there's fuck-all to do
when you're unemployed
you get depressed
& feel annoyed
things cost money/ I ain't got any/ hey mister rich man/ spare a penny
they print the pound notes
& decide what they're worth
they give the impression
they own the earth
mustn't go there/ unless you can pay/ have heaven in the future/ but not today
if we claimed our share
they'd send in the cops
to protect their property
& guard the shops
how dare they stop us/ we're free to roam/ in this land of ours/ that we call home
the powers-that-be
behave like god
defending their faith
with the riot squad
we've got nothing left/ but the right to fight/ so there's gonna be riot/ on the streets tonight
up with the barricades
down with the law
what's there to lose
when you're one of the poor
forget about bourgeois/ peace & quiet/ we're on the warpath/ there's gonna be riot
& their sacred money
but better link arms
they won't think it's funny
red brown yellow/ black & white/ girls & boys/ we must unite
there's gonna be a riot
on the streets tonight
'cos we've got nothing left
but the right to fight
the right to fight/ right to fight/ there's gonna be a riot/ on the streets tonight
there's gonna be a riot
& we'll have some fun
Rome will be burning
before we're done
"A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard." (Martin Luther King)