British Fools: Three more poems

I have three new poems ready to publish, and might have another 2-3 ready in about a week.

For more about my poems, see this. For the rest of the poems, click the "lyrics" label at the bottom of this post- there are several pages worth, so use the "older posts" link at the bottom.

1. Fash Are Fools. About fascists in America.
2. Troops Out. About dissent among British soldiers in N. Ireland.
3. Hitler's A Fool. About WWII.

“Fash Are Fools” based on “Reds Are Fools” by Kill, Baby, Kill original lyrics are here.

1. Brown is the color of fascism.
2. Partitioned basically means divided.
3. I give this poem 4 stars out of 5.
**4. 36% of this version is me, 64% is the original.
5. This is about the broad struggle against fascism and would be about 99% non-violent.
6. UPDATE 8/9/15 I made a HUGE mistake with the second line of the last verse but have now corrected it.

The struggle’s far from over, we’ve got a long, long way to go.
We haven’t won the fight yet, that's a fact that we all know.
Still too many people are supporting the brown lie,
but soon the truth will set 'em free and fascism will die.

The swastika’s a symbol for division and hate
A worthless, sick, corrupt nation is their ideal state
Like Apartheid, they want the working-class partitioned
And like Hitler, want the Left  dead or imprisoned

We’ll never fly the swastika, no matter what they try
cause we all know that fash are fools, their ideology’s just a lie.
They hail the wrong ideals, a choice they will regret.
We’ll always keep on working till fascism is dead.

Nazism is genocidal, we’ve seen it once before.
The Jews were almost wiped out, a fact we can’t ignore.
Why are the Nazis still trying? They will never win
America belongs to the workers of all peoples, we are all each other’s kin


***********

“Troops Out” based on “Fools No More” by Skrewdriver, original lyrics are here.

1. The first 2-4 lines are about an IRA bmb attack at Narrow Water that resulted in 18 British soldiers being killed.
2. The red white and blue refers to the British flag.
3. One example of the lying to British soldiers is that  they were told while training for deployment to the Six-Counties that the IRA would attack Protestant funerals.
4. The reasons why it shouldn’t matter that there’s a pro-British majority are described towards the top of this post.
5. Another part is the question of imperialism. Along with what I refer to in #4, I would also add that in multiple ways, the population in the South has to one degree or another since partition claimed the north as politically part of the Irish nation. For example, two of the three most recent Presidential terms have been filled by a woman from the North- without changing her nationality or anything like that, she was voted in as President of Ireland.
6. The original first line of the 3rd verse actually says “always” instead of “rarely.” But I can imagine a LOT of chickenhawks (in general, not just in Britain) waving the flag and a lot of veterans being less enthusiastic about that.
7. I believe that one factor behind the British presence is that N. Ireland does offer a well-educated but low-paid and politically weak working-class which are more or less divided by sectarian bigotry (almost all of which is aimed at Catholics and those who identify as Irish). More evidence for this is found in the following facts taken from the book Northern Ireland: the Orange State by Michael Farrell:

“In 1974 45% of all firms in Northern Ireland employing 500 or more workers were controlled from Britain, as were 28 out of 51 firms employing between 250 and 500 workers” p. 326

(See the 4th note for the poem here)

*8. 58% of this version is me, 42% is the original. (after I changed the chorus)
9. I give this poem 3 out of 5 stars.
10. UPDATE 8/16/15 Skrewdriver were British and supporters of the British and unionist causes in N. Ireland.
10. UPDATE 3/20/20 I realized that the chorus was written in the first person, not the second person, so I almost completely changed it.
11. UPDATE 3/20/20 The Troops Out Movement was a British anti-Partition group.
12. UPDATE 3/29/20 When I say thousands, that's an estimate for people from Britian who were more or less in a military or paramilitary group, the last 220-250 years of the six-county area that is now N. Ireland, and it's probably about 1,200, no more, so maybe hundreds would have been more accurate, but not much more.


Fire fills the air, there’s smoke in the sky
you’re knocked down, and 18 die
You're looking around, with fear in your eyes
Looking for the enemy and you still wonder why
Obey all your orders, British pride aflame
But in truth you’re a pawn in their imperialistic game
And your leaders are not honest with you
they lie, as they fly, the red white and blue

(chorus)
Don't  be a fool anymore
Talk to the Troops Out Movement and learn the score

Thousands of Brits have died in this land
And it's never been for the good of the British working-woman or man
Many died for profit and political greed
But it's always the soldiers not the leaders who bleed
Without exception the tories are scum
Who lie to the people whilst they beat on their drums
And they claim it’s because there’s a Unionist majority
But it’s imperialism, capitalism, and just plain bigotry

(chorus)

It's rarely been those with the flags in their hands
Who have fought and have died in N. Ireland
Yeah, while the leaders stay home with their massive cigars
you were lucky if you were traveling in armored cars
They take all the fame, the businesses take all the pounds
By exploiting labor in British factories on Irish ground
And if you dare to object and ask them to cease
You'll get a visit from their political police

********

“Hitler’s A Fool” based on “Reds are Fools” by Kill, Baby Kill, original lyrics are here.

1. This is about the period shortly after D-Day in WWII.
2. Obviously it wasn’t the Nazis that committed genocide against the Indians, but what happened was very similar to what the Nazis planned for (and almost succeeded at) in Eastern Europe. That rhyming couplet was inspired by the title of a hardcore punk song called “John Wayne was a Nazi.”
3. The second to last line of the last verse kind of exaggerates what the Allies were doing to stop the Holocaust.
3. I give this poem four stars out of five.
**4. 51% of this version is me, 49% is the original.
5. UPDATE 8/9/15 As I was preparing this for publication, I knew there was some explanation I was forgetting to make. I exaggerate some how aware the Allies were about the Final Solution and A LOT how concerned white Americans were about American Indians and I probably exaggerate a little how concerned the Allies were about European Jews. But, having acknowledged that, I think it is a good poem.
6. UPDATE 1/24/16 I know that probably no more than half of the US military in WWII could have been called anti-fascist, but at the same time, as I say in another WWII poem, "although the Allied leaders are not consistent/Defeating the fascist states is important."

The war’s far from over, we got a long, long way to go.
We haven’t won the fight yet, that's a fact that we all know.
Still too many German soldiers are supporting the brown lie,
but soon our armor will take them down and the Nazi state will die.

The hammer and the sickle is a symbol of our allies
They beat back the nazis on land and in the skies
With bullshit propaganda Hitler pushes Germans to fight.
Fascism has taken Europe into a long night

We’ll never give them quarter, unless the white flag they fly
cause we all know that fash are fools, that their ideas are just a lie.
They started this fucking war, a choice they will regret.
‘cause we’ll always keep on fighting till they’re no longer a threat

Nazism is genocidal, we’ve seen it once before.
The American Indians are still recovering, a fact we can’t ignore.
Why is the SS still trying? We’re gonna smash those anti-Semites
Europe belongs to free peoples, and their democracy, and their human rights