Victoria
Written by: Ray Davies
Publisher: Hill & Range Songs BMI
Long ago life was clean
Sex was bad and obscene
And the rich were so mean
Stately homes for the Lords
Croquet lawns, village greens
Victoria was my queen
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
I was born, lucky me
In a land that I love
Though I am poor, I am free
When I grow I shall fight
For this land I shall die
Let her sun never set
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, toria
Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Canada to India
Australia to Cornwall
Singapore to Hong Kong
From the West to the East
From the rich to the poor
Victoria loved them all
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, 'toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria
Yes Sir, No Sir
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
Yes Sir, no Sir
Where do I go Sir
What do I do Sir
What do I say
Yes Sir, no Sir
Where do I go Sir
What do I do Sir
How do I behave
Yes Sir, no Sir
Permission to speak Sir
Permission to breathe Sir
What do I say, how do I behave, what do I say
So you think that you've got ambition
Stop your dreaming and your idle wishing
You're outside and there ain't no admission
To our play
Pack up your ambition in your old kit bag
Soon you'll be happy with a packet of fags
Chest out stomach in
Do what I say, do what I say
Yes right away
Yes Sir, no Sir
Where do I go Sir
What do I do Sir
What do I say
Yes Sir, no Sir
Permission to speak Sir
Permission to breathe Sir
What do I say, how do I behave, what do I say
Doesn't matter who you are
You're there and there you are
Everything Is in its place
Authority must be maintained
And then we know exactly where we are
Let them feel that they're important to the cause
But let them know that they are fighting for their homes
Just be sure that they're contributing their all
Give the scum a gun and make the bugger fight
And be sure to have deserters shot on sight
If he dies we'll send a medal to his wife
Yes Sir, no Sir
Please let me die Sir
I think this life is affecting my brain
Yes Sir, no Sir
Three bags full Sir
What do I do Sir, what do I say
What do I say, how do I behave, what do I say
Some Mother's Son
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
Some mother's son lies in a field
Someone has killed some mother's son today
Head blown up by some soldier's gun
While all the mothers stand and wait
Some mother's son ain't coming home today
Some mothers son ain't got no grave
Two soldiers fighting in a trench
One soldier glances up to see the sun
And dreams of games he played when he was young
And then his friend calls out his name
It stops his dream and as he turns his head
A second later he is dead
Some mother's son lies in a field
Back home they put his picture in a frame
But all dead soldiers look the same
While all the parents stand and wait
To meet their children coming home from school
Some mother's son is lying dead
Somewhere someone is crying
Someone is trying to be so brave
But still the world keeps turning
Though all the children have gone away
Some mother's son lies in a field
But in his mother's eyes he looks the same
As on the day he went away
They put his picture on the wall
They put flowers in the picture frame
Some mothers memory remains
Drivin'
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
It seems like all the world is fighting
They're even talking of a war
Let all the Russians and the Chinese
And the Spanish do their fighting
The sun is shining
We're going drivin', drivin'
Drop all your work
Leave it behind
Forget all your problems
And get in my car
And take a drive with me
The sandwiches are packed
The tea is in the flask
We've plenty of beer
And gooseberry tarts
So take a drive with me
We'll take your mother if you want to
We'll have a picnic on the grass
Forget your nephews
And your cousins and your brothers and your sisters
They'll never miss us
'Cos we'll be drivin', drivin'. drivin'. drivin'
Thousands of trees
Hundreds of fields
Millions of birds
So why don't you come
And take a drive with me
We'll talk to the cows
And laugh at the sheep
We'll lie in a field
And we'll have a sleep
So take a drive with me
And all the troubled world around us
Seems an eternity away
And all the debt collectors
Rent collectors
All will be behind us
But they'll never find us
'Cos we'll be drivin', drivin', drivin', drivin'
Passed Barnet Church
Up to Potters Bar
We won't be home late
It's not very far
So take a drive with me, take a drive with me
Drivin', drivin', drivin', drivin'
Brainwashed
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
You look like a real human being
But you don't have a mind of your own
Yeah, you can talk, you can breathe
You can work, you can stitch, you can sew
But you're brainwashed
Yes you are, yes you are
Get down on your knees
You've got a job and a house
And a wife, and your kids and a car
Yeah, you're conditioned to be
What they want you to be
And be happy to be where you are
Yes you are
Get down on your knees
Get down on your knees
The aristocrats and bureaucrats
Are dirty rats
For making you what you are
They're up there and you re down here
You're on the ground and they're up with the stars
All your life they've kicked you around and pushed you around
Till you can't take any more
To them you're just a speck of dirt
But you don't want to get up off the floor
Mister you're just brainwashed
They give you social security
Tax saving benefits that grow at maturity
Yeah, you're conditioned to be
What they want you to be
And to do what they want you to
Yes you are, yes you are
Get down on your knees
Australia
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
Opportunities are available in all walks of life in Australia
So if you're young and if you're healthy
Why not get a boat and come to Australia
Australia, the chance of a lifetime
Australia, you get what you work for
Nobody has to be any better than what they want to be
Australia, no class distinction
Australia, no drug addiction
Nobody's got a chip on their shoulder
We'll surf like they do in the U.S.A.
