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I Killed A Man

by Man The Lifeboats

/

lyrics

Once upon a time on this island shore
A boat hit the beach with a hundred or more
Forgotten souls from a forgotten war
Turned away by the border patrol

We send you to Rwanda or you rot in jail
When you’re a hammer everything looks like a foreign nail
At least it looks good on the cover of the Daily Mail
And we’re taking back control

I killed a man
He died by my idle hand
He only wanted to work the land
But I did nothing
Nothing

For the stateless few like poor old Hubert Howard
He wanted to die at home but he wasn’t allowed
Fell through the cracks with the Windrush crowd
Lest we forget: he was forgotten

And now it’s tax breaks for the rich and alms for the poor
Even the cons ain’t ever been this medieval before
And no one wants to work on Maggie’s farm no more
Our heart and our harvest lie rotten

I killed a man
Because I did not understand
There was no food in the food bank
And I did nothing
Nothing
So I killed a man

In countries the world over the story’s the same
They’re selling off the soul of the beautiful game
Moving the goalposts to the oils fields of shame
And the kingdoms of old Arabia

And everybody shoots and nobody saves
And there are statues by the turnstiles but there are no graves
For the immigrant workers the murdered slaves
Who lie buried under the stadia

I killed a man
While my head was in the sand
I was chasing the promised land
And I did nothing
Nothing
Oh I killed a man

And now is the winter of our discontent
We can’t afford the heating and we can’t pay the rent
But it’s toasty in the Houses of Parliament
Especially in the far right wing
And the queen is dead maybe the country is too
For children are starving at home and at school
And there’ll be cuts and we all bleed red white and blue
And be standing for god save the king

credits

released October 6, 2023
Lyrics by Rich Quarterman
Music by Man The Lifeboats
Produced by Jamie Evans
Engineered by Andy Banfield
Recorded at Superfly Studios
Mixed by Jamie Evans
Mastered by Gav McGrath at ZVUK MAstering

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Man The Lifeboats London, UK

Man The Lifeboats play raucous, upbeat folk music, they craft songs with big choruses that tell stories. Songs with straight- up lyrics, pounding bass lines, lilting mandolin and fiddle melodies and stomping beats,

Man The Lifeboats have cultivated a sound that would not be out of place at a party at the end of the world.
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