Great snakes, are we moving already?
Good gravy, did you say it cost a penny or two for you?
We're talking 'bout the bad starts
My baby brother has already got a gas mask
'Cause it's a good old-fashioned landslide
Killing with your hands tied
In the homemade rope, set sail
Babe, we read it in The Mail, no hope now
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's good what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Why does it seem
A fever dream for all?
The call you made to me
You said I'll feel
One day each year, a worry
We shall remember the dead
And we'll remember the dead so they know that we're sorry
But then carry on
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
How could it be the money? It's the vote that matters to me
You say you're hungry, but you won't eat the caraway seed
Doesn't matter in the wreckage, what should you say?
Well, I found myself a little peckish last Tuesday
This is what you signed up for, no questions
Reckon we could offer peace, damn the weapons conventions
Well, it's on the table, but it's no good, can't you hear
All our worries for fear, carry on
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
It's a good old-fashioned landslide
Killing with your hands tied
In the homemade rope, set sail
Babe, we read it in The Mail, no hope now
And it's a total fucking whitewash
The people that we might squash
And move from home soil, set sail
For wherever the fuck got oil this time
And if it's not a fucking war crime
It's a total waste of your time
And getting so much worse
Get real, kid, your country's been at war since birth now
And if it's not a fucking outrage, what's it all about then?
Now, it’s one on one
Great Britain's gonna tell you where it all went wrong and then carry on
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Good gravy, did you say it cost a penny or two for you?
We're talking 'bout the bad starts
My baby brother has already got a gas mask
'Cause it's a good old-fashioned landslide
Killing with your hands tied
In the homemade rope, set sail
Babe, we read it in The Mail, no hope now
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's good what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Why does it seem
A fever dream for all?
The call you made to me
You said I'll feel
One day each year, a worry
We shall remember the dead
And we'll remember the dead so they know that we're sorry
But then carry on
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
How could it be the money? It's the vote that matters to me
You say you're hungry, but you won't eat the caraway seed
Doesn't matter in the wreckage, what should you say?
Well, I found myself a little peckish last Tuesday
This is what you signed up for, no questions
Reckon we could offer peace, damn the weapons conventions
Well, it's on the table, but it's no good, can't you hear
All our worries for fear, carry on
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
It's a good old-fashioned landslide
Killing with your hands tied
In the homemade rope, set sail
Babe, we read it in The Mail, no hope now
And it's a total fucking whitewash
The people that we might squash
And move from home soil, set sail
For wherever the fuck got oil this time
And if it's not a fucking war crime
It's a total waste of your time
And getting so much worse
Get real, kid, your country's been at war since birth now
And if it's not a fucking outrage, what's it all about then?
Now, it’s one on one
Great Britain's gonna tell you where it all went wrong and then carry on
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
Great way to fool me again, hun
Great acting, it's great what you tell 'em
Great Britain won't stand for felons
Great British bombs in the Yemen
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singolo estratto dall'album di prossima pubblicazione DM2*
The spiky and energetic "British Bombs," produced by Arctic Monkeys and Florence + The Machine producer James Ford, is a takedown of the U.K. government's foreign policy, in particularly in relation to arms trading. It is accompanied by an animated video that juxtaposes classicly British images of polite behavior with the harsh realities of war. It's a heady mix as smiling cups of tea dance the the punky-pop melodies one moment, before news footage of tanks and military helicopters are shown the next. McKenna returns to the phrase "Great Britain won't stand for felons, Great British bombs in the Yemen," throughout.
FADER
*
Not only do we still engage in wars far away from our homes, which settle nothing and fuel extremism in the aftermath, we sell weapons to other countries full well knowing where they end up.
I wanted to write a song that was outright against war, in any form. Violence breeds violence and I just don’t think the world is too complex to set a peaceful precedent, but it seems the business of war is what keeps happening. To say it’s a shame feels like a huge understatement.
Declan McKenna opens up about his politically charged new single ‘British Bombs’