We'll fly down to Sydney for our holiday
On sunny Christmas Day
Australia, Australia
No one hesitates at life or beats around the bush in Australia
So if you're young and if you're healthy
Why not get a boat and come to Australia
Australia sha-la-la-la sha-la-la-la
Australia sha-la-la-la sha-la-la-la
Everyone walks around with a perpetual smile across
their face
Australia sha-la-la-la sha-la-la-la
Australia sha-la-la-la sha-la-la-la
Everyone gets around and nobody can ever get you down
We'll surf like they do in the U.S.A.
We'll fly down to Sydney for our holiday
On sunny Christmas Day
Australia, Australia
Shangri-la
Written by: Ray Davies
Publisher: Hill & Range Songs BMI
Now that you've found your paradise
This is your Kingdom to command
You can go outside and polish your car
Or sit by the fire in your Shangri-la
Here is your reward for working so hard
Gone are the lavatories in the back yard
Gone are the days when you dreamed of that car
You just want to sit in your Shangri-la
Put on your slippers and sit by the fire
You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher
You're in your place and you know where you are
In your Shangri-la
Sit back in your old rocking chair
You need not worry, you need not care
You can't go anywhere
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la
The little man who gets the train
Got a mortgage hanging over his head
But he's too scared to complain
'Cos he's conditioned that way
Time goes by and he pays off his debts
Got a TV set and a radio
For seven shillings a week
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la,
Shangri-la.
Shangri-la
And all the houses in the street have got a name
'Cos all the houses in the street they look the same
Same chimney pots, same little cars, same window panes
The neighbors call to tell you things that you should know
They say their lines, they drink their tea, and then they go
They tell your business in another Shangri-la
The gas bills and the water rates, and payments on the car
Too scared to think about how insecure you are
Life ain't so happy in your little Shangri-la
Shangri-la, Shangri-la la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Put on your slippers and sit by the fire
You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher
You're in your place and you know where you are
In your Shangri-la
Sit back in your old rocking chair
You need not worry, you need not care
You can't go anywhere
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la,
Shangri-la,
Shangri-la
Mr. Churchill Says
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
Well Mr. Churchill says, Mr. Churchill says
We gotta fight the bloody battle to the very end
Mr. Beaverbrook says we gotta save our tin
And all the garden gates
And empty cans are gonna make us win
We shall defend our island
On the land and on the sea
We shall fight them on the beaches
On the hills and in the fields
We shall fight them in the streets
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed to so few
'Cos they have made our British Empire
A better place for me and you
And this was their finest hour
Well Mr. Montgomery says
And Mr. Mountbatten says
We gotta fight the bloody battle to the very end
As Vera Lynn would say
We'll meet again someday
But all the sacrifices we must make before the end
Did you hear that plane flying overhead
There's a house on fire and there's someone lying dead
We gotta clean up the streets
And get me back on my feet
Because we wanna be free
Do your worst and we'll do our best
We're gonna win the way that Mr. Churchill says
Oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! Well Mr. Churchill says
We gotta hold up our chins
We gotta show some courage and some discipline
We gotta black up the windows and nail up the doors
And keep right on till the end of the war
She Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
She's bought a hat like Princess Marina's
To wear at all her social affairs
She wears it when she's cleaning the windows
She wears it when she's scrubbing the stairs
But you will never see her at Ascot
She can't afford the time or the fare
But she's bought a hat like Princess Marina's
So she don't care
