Tom Robinson Band
1978 USA re-release (1993) Razor & Tie: RE 2018

1) Up Against The Wall
2) Grey Cortina
3) Too Good To Be True
4) Ain't Gonna Take It
5) Long Hot Summer
6) The Winter Of '79
7) Man You Never Saw
8) Better Decide Which Side You're On
9) You Gotta Survive
10) Power In The Darkness
11) Don't Take No For An Answer
12) Martin
13) Glad To Be Gay
14) Right On Sister
15) 2-4-6-8 Motorway
16) I Shall Be Released
17) I'm Alright Jack

Album Sleeve Notes
Rolling Stone Album Review

1) Up Against The Wall

Darkhaired dangerous schoolkids
Vicious, suspicious sixteen
Jet-black blazers at the bus stop
Sullen, unhealthy and mean
Teenage guerillas on the tarmac
Fighting in the middle of the road
Supercharged FS1Es on the asphalt
The kids are coming in from the cold

Look out, listen can you hear it
Panic in the County Hall
Look out, listen can you hear it
Whitehall (got us) up against a wall
Up against the wall...

High wire fencing on the playground
High rise housing all around
High rise prices on the high street
High time to pull it all down
White boys kicking in a window
Straight girls watching where they gone
Never trust a copper in a crime car
Just whose side are you on?

Look out, listen can you hear it
Panic in the County Hall
Look out, listen can you hear it
Whitehall (got us) up against a wall
Up against the wall...

Consternation in Brixton
Rioting in Notting Hill Gate
Fascists marching on the high street
Carving up the welfare state
Operator get me the hotline
Father can you hear me at all?
Telephone kiosk out of order
Spraycan writing on the wall

Look out, listen can you hear it
Panic in the County Hall
Look out, listen can you hear it
Whitehall got us up against a wall
Up against the wall...

2) Grey Cortina

Wish I had a grey Cortina
Whiplash aerial, racing trim
Cortina owner - no one meaner
Wish that I could be like him

Twin exhaust and rusty bumper
Chewing gum at traffic light
Stop at red but leave on amber
Grey Cortina outa sight

Wish I had a grey Cortina
Whiplash aerial, racing trim
Cortina owner - no one meaner
Wish that I could be like him

Furlined seats and lettered windscreen
Elbow on the windowsill
Eight track blazing Brucie Springsteen
Bomber jacket, dressed to kill

Wish I had a grey Cortina
Whiplash aerial, racing trim
Cortina owner - no one meaner
Wish that I could be like him

Never cop a parking ticket
Never seem to show its age
Speed police too slow to nick it
Grey Cortina got it made

3) Too Good To Be True

Dreamed last night I was dreaming
Somebody answered my prayer
Cried out over my shoulder
Only the devil was there
Hold no hope for the future
Or good times seeing me through
Too good to be true
Too good to be true

Can't find the floor or the wardrobe
Can't find my way to the park
Life in a bedsitter bedlam
Afraid to go home in the dark
All day today just excuse for tomorrow
Tomorrow just something to do
Too good to be true
Too good to be true

4) Ain't Gonna Take It

Prejudice poison
Polluting this land
I'm a middle-class kiddie
But I know where I stand
We got brothers in Brixton
Backs to the wall
Bigots on the backlash
Divided we fall

But we ain't gonna take it
Ain't gonna take it
They're keeping us under
But we ain't gonna take it no more

Women with children
Have to carry the can
Till they lose them in divorce courts
To some pig of a man
We got Benyon and Whitehouse
Trying to get us stitched
Cos abortion and a gay scene
Only meant for the rich

But we ain't gonna take it
Ain't gonna take it
They're keeping us under
But we ain't gonna take it no more

Sisters and brothers
What have we done
We're fighting each other
Instead of the Front
Better get it together
Big trouble to come
And the odds are against us
About twenty to one

5) Long Hot Summer

Hey Joe, get up and go
Wouldn't like to tell you twice
Hey mac, get off my back
Didn't ask your advice
There's all this heat
Out in the street
Telling us to move along

It's gonna be a long hot summer
From now on

Hey man, I don't understand
We ain't hardly bothering you
Say fag, you're just a drag
We ain't nearly finished with you
There's all this heat
Out on the beat
Telling us we don't belong

It's gonna be a long hot summer
From now on

Hey Dan, give us a hand
We won't make it alone
But we can all make a stand
Next time the whistle's blown
So get your feet
Out on the street
When you hear the heat is on

