This is one of my earliest works although I had the music complete (in 1982) 4 years before I finally found a suitable lyric for it. The Apostles murdered the poor ballad on their album Punk Obituary and then, in 2002, irritated by the limitations o…
This is one of my earliest works although I had the music complete (in 1982) 4 years before I finally found a suitable lyric for it. The Apostles murdered the poor ballad on their album Punk Obituary and then, in 2002, irritated by the limitations of my voice, I committed a serious error: I asked Sheng Wai Leung, one of the teenage boys from Hackney Chinese Youth Club, to sing it because he claimed (wrongly) he was a pretty decent singer. He may have been pretty but a decent singer he was not. Still, it made a change from my own feeble caterwaul....or so I believed.
After the fun and frolics that caused a major eruption in the group (see the anthem Forbidden Love on this You Tube site where I explain the story), Sheng refused even to look at me, let alone speak to me. Like so many young Chinese lads, he was a bigot but also a coward – he was too scared to say openly to my face what he thought of me. Christ, why is the world so full of cunts? Anyway, finally I decided the ballad merited a proper recording. I admit I regard the music as rather moronic and the lyric is a weak, whining moan of which I am rather ashamed but other people like it so I’ve retained it in its entirety.
Have you ever been attacked in the street, kicked to the ground?
Have you ever been a victim of bully boys pushing you around?
Have you ever had a broken bottle or a club in your face
or gangs of frightened cowards wrecking your place?
Well, there’s a proverb and it strikes a noble chord:
he who lives by the sword will die by the sword.
Too scared to belong to the human race,
it’s only themselves they dare not face.
I refer to spineless scum acutely insecure:
they never knew their fathers, that’s for sure.
Anybody can be dangerous when he’s part of a horde:
he who lives by the sword will die by the sword.
Remember: bullies and bigots live on borrowed time,
for them there comes a day when they will each pay for their crime.
There’s always someone else who’s tougher than them,
someone who plays far rougher than them.
Well, upon these bastards I bestow this award:
he who lives by the sword will die by the sword.
Andy Martin – Vocal, Piano, Moog Modular.
Fabian Fritze – Bass Guitar, Horn.
Colin Murrell – Drums.
Text & Music – Andy Martin.
Email – [email protected]
Paypal address – [email protected]
Band Camp address – unit-united.bandcamp.com