He's bought a hat like Anthony Eden's
Because it makes him feel like a Lord
But he can't afford a Rolls or a Bentley
He has to buy a secondhand Ford
He tries to feed his wife and his family
And buy them clothes and shoes they can wear
But he's bought a hat like Anthony Eden's
So he don t care
Buddy can you spare me a dime
My wife is getting hungry
And the kids are crying
This poverty is hurting my pride
Buddy can you spare me, buddy can you spare me a dime
She's bought a hat like Princess Marina's
And her neighbors think it suits her a treat
But she hasn't any food in the larder
Nor has anybody else in the street
But to look at her you'd think she was wealthy
'Cos she smiles just like a real millionaire
'Cos she's bought a hat like Princess Marina's
So she don't care, she don't care, she don't care, she don't care
Young And Innocent Days
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
I look back at the way I used to look at life
Soft, white dreams with sugar coated outside
It was great, so great
Young and innocent days
I wish my eyes could only see
Everything, exactly as it used to be
It's too late, so late
Young and innocent days
I see the lines across your face
Time has gone and nothing ever can replace
Those great, so great
Young and innocent days
Nothing To Say
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
Remember walking with you by my side
You were my Papa and I was your pride
Now I've got children and I'm going grey
No time for talking I got nothin' to say
Those Sunday dinners that we had at home
Now I've got a house and I've got friends of my own
We can't do tomorrow what we did yesterday
It's best that we're going our separate ways, OK
How is your rheumatism (nothing to say)
How are your chillblains (nothing to say)
How's Aunty Mabel (nothing to say)
So far Papa, I got nothin' to say, OK
Those happy days we spent together
We thought our world would never change
How the days go by
And things will never be the same
You keep pretending that everything's fine
So you make small talk to help pass the time
But all the words that you spit from your face
Add up to nothin' you got nothin' to say
How are those noisy neighbors next door
I'll have to go soon 'cos I'm getting bored
I gotta be home early to see a good play
So far Papa, I got nothin' to say
How is your life insurance (nothing to say)
How is your trade union (nothing to say)
How is your Independence (nothing to say)
So for Papa, I got nothin' to say
Arthur
Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Hill & Range Songs BMI
Arthur was born just a plain simple man
In a plain simple working class position
Though the world was hard and its ways were set
He was young and he had so much ambition
All the way he was overtaken
By the people who make the big decisions
But he tried and he tried for a better life
And a way to improve his own condition
If only life were easy it would be such fun
Things would be more equal and be plenty for everyone
Arthur the world's gone and passed you by
Don't you know it, don't you know it
You can cry, cry all night but it won't make it right
Don't ya know it, don't ya know it
Arthur we know and we sympathize
Don't ya know it, don't ya know it
Arthur we like you and want to help you
Somebody loves you don't you know it
How is your life and your Shangri-la
And your long lost land of Hallelujah
And your hope and glory has passed you by
Can't you see what the world is doing to ya
And now we see your children
Sailing off in the setting sun
To a new horizon
Where there's plenty for everyone
Arthur, could be
That the world was wrong
Don't ya know it, don't ya know it
Arthur, could be
You were right all along
Don't ya know it, I hope ya know it
Now we know and we sympathize
We'd like to help you and understand you
Don't ya know it, don't ya know it
Somebody loves you, don't ya know it
Don't ya know it, don't ya know it
Arthur the world's gone and passed you by
Don't ya know it, don't ya know it
You can cry, cry all night
But it won't make it right
Don't ya know it, don't ya know it
Arthur we read you and understand you
Arthur we like you and want to help you
Oh! we love you and want to help you