NOT GREAT MEN THE GANG OF FOUR WEB SITE

Gang Of Four: Lyrics to Entertainment!

Entertainment!:
Ether / Natural's Not In It / Not Great Men / Damaged Goods / Return The Gift / Guns Before Butter / I Found That Essence Rare / Glass / Contract / At Home He's A Tourist / 5.45 / Anthrax.

All songs published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (1979)

All songs written by Gang Of Four (Dave Allen, Hugo Burnham, Andy Gill, Jon King).

Lyrics reproduced with permission from members of the band.
Transcribed by Phil Hetherington, with thanks to Andy Gill for answering queries along the way.

• Ether
  
  Trapped in heaven life style (locked in Long Kesh)
  New looking out for pleasure (H-block torture)
  It's at the end of the rainbow (White noise in)
  The happy ever after (a white room)
  
  Dirt behind the daydream
  Dirt behind the daydream
  The happy ever after
  Is at the end of the rainbow
  
  Dig at the root of the problem (Fly the flag on foreign soil)
  It breaks your new dreams daily (H-block Long Kesh)
  Fathers contradictions (Censor six counties news)
  And breaks your new dreams daily (each day more deaths)
  
  Dirt behind the daydream
  Dirt behind the daydream
  The happy ever after
  Is at the end of the rainbow
  
  White noise in a white room
  White noise in a white room
  White noise in a white room
  White noise in a white room
  
  Trapped in heaven life style (locked in Long Kesh)
  New looking out for pleasure (H-block torture)
  It's at the end of the rainbow (White noise in)
  The happy ever after (a white room)
  
  Dirt behind the daydream
  Dirt behind the daydream
  The happy ever after
  Is at the end of the rainbow
  
  Dig at the root of the problem (Fly the flag on foreign soil)
  It breaks your new dreams daily (H-block Long Kesh)
  Fathers contradictions (Censor six counties news)
  And breaks your new dreams daily (each day more deaths)
  
  Dirt behind the daydream
  Dirt behind the daydream
  The happy ever after
  Is at the end of the rainbow
  
  There may be oil
  (Now looking out for pleasure)
  Under Rockall
  (It's at the end of the rainbow)
  There may be oil
  (The happy ever after)
  Under Rockall
  (It's corked up with the ether)
  There may be oil
  (It's corked up with the ether)
  Under Rockall
  (It's corked up with the ether)
  There may be oil
  
  
• Natural's Not In It
  
  The problem of leisure
  What to do for pleasure
  Ideal love a new purchase
  A market of the senses
  Dream of the perfect life
  Economic circumstances
  The body is good business
  Sell out, maintain the interest
  Remember Lot's wife
  Renounce all sin and vice
  Dream of the perfect life
  This heaven gives me migraine
  The problem of leisure
  What to do for pleasure
  
  Coercion of the senses
  We are not so gullible
  Our great expectations
  A future for the good
  Fornication makes you happy
  No escape from society
  Natural is not in it
  Your relations are of power
  We all have good intentions
  But all with strings attached
  
  Repackaged sex keeps your interest
  Repackaged sex keeps your interest
  Repackaged sex keeps your interest
  Repackaged sex keeps your interest
  Repackaged sex keeps your interest
  Repackaged sex keeps your interest
  
  The problem of leisure
  What to do for pleasure
  Ideal love a new purchase
  A market of the senses
  Dream of the perfect life
  Economic circumstances
  The body is good business
  Sell outs [? out ?] maintain the interest
  Remember Lot's wife
  Renounce all sin and vice
  Dream of the perfect life
  This heaven gives me migraine
  This heaven gives me migraine
  This heaven gives me migraine
  
  
• Not Great Men
  
  No weak men in the books at home
  The strong men who have made the world
  History lives on the books at home
  The books at home
  
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  
  The past lives on in your front room
  The poor still weak the rich still rule
  History lives in the books at home
  The books at home
  
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  
  The past lives in the books at home
  No weak men in the books at home
  History lives in the books at home
  The books at home
  
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  It's not made by great men
  
  
• Damaged Goods
  
  The change will do you good
  I always knew it would
  Sometimes I'm thinking that I love you
  But I know it's only lust
  Your kiss so sweet
  Your sweat so sour
  
  Your kiss so sweet
  Your sweat so sour
  Sometimes I'm thinking that I love you
  But I know it's only lust
  The sins of the flesh
  Are simply sins of lust
  Sweat's running down your back
  Sweat's running down your neck
  Heated couplings in the sun
  (Or is that untrue?)
  Colder couplings in the night
  (Never saw your body)
  Your kiss so sweet
  Your sweat so sour
  Sometimes I'm thinking that I love you
  But I know it's only lust
  The change will do you good
  I always knew it would
  You know the change will do you good
  You know the change will do you good
  