It's gonna be a long hot summer
From now on Look out sisters
Look out brothers
We won't be fooled again

6) The Winter Of '79

All you kids that just sit and whine
You should have been there back in '79
You say we're giving you a real hard time
You boys are really breaking my heart
Spurs beat Arsenal, what a game
The blood was running in the drains
Intercity took the trains
And really took the place apart
That was the year Nan Harris died
And Charlie Jones committed suicide
The world we knew busted open wide
In the winter of '79

I'd been working on and off
A pint of beer was still ten bob
My brand new Bonneville got ripped off
I more or less give up trying
They stopped the Social in the spring
And quite a few communists got run in
And National Service come back in
In the winter of '79
When Marco's caff went up in flames
The Vambo boys took the blame
The SAS come and took our names
In the winter of '79

It was us poor bastards took the chop
When the tubes gone up and the buses stopped
The top people still come out on top
The government never resigned
The Carib Club got petrol bombed
The National Front was getting awful strong
They done in Dave and Dagenham Ron
In the winter of '79
When all the gay geezers got put inside
And coloured kids was getting crucified
A few fought back and a few folks died
In the winter of '79

7) Man You Never Saw

Have you heard an ugly whisper
Is the rumour really true
Just in time, we're next in line
They're really after me and you
Since the demonstration
Clamping down on every side
Rounding up the kids at random
Army curfew every night

Don't repeat this conversation
Don't let on we've met before
Try and make like I'm a stranger
I'm a man you never saw

Church police were round this morning
And the army's on our track
Took away my books and papers
Only just got out the back
I just called in to tell you
That your place is being watched
Don't go into work tomorrow
Try and make it down the docks

Don't repeat this conversation
Don't let on we've met before
Try and make like I'm a stranger
I'm a man you never saw

Dump your car and burn your letters
Smash your glasses, cut your hair
Buy a suit and take a raincoat
When you go, don't tell us where
Take a look outside my window
I don't recognise that van
Someone standing in the doorway
Better make it while you can

8) Better Decide Which Side You're On

All you downtrodden people
Always bear the brunt
Just sit back on you fat backsides
Till you have to face the Front
Waiting till the bullyboys get you
Don't make no kind of sense
And pretty soon there'll be no room
For sitting on the fence

You better decide which side you're on
This ship goes down before too long
If Left is right then Right is Wrong
You better decide which side you're on

Too bad for the gay revolution
This is as far as we get
And if you think you're free, well listen to me
You ain't seen nothing yet
We're all gonna feel the backlash
Of puritannical power
And kicking us down into the ground
Gonna be their Finest Hour

You better decide which side you're on
The chips go down before too long
If Left is right then Right is Wrong
You better decide which side you're on

Three boys working on a slave gang
Chained in the cottage at night
Killed the overseer, broke down the door
Now they gonna shoot us on sight
Night time sticking to the 'B' roads
Hiding from the men with the guns
Hitting the ditches
Everytime somebody comes

Every single house has been looted
Every single city's been burned
Every can of food has been opened
Every single stone has been turned
Found this Parka on a deadman
Jamie got a couple of knives
Countryside crawling with maniacs
You gotta survive

10) Power In The Darkness

Power in the darkness
Frightening lies from the other side
Power in the darkness
Stand up and fight for your rights

Freedom... we're talking bout your freedom
Freedom to choose what you do with your body
Freedom to believe what you like
Freedom for brothers to love one another
Freedom for black and white
Freedom from harassment, intimidation
Freedom for the mother and wife
Freedom from Big Brother's interrogation
Freedom to live your own life... I'm talking 'bout

Power in the darkness
Frightening lies from the other side
Power in the darkness
Stand up and fight for your rights

(Voice from The Other Side:) "Today, institutions fundamental to the British system of Government are under attack: the public schools, the house of Lords, the Church of England, the holy institution of Marriage, even our magnificent police force are no longer safe from those who would undermine our society, and it's about time we said 'enough is enough' and saw a return to the traditional British values of discipline, obedience, morality and freedom.
What we want is:

Freedom from the reds and the blacks and the criminals
Prostitutes, pansies and punks
Football hooligans, juvenile delinquents
Lesbians and left wing scum
Freedom from the niggers and the Pakis and the unions
Freedom from the Gipsies and the Jews
Freedom from leftwing layabouts and liberals
Freedom from the likes of you..."

