Dick Gaughan - 'No Gods (and Precious Few Heroes)' (Glasgow, 2013)
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Dick Gaughan performing 'No Gods' at Cottier's Theatre, Glasgow in June 2013. I never tire of listening to Dick perform this great Brian McNeill song - simply perfect.
Thanks to Acoustic Affair: www.acousticaff...
I was listening to the news the other day
I heard a fat politician who had the nerve to say
He was proud to be Scottish, by the way
With the glories of our past to remember
"Here's tae us, wha's like us", listen to the cry
No surrender to the truth and here's the reason why
The power and the glory's just another bloody lie
They use to keep us all in line
For there's no gods and there's precious few heroes
But there's plenty on the dole in the land o' the leal
And it's time now to sweep the future clear
Of the lies of a past that we know was never real
Farewell to the heather in the glen
They cleared us off once and they'd do it all again
For they still prefer sheep to thinking men
Ah, but men who think like sheep are even better
There's nothing much to choose between the old laird and the new
They still don't give a damn for the likes of me and you
Just mind you pay your rent to the factor when it's due
And mind your bloody manners when you pay!
And tell me will we never hear the end
Of puir bluidy Charlie at Culloden yet again?
Though he ran like a rabbit down the glen
Leavin better folk than him to be butchered
Or are you sittin in your Council house, dreamin o your clan?
Waiting for the Jacobites to come and free the land?
Try going down the broo with your claymore in your hand
And count all the Princes in the queue!
So don't talk to me of Scotland the Brave
For if we don't fight soon there'll be nothing left to save
Or would you rather stand and watch them dig your grave
While you wait for the Tartan Messiah?
He'll lead us to the Promised Land with laughter in his eye
We'll all live on the oil and the whisky by and by
Free heavy beer! Pie suppers in the sky! -
Will we never have the sense to learn?
That there's no gods and there's precious few heroes
But there's plenty on the dole in the land o the leal
And I'm damned sure that there's plenty live in fear
Of the day we stand together with our shoulders at the wheel
Aye there's no Gods
Dick Gaughan tour dates and info at: www.dickgaughan...
Dick was one of the most captivating performers ever: Rooted the audience to the spot. Years ago I persuaded a mate to come see him; he changed my mate's life - he walked in completely uninterested in "folk" music and left a convert.
Relevant today as much as it ever was !
"Men who think like sheep are even better..." The continuing problem.
Written by the mighty Brian McNeill.
That last verse is sublime
Such a great song, interpreted here by one of the greatest Scottish songers
Superb, I'm listening to this on Burns night 2016, it's good to hear an 'angry' song fir a change.
Dick Gaughan for prime minister, so glad he walks the earth. Presented him here in Canada and what a man.
He's still around with his music but unfortunately no longer walks among us
Brilliant! What would we do without Dick? Who else sings the socialist songs? He's what makes us (despite Thatcher, Blair, individualism, private property, privatisation of our common property (like the recent example of the Post Office), and the desperate pursuit of capitalism, economic growth - which means ever more exploitation - and so on) still Scotttish, with our fundamental political, cultural, social and economic concerns for social justice and social solidarity.
"They still prefer sheep to thinking men"
Brilliant line, but to me the poles have shifted. The left are the problem. Hopefully a Conservative independence movement arises.
"The lies of a past that we know were never real"
Theyre not lies, we are one of the oldest nations on earth. Randolph and Douglas were real, we invented much of the modern world. History is important, though communists would rather you forget it.
Which is my problem with Marxism. It doesnt work. My granda was a coalminer, but you dont answer savagery with savagery. I enjoy ol Dicks songs but he was an idiot.
Sublime ....
The socialist alternative victory in Seattle is a cause of celebration for us all. ! I love this song and this rendition
Legend
ProIndy but warning that , just as the slogan in Eire during their Indy war, no point in just replacing the accents of our rulers . This doesn’t helps the worker . SNP took a wee left turn and now have been in power for over a decade . There’s no tartan messiah!!
Great.
not sure if this a pro indy or a no indy lol...but....PIE SUPPERS IN THE SKY...is my favourite lyric EVER...
It is a paraphrasing of Joe Hill's The Preacher and the Slave.
I think it's possibly pro indy, but contains a warning not to rely too heavily on politicians, perhaps full of empty patriotic rhetoric to get us there. That's my interpretation anyway. I know Dick didn't write the song but he is pro indy FWIW.
I think it's pro indy but saying not to hold onto this rose glasses view of Scotland and realise we have to fight for an actual future and not some romantic view of Scotland which isn't actually true.
It's a song that enjoins the workers to unite and fight, not sit on their arses believing in heroes and gods to come and do the job for them whilst they just behave politely to the landlord's minion when paying the rent. It's about Scotland but it's applicable to the whole of the working class. In my view the Tweedledum or Tweedledee of the independence referendum isn't relevant here: an independent Scotland may well be just as pro-boss as the Westminster crowd - just look how long Alex Salmond went round after Trump and how long it took him to realise what a fool he'd been made to look.
he's great!
what a legend..................
Epic!
Brilliant.
shite n for ciaran too
Class.
'clear and present'
i meant this
I have always wonder who the "Fat politician" is...Any idea among the Scots here?
I'm not quite sure when this song was written but it's possible he could be referring to Alex Salmond, Scotland's former first minister before Nicola Sturgeon.
I believe it referred to Willie Whitelaw, a minister in Thatcher's government.
"The 'fat' politician who told people to be proud of their past was John Smith [Labour leader, 1993 - 1994]." (Pr. comm. Brian McNeill)
I think it was "Norman Lamont" who Dick said in a live performance "couldn't even say his ain name properly!"
@@divod2k9 Long before that, I think.
The great Dick, telling it as it is. As for the shambolic SNP, what's the (real) story, I'd be curious to know. Dick has plenty to say about them.
I hope the present SNP government are listening.