  Damaged goods
  Send them back
  I can't work
  I can't achieve
  Send me back
  Open the till
  Give me the change
  You said would do me good
  Refund the cost
  You said you're cheap but you're too much
  Your kiss so sweet
  Your sweat so sour
  Sometimes I'm thinking that I love you
  But I know it's only lust
  The change will do you good
  I always knew it would
  You know the change will do you good
  You know the change will do you good
  
  I'm kissing you goodbye
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  I'm kissing you goodbye
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  I'm kissing you goodbye
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  I'm kissing you goodbye
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  I'm kissing you goodbye
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  I'm kissing you goodbye
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  Bye...
  (Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
  
  
• Return The Gift
  
  Head away from the years
  You're on the price list
  Head away from the years
  You're on the price list
  Head away from the years
  You're on the price list
  
  Everything will stop your new changing
  The grid will be filled
  Go to Scotland no obligation
  We'll send you an invitation
  We'll send you an inside shower
  We'll send you an inside shower
  
  It's on the market
  You're on the price list
  It's on the market
  You're on the price list
  It's on the market
  You're on the price list
  
  In the spring who can say?
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Shared by with the weeks
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  Please send me evenings and weekends
  
  
• Guns Before Butter
  
  All this talk of blood and iron
  Is the cause of all my shaking
  All this talk of blood and iron
  Is the cause of all my shaking
  All this talk of blood and iron
  Is the cause of all my shaking
  
  All this talk of blood and iron
  It's the cause of all my shaking
  The fatherland's no place to die for
  It makes me want to run out shaking
  I hear some talk of guns and butter
  That's something we can do without
  If men are only blood and iron
  O Doktor Doktor, what's in my shirt?
  
  Just keep quiet, no room for doubt
  
  I'm hearing talk of joy in labour
  I'll tell you this you can leave me out
  The motherland's no place to cry for
  I want some sand to hide my head in
  I'm hearing talk of strength in labour
  That's something I can do without
  If I'm only blood and iron
  O Doktor Doktor, what's in my shirt
  
  Just keep quiet, no room for doubt
  
  All this talk of blood and iron
  It's the cause of all my shaking
  The fatherland's no place to cry for
  It makes me want to run out shouting
  I hear some talk of guns and butter
  That's something I can do without
  If men are only blood and iron
  O Doktor Doktor, what's in my shirt?
  
  Just keep quiet, no room for doubt
  
  
• I Found That Essence Rare
  
  Aim for the body rare, you'll see it on TV
  The worst thing in 1954 was the Bikini
  See the girl on the TV dressed in a Bikini
  She doesn't think so but she's dressed for the H-Bomb
  (For the H-Bomb)
  
  I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
  I knew I'd get what I asked for
  
  Aim for the country fair you read it in the papers
  The worst happens any week a scandal on the front page
  See the happy pair smiling close like they are monkeys
  They wouldn't think so but they're holding themselves down
  (Hold themselves down)
  
  I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
  I knew I'd get what I asked for
  
  I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
  I knew I'd get what I asked for
  
  Aim for politicians fair who'll treat your vote hope well
  The last thing they'll ever do act in your interest
  Look at the world through your polaroid glasses
  Things'll look a whole lot better for the working classes
  (Working classes)
  
  I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
  I knew I'd get what I asked for
  
  I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
  I knew I'd get what I asked for
  
  
• Glass
  
  Look through the window
  Look through the window
  Look through the window
  I'm looking through a pane of glass
  
  Look through the window (and what do you see?)
  Look through the window (and what do you see?)
  Look through the window (and what do you see?)
  I'm looking through a pane of glass
  
  I'm so restless
  I'm so restless
  I'm so restless
  We talk about this and we talk about that
  
  I'm so restless (I'm bored as a cat)
  I'm so restless (I'm bored as a cat)
  I'm so restless (I'm bored as a cat)
  We talk about this and we talk about that
  
  Light myself
  Light myself
  Light myself
  Nicotine really goes to my head
  
  Light myself (up a cigarette)
  Light myself (up a cigarette)
  Light myself (up a cigarette)
  Nicotine really goes to my head
  
  If you're feeling all in take some asprin
  If you feel in a mess put your head on a head rest
  Your back on a back rest, foot on a foot rest
  Or your arm on an arm rest or your leg on a leg rest
  Your back on a back rest, if you feel in a real mess
  When you're feeling all in take some asprin
  Or some paracetamol
  
