new democracy rises, we wont forget the man,
who bravely stood against war, poverty, and the Ku Klux Klan
Fulfilment of his mission is now our destiny
To further democratize our nation, and to set the working-class free

Chorus

****

++“Soldiarity” based on “Napalm In The Morning” by The Klansmen, original lyrics are here.

1. The original is written by Ian Stuart Donaldson for a side band of his, but he was mostly known for his British nazi punk band Skrewdriver and he supported the loyalist paramilitaries.
2. The reference to Vietnamese flags makes more sense than you think. First, it’s part of twisting the lyrics, since the original is pro-America in relation to the Vietnam war and refers to Confederate flags. Second, in general the nationalist community and the republican family supported the Vietnamese resistance. At one point when Free Derry Wall was painted in the colors of the flag of N. Vietnam, Eamonn McCann highlighted that in an article and said that in the late 1960s a lot of the student radicals who were part of the N. Ireland civil rights movement would have had that flag in their rooms. It’s unlikely more than a very tiny minority of those student radicals joined republican paramilitaries, and it’s still not a perfect line, but it’s pretty good.
3. It’s technically off, but the body bags are those of British soldiers.
4. In general, a large part of this song is the soundtrack for one of my earlier posts.
5. The Union Jack is the British flag, that refers to it flying in the Six-Counties of N. Ireland.
6. Although you should read that post, the first line of the last verse refers to the worst of the problem, the leftists in America, the EU, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, (possibly others), who dismissed the oppression of Northern Catholics because of their religion and/or the color of their skin. The word traitor was already there, and kind of works in the sense that they betrayed their committment to supporting oppressed people.
7. I believe that people looked at the number of Catholic civilians killed by the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries and thought that it was small, but didn’t consider that the Catholic population was small and those deaths had a great impact on that community.
8. The Civil Rights marchers refers to Bloody Sunday, when 14 marchers were killed.
9. As I explain elsewhere, the world and specifically the Left failing to do what it should have done varies from country to country based on various criteria, but referring to the all foru directions pretty much makes sense.
10. Bombay St. was one of the main victims of the Aug. 1969 anti-Catholic pogroms which is usually seen as the beginning of the conflict. During a period of 2-3 days in Belfast, 1,505 Catholic families fled their homes (probably something like 18% of Belfast’s Catholic population, probably something like 1.8% of the North’s Catholic population). For more, see this.
11. I’m almost reluctant to post this song. Even though I have improved the post this is based on and am even more convinced than before that there was some kind of serious gap between what the world did and what they should have done, I’m a little uncomfortable rubbing it in with a song. I’m basically saying “Greetings Comrades, care for another kick in the balls?”
**11. 69% of this version is me, 31% is the original.
12. I give this song/poem four stars out of five.
13. Besides the part about the global left, this is about the IRA and has little to say that would be repeated by nationalists.
14. UPDATE 1/25/14 I just changed the words "was on" to "begun" in the second line, first verse.
15. UPDATED 2/8/16 Based on what might be called a fairly scientific look, only about .2% of the IRA's operations intentionally resulted in civilian death.

Northern kids in Belfast signed up to fight London
To fight against Orange tyranny an epic war begun
The kids signed up in Derry, south Armagh and Tyrone too
They wouldn’t submit, to the Brits
So they did what they could do

Stand and fight, for what was right
We wouldn't give in to imperialist might
The republican gains, the new day dawning
The Brits will count their dead in the morning

The Northern kids they went to war they took North Vietnamese flags
The rest of the world did nothing while these Volunteers filled body bags
Across the world no one was taking to the streets
A war wasn’t won because of leftists whose politics were weak

The idiots stand, in all our lands
But they will never raise their hands
They want to see a new day dawning
But they don’t care if the Union Jack is flying in the morning

The traitors were idiots and bigots of the political left
They couldn’t figure out the math on all those Catholics’ deaths
The Civil Rights marchers, they'd fallen to British guns
But these idiots, all they could think of were anti-gay priests and nuns
The Left’s very best, North, South, East and west,
Didn’t try to learn, how Bombay St. burned,
unless we end Irish partition
there will continue to be murders sectarian


One last note: Even with the songs that are only about 10% me (and at the upper end, one is 75% me), I have a request, although I don't have strong feelings or expectations about this. First, I want credit for these songs. Second, I'd appreciate it if the notes follow the lyrics around the internet. If you modify the lyrics further, please either make some notes for the changes if you leave some of my changes, or just provide a link to this URL so people can see my version. Although I'm not sure how many people will like what I'm doing with the lyrics, to one degree or another (depending on how much I changed them) I'm proud of these songs- and at the risk of getting a little personal, if people like the songs, I could really use the extra boost of getting credit for them right now (or if you don't like them, they were all written by Sarah Palin- that fascist, what kind of sick person enjoys altering racist lyrics?).