Failing


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(One song to the tune of another :-)

We are failing, we are failing!
Politicians are to blame:
Sleazy scandals, dismal ratings,
We elect them all the same.

They are lying, they are lying
To the people, you and me.
They are lying, just pretending
To be with you, that you're free.

Can you hear me, can you hear me?
No-one's list'ning to what we say!
We are dying, forever crying,
Cause the bankers stole our pay.

Generations of our children
Won't forgive us (for) this neglect.
Schools are ailing, teachers drowning -
"Give us funding, not OFSTED!"

[The obligatory epic guitar solo would usually go here, but instead insert these two extra verses, sung by children or falsetto :-]

We are snoring, school's so boring!
The curriculum's out of date -
All this History, war and misery,
Programs us to be your slaves.

Teach us life skills that are useful
In the real world: fuel our dreams,
Sing us music, to develop us
As good people, not machines.

As a nation, we are failing!
Education's on its knees,
Teachers praying that Gove is fired:
"Lord deliv'r us from him, please!
 Oh Lord, to be rid of him, to be free!
 Please, just think of the children, set them free!
 Education should be free!"



Written at 8pm on 2014-03-07 (with optional extra verses 5+6 added the next morning), with a respectful nod towards Tom Johnson's fine piece of the same name. I had long wanted to write a song for our protest choir Raise The Rafters to sing the praises of the Right Hon. Michael Gove's stirling work as Education Secretary, but feared any child-friendly expletive-censored version would have no lyrics remaining. Then this idea popped into my pretty little head. The linked articles make for insightful reading.


© copyright Malcolm Smith 2014-03-07 - last updated 2014-03-10