  Always thought life should be so easy
  It seems that I have misunderstood
  Nothing I do can seem to please me
  What I say don't sound so good
  
  I always thought
  I always thought
  I always thought
  It seems that I have misunderstood
  
  
• Contract
  
  The same again
  Another disagreement
  You dreamed of scenes
  Like you read of in magazines
  A new romance
  Invented in the bedroom
  Is this so private
  Our struggle in the bedroom
  
  Is this really the way it is
  Or a contract in our mutual interest
  
  The same again
  Another disappointment
  We couldn't perform
  In the way the other wanted
  These social dreams
  Put in practise in the bedroom
  Is this so private
  Our struggle in the bedroom
  
  Is this really the way it is
  Or a contract in our mutual interest
  
  Our bodies make us worry
  Our bodies make us worry
  Our bodies make us worry
  Our bodies make us worry
  
  Is this really the way it is
  Or a contract in our mutual interest
  Is this really the way it is
  Or a contract in our mutual interest
  
  
• At Home He's A Tourist
  
  At home he feels like a tourist
  At home he feels like a tourist
  He fills his head with culture
  He gives himself an ulcer
  He fills his head with culture
  He gives himself an ulcer
  
  Down on the disco floor
  They make their profit
  From the things they sell
  To help you cob off
  And the rubbers you hide
  In your top left pocket
  
  At home she's looking for interest
  At home she's looking for interest
  She said she was ambitious
  So she accepts the process
  She said she was ambitious
  So she accepts the process
  
  Down on the disco floor
  They make their profit
  From the things they sell
  To help you cob off
  And the rubbers you hide
  In your top left pocket
  
  Two steps forward
  (Six steps back)
  (Six steps back)
  (Six steps back)
  (Six steps back)
  Small step for him
  (Big jump for me)
  (Big jump for me)
  (Big jump for me)
  (Big jump for me)
  
  At home she feels like a tourist
  At home she feels like a tourist
  She fills her head with culture
  She gives herself an ulcer
  Why make yourself so anxious
  You give yourself an ulcer
  
  
• 5.45
  
  How can I sit and eat my tea,
  with all that blood flowing from the television.
  At a quarter to six,
  I watch the news,
  Eating, eating all my food
  As I sit watching the red spot
  In the egg which looks like
  All the blood you don't see on the television.
  
  Still body now, no movement yet
  Five men lie die flat on their backs
  Were they born to lie in state
  Defend the ever stagnate great?
  
  Down on the street assassinate
  All of them look so desperate
  Declared blood war on the bourgeois state
  
  Watch new blood on the 18 inch screen
  The corpse is a new personality
  Ionic charge gives immortality
  The corpse is a new personality
  
  Down on the street assassinate
  All of them look so desperate
  Declared blood war on the bourgeois state
  
  Watch new blood on the 18 inch screen
  The corpse is a new personality
  Watch new blood on the 18 inch screen
  The corpse is a new personality
  Watch new blood on the 18 inch screen
  The corpse is a new personality
  Watch new blood on the 18 inch screen
  The corpse is a new personality
  Watch new blood on the 18 inch screen
  The corpse is a new personality
  
  Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment
  Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment
  Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment
  Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment
  Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment
  Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment
  Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment
  Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment
  
  Down on the street assassinate
  All of them look so desperate
  Declared blood war on the bourgeois state
  
  
• Anthrax
  
  Woke up this morning desperation a.m.
  What I've been saying won't say them again
  My head's not empty, it's full with my brain
  The thoughts I'm thinking
  Like piss down a drain
  
  And I feel like a beetle on its back
  And there's no way for me to get up
  Love'll get you like a case of anthrax
  And that's something I don't want to catch
  
  Ought to control what I do to my mind
  Nothing in there but sunshades for the blind
  Only yesterday I said to myself
  The things I'm doing are not good
  For my health
  
  "Love crops up quite a lot as something to sing about,
  cos most groups make most of their songs about falling in love
  or how happy they are to be in love,
  you occasionally wonder why these groups do sing about it all the time -
  it's because these groups think there's something very special about it
  either that or else it's because everybody else sings about it and always has,
  you know to burst into song you have to be inspired
  and nothing inspires quite like love.
  
  These groups and singers think that they appeal to everyone
  by singing about love because apparently everyone has or can love
  or so they would have you believe anyway
  but these groups seem to go along with what, the belief
  that love is deep in everyone's personality.
  I don't think we're saying there's anything wrong with love,
  we just don't think that what goes on between two people
  should be shrouded with mystery."
  
  Love'll get you like a case of anthrax
  And that's something I don't want to catch
  Love'll get you like a case of anthrax
  And that's something I don't want to catch
  
  

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