UB40 Album

[Chorus:]
Riddle me who, riddle me why, answer me this
Who owns the chains that bind your wrists
Riddle me who, riddle me why, answer again
Riddle me who built the machine
That washed your brain

Like parents did before them
Your parents did the same
They said do your best, you must pass the test
You must learn to play the game
They scrimped and saved and suffered
To send you off to school
But if they'd had the cash
They could've brought the class
And a different set of rules

[Chorus]

They taught a simple system
Why they had and you had not
LyricsThey said know your place, you can't win the race
Life's an auction you're the lot
If you'd ever thought to question
They would never answer you why
When they buy your sweat, you are in their debt
And they own you till you die

[Chorus]

You took hook line and sinker
Everything they fed
Worked day and night, for most your life
To earn their daily bread
Now your old and weary
And you lay you down to sleep
With body worn and spirit torn
What's left is yours to keep

We'll raise the price of parking fines
A boost for the economy
If that don't work we close the mines
And starve the poor of industry

We proved again we rule the waves
A blow for white democracy
That Britains never shall be slaves
So long as they agree with me

We'll close the roads, divide the land
Put out the rage that burns within
Break the link of dirty hands
At any cost we'll always win

Keep them poor and wanting more
Deprive them of their basic rights
The hunger banging at their door
Will take away their will to fight

As always you were wrong again
To us a little seems a lot
Don't turn your back on desperate men
Cause we can see how much you've got

[Chorus:]
If it happens again I'm leaving
I'll pack my things and go
If it happens again
There'll be no looking back
I won't say I told you so

You did what you were told
And you took the strain
Been left out in the cold
Got yourself to blame
But believe me,
If it happens again I'm leaving
If it stays the same I'm gone
When you're stabbed in the back
And there's salt in the wound
The it's time to move along

[Chorus]

No more spanners in the works,
LyricsAll the works been done
Had your face rubbed in the dirt
On show for every one
But believe me
If it happens again I'm leaving
If it stays the same I'm gone
When compromise is the song you sing
It's been going on to long

[Chorus]

When me reach me yard me got one thing on me mind,
To hold me little woman and fe make her feel irie.
Be play album, dub plate, and forty-five
For dat's the kind of riddim that keeps me alive.
Me turn on fe me radio some a chat 'bout dat
But I know more than D.J. so I nah play you dat.

[Chorus:]
Me tek a 'D' and a 'U' an' a 'B' - not 'E'
That thing there is special to me.
Me listen in the morning, also in the night
For dat form of music is out-a-sight.
The newest form of music is easy to see
It start with a 'D' and end with a 'B'
Dub in a de morning and dub in a de night
Mek the whole neighbourhood feel alright,
feel alright

When me reach me yard me got one thing on me mind,
To hold me little woman and fe mek her feel irie.
When me reach me yard me got one thing on me mind,
LyricsTo hold me little woman and fe mek her feel irie.

[Chorus]

Rock in a de dance, me seh fe give dub a chance,
Rock in de blues, you know you jus' can't lose.
A dub me a defend, on dub i can depend
Check out dis yah music and run tell yo' friend.
We don't want rock 'n' roll and we got enough soul,
We don't want rock 'n' roll and we got enough soul.
Bass is beutiful if it's clean,
But dis yah dub music, man it well mean.
No bother follow friend and ignore dub again.
It's simple, but effective, can't you see?
A lot of people catch on in 'eighty-three.
Now is 'eighty-four and you must know the score,
Anything me chat, you know the people bawl 'more.'
Me jump 'pon de graphics, don't get vex'
All me have a total concept to make you feel Irie.
To make you feel Irie.

A smile for every passing car
And when they stop with door ajar
She shrugs and whispers que sera
And turns her thoughts to the pillow
Her face is etched with memories
She finds now joy amid the sleaze
It's hard when you've been paid to please
So she turns her thoughts to the pillow

[Chorus:]
Daylight comes she rests her head
The beauty of an empty bed
She dreams of happy days instead
Of brooding on tomorrow

She swapped her dreams of shining knights
For pushers, bars and money fights
For nameless faces in red light
So she turns her head to the pillow
Those black eyes don't hurt any more
She's heard the jokes and jibes before
LyricsShe's felt the long arm of the law
So she turns her head to the pillow

[Chorus]

Taking drugs was not for fun
It made her feel like going on
But now she hurts when its all gone
And she turns her head to the pillow
She take a blade and breaks her skin
Sweet life force flows from within
The white clouds in her head grow dim
And she turns her head to the pillow

[Chorus]

Sunlight creeps across her head
Pale beauty in a crimson bed
No dreams of happy days ahead
She'll have no more tomorrows

(Instrumental)

[Chorus:]
Like the seasons you change your mind
It seems like loving you is a crime.

I remember those days
Oh, so long ago
Like the first time I took you
To a picture show
Or the first time I kissed you
Beneath the moonlit sky
I put my hand on my heart
I thought I'd die

[Chorus]

Yes, you were for me
It was plain to see
I knew in my heart

You were the one for me
Though people used to try
LyricsTo get us down
As time goes on
We're still around

[Chorus]

We had our share
Of ups and downs
We had our share
Of nights on the town
The days were short
But the nights were long
My love for you
It grew so strong

[Chorus]

But as we grew old
Your love turned cold
Gone are the days
Of glitter and gold
I work so hard
To keep you mine
Now all I have is
Nothing but time

[Chorus]

We can drag you out of bed in the middle of the night
Drive tanks along your street looking for a flight
We can put you in a cell an dash away the key
Make you stand against the wall torture chamber stylee
The reason is simple, it's obvious to see
We can shoot at you but you can't kill we
Don't you see, don't you see, your not an army

The reason is simple, it's obvious to see
Right is on your side but the media's with we
Don`t you see, don't you see, your not an army

The thing you must remember since these troubles first began
Were supported by a tax paying population
And if the rest of this world is against we
It's a fact that the people of this country won't see

They can give you a trial by military
But you won't be sentenced politically
You'll be beat by other prisoners for political views
But you just another killer when we read it in the news

I've been listening to what you said
And wondering if it could be true
If it's as bad as you say out there
I'll leave the going out to you

Statistics prove its not too bright
To walk the darker streets at night
Or to talk to people you don't know
My worlds become a horror show

There's a murder in my living room
My child is watching avidly
Should I venture out tonight
Tomorrow he'll be watching me

You pay your money take your choice
But every channel plays the same
The audience hears his master's voice
Keeps him scared and keeps him tame

I'm not believing all I see
Fabrications on T.V.
Distort the news, feed us your views
I'm not fooled so easily

Oh doctor help me please
I'm dying, crippled with disease
My Body's aching limb to limb
My bones are glowing through my skin
When I look up into black skies
Mushrooms grow before my eyes
Doctor save me if you can
I'm a desperate man
[Repeat]

As he lay thinking he was dead
A burning pain short through his head
He looked into those tired old eyes
Heard forty years of anguished cries
And this doctor said

Your eyes were open
But you shut them with your mouth
You always heard
But you weren't doing the screaming
You'd only just woken
But Already, you'd forgotten,
What you were dreaming

Such a sad case
The failure of a human race