Below The Water

Lyrics

I swear that we’re almost choking
On this free market medicine
But they’ve still got time for joking
Living high on the yacht basins
And they tell you to stay cool
Then they give you the cold shoulder
And you wind up like an iceberg
You’re so far below the water

Chorus

Below the water it’s sink or swim
Your feet don’t touch the bottom
It’s looking pretty grim
Don’t ask for flippers don’t ask for fins
You’re so far below the water
For your sins.

All my friends are standing back
All waiting for impatience
And the others are paralysed
By fear or complacence
And they tell you to wrap up
And it’s true it’s getting colder
From the bank vaults to the bonus
Explode below the water!

And the people in the shallows they are shouting
The people in the shallows shouting
‘Send them home’.
And the people in the shallows they are shouting
The people in the shallows shouting
‘Bring back the gallows.’

Song Description

This is a Mike Jones lyric, written in the 1980’s. Originally it mentioned a particular piece of Tory legislation, the Youth Training Scheme (YTS), that is now long past. In this version we just changed the line from ‘YTS medicine’ to ‘Free market medicine.’

For decades now, the right-wing claim that wealth created at the top will trickle down and help those at the bottom. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s not true within western societies and it’s not true between rich and poor countries.

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