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EU Culture Week (Day 4) - Each Dollar a Bullet
From one extreme to the other today. Following yesterday's Danny Boy is something (a little) more modern from the Stiff Little fingers. I mentioned their "Alternative Ulster" in my introduction to this series of posts on Sunday but didn't include it because I thought this song was even more relevant. It's called "Each Dollar A Bullet" and attempts to dispel the romantic notion so many "Irish-Americans" (among others) have of the "armed campaign". Those familiar with Alternative Ulster or Incendiary Device may find the introduction quite musically restrained in comparison, but after a moving 35 seconds or so the pace picks up.
The introduction is especially poignant, with a dig at the plastic-paddy, tear for Ireland, dollar for the struggle mentality some clearly have. Once the point has been made (I feel) the guitars kick into overdrive and take over. That said, aside from the fact that I only first heard about this song a week or two back, there's not much else I can say about it. the song speaks for itself, and it really does speak. Can you tell I really like this? Put it this way, the album's in the post!
(I'd actually got this far down the post before I realised the song fits in nicely with today's EU Quote of the Day.)
Follow up:
Each Dollar A Bullet
Stiff Little Fingers
from the album Flags and EmblemsOh it must seem so romantic
When the fighting's over there
And they're passing round the shamrock
And you're all filled up with tears
"For the love of dear old Ireland"
That you've never even seen
You throw in twenty dollars
And sing "Wearing of the Green"
Each dollar a bullet
Each victim someone's son
And Americans kill Irishmen
As surely as if they fired the gunNow you've never stood on Belfast's streets
And heard the bombs explode
Or hid beneath the blankets
When there's riots down the road
No, you've never had your best friend die
Or lost a favourite son
But you'll stand there and tell us
Just what we're doing wrong
Each false word a bullet
Each victim someone's son
And Englishmen kill Irishmen
As surely as if they fired the gunFrom the minute that you're born you're told
to hate the other side
"They're not like us, they're not the same
We know because we're right"
But can't you see we're all the same
There is no right and wrong
Why can't we stop and realise
We've hated too much, too long
Each old lie a bullet
Each victim someone's son
And Irishmen kill Irishmen
As surely as if they fired the gunHow can you convince yourself
That what you do is right?
When people are dying there
Night after night
Don't you ever wonder
Why it stilll goes on?
The hopes and fears and all the tears
Are buried in your ground
Buried in your ground
Each rumour a bullet
Each victim someone's son
And careless talk kills Irishmen
As surely as if words fired the gunWell it's lasted for so long now
And so many have died
It's such a part of my own life
Yet it leaves me mystified
How a people so intelligent
Friendly, kind and brave
Can throw themselves so willingly
Into an open grave
Each new day a bullet
Each victim someone's son
And ignorance kills Irishmen
As surely as if we fired the gun
The intro available at this site is only the first verse and is deliberately recorded with low quality to a) save bandwidth (it's amazing how much this site eats up) and b) hopefully let people see that it's not there to breach copyright but to encourage people to listen and, if they like it, buy the album. Obviously both the introduction and the lyrics will be removed, at the copyright owners request.