Power in the darkness
Frightening lies from the other side
Power in the darkness
Stand up and fight for your rights

11) Don't Take No For An Answer

We first met in the winter
Said 'let's give it a try'
I swallowed my fears
A couple of years
Just living a lie
I'd just come from the country
Wide-eyed and naive
I signed on the line
I signed a long time
Now you won't let me leave... but you

Don't take no for an answer (x3)
When you've nothing to lose... no you
Don't take no for an answer( x3)
Put yourself in my shoes

I don't want any trouble
I ain't after a fight
But well-respected man
Please understand, man
You're standing in my light
No use sticking together
I've gotta get out and get off
I offered you a slice
You told me no dice
Cos you wanted the lot... but you

Don't take no for an answer (x3)
When you've nothing to lose... no you
Don't take no for an answer( x3)
Put yourself in my shoes

From 1978 EP by Tom Robinson Band 'Rising Free'

12) Martin

I just want to tell you about Martin
Cos nobody I know has got a brother like him
As kids we could never be parted
The neighbours all knew us as the terrible twins
At school some kids were always looking for a fight
But Martin never wanted a fuss
Bigmouth Brown thought he'd push him around
Being three years older than us
So I smashed him in the mush with the cloakroom stool
I got six of the best and suspended from school

But it was worth it with a brother like Martin
It was worth it with a brother like him

We used to nick motors for a joyride
Till we rammed a Black Maria in this XJ6
To give Martin time to get clear
I tried to punch a few policemen before I got nicked
I got Borstal for taking and driving away
And beating up the boys in blue
But Martin never missed a single visiting day
He hitched from Clapham to Crewe
With all me racing mags and the little bits of news
Smuggling in ciggies and a little bit of booze

No-one ever had a brother like Martin
No-one ever had a brother like him

People get the wrong impression with Martin
I know he doesn't mix much but he's no snob
The weekend I got out of remand home
He'd got Uncle Ruby to find me this job
And back at my Nan's he'd repainted my room
And bought me a brand new carpet
There was all me old records and books on a shelf
And a secondhand telly from the market
You can get a bit hard when you've been inside
But I hugged the old bastard and I almost cried

Cos no-one ever had a brother like Martin
No-one ever had a brother like him

From 1978 EP by Tom Robinson Band 'Rising Free'

13) Glad To Be Gay

The British Police are the best in the world
I don't believe one of these stories I've heard
'Bout them raiding our pubs for no reason at all
Lining the customers up by the wall
Picking out people and knocking them down
Resisting arrest as they're kicked on the ground
Searching their houses and calling them queer
I don't believe that sort of thing happens here

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

Pictures of naked young women are fun
In Titbits and Playboy, page three of The Sun
There's no nudes in Gay News our last magazine
But they still find excuses to call it obscene
Read how disgusting we are in the press
The News of The World and the Sunday Express
Molesters of children, corruptors of youth
It's there in the paper, it must be the truth

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

Don't try to kid us that if you're discreet
You're perfectly safe as you walk down the street
You don't have to mince or make bitchy remarks
To get beaten unconscious and left in the dark
I had a friend who was gentle and short
Got lonely one evening and went for a walk
Queerbashers caught him and kicked in his teeth
He was only hospitalised for a week

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

So sit back and watch as they close all our clubs
Arrest us for meeting and raid all our pubs
Make sure your boyfriend's at least 21
So only your friends and your brothers get done
Lie to your workmates, lie to your folks
Put down the queens and tell anti-queer jokes
Gay Lib's ridiculous, join their laughter
'The buggers are legal now, what more are they after?'

Sing if you're glad to be gay
Sing if you're happy that way

Glad To Be Gay
(various alternative verses performed 1979-92)

The British Police are the best in the world
I don't believe one of these stories I've heard
About pretty policemen in leather and jeans
Showing their leg through a split in the seams
Leering at people and leading them on
Then running them in when they start to respond
The press all ignore it, they don't want to see
Except when the case is... a Tory MP

Pictures of naked young women are best
In the News of the Screws and the popular press
They plaster their pages with bingo and tits
Then add all the scandal and slander that fits
The women at Greenham they smeared and despised
They crucified Elton with gossip and lies
If it's paedophile teachers or lesbian nuns
If it's filth and it's fiction... it's there in the Sun

Have you heard the story about