My Favourite Protest Songs – Billy Bragg – Between The Wars

Posted on by Opher

I like my Billy Bragg with his raw guitar and idealistic lyrics. He aspires the politics I agree with. I want that vision of a fair and just society. This song sums it up for me and it got right up there in the Top Ten. Just shows there were a lot of people that fairness and justice resonates with.

Between the Wars
This song is by Billy Bragg and appears on the album Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984) and on the album The Peel Sessions Album (1991).

I was a miner, I was a docker
I was a railway man between the wars
I raised a family in times of austerity
With sweat at the foundry between the wars

I paid the union and as times got harder
I looked to the government to help the working man
But they brought prosperity down at the armoury
We’re arming for peace me boys, between the wars

I kept the faith and I kept voting
Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand
For theirs is a land with a wall around it
And mine is a faith in my fellow man

Theirs is a land of hope and glory
Mine is the green field and the factory floor
Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers
And mine is the peace we knew between the wars

Call up the craftsmen, bring me the draughtsmen
Build me a path from cradle to grave
And I’ll give my consent to any government
That does not deny a man a living wage

Go find the young men never to fight again
Bring up the banners from the days gone by
Sweet moderation, heart of this nation
Desert us not, we are between the wars

 

Billy Bragg – Between the Wars – Meaningful Lyrics.

Posted on by Opher

Billy_Bragg_shot_by_Kris_Krug Photo Kris Krug
Billy Bragg was full of zest and political fire when he burst on to the scene in all his raw Punk fury. This song was a real indictment of the British stand on the Falklands, its attitude to war and the posturing of Margaret Thatcher. It captured the mood and got into the top ten. That doesn’t happen often with songs like this. It was a song about the working men of Britain who are the first to be sacrificed in times of war and how armament is used in times of recession.

Between the Wars

I was a miner
I was a docker
I was a railway man
Between the wars
I raised a family
In times of austerity
With sweat at the foundry
Between the wars

I paid the union and as times got harder
I looked to the government to help the working man
And they brought prosperity down at the armoury
“We’re arming for peace me boys”
Between the wars

I kept the faith and I kept voting
Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand
For theirs is a land with a wall around it
And mine is a faith in my fellow man
Theirs is a land of hope and glory
Mine is the green field and the factory floor
Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers
And mine is the peace we knew
Between the wars

Call up the craftsmen
Bring me the draughtsmen
Build me a path from cradle to grave
And I’ll give my consent
To any government
That does not deny a man a living wage

Go find the young men never to fight again
Bring up the banners from the days gone by
Sweet moderation
Heart of this nation
Desert us not, we are
Between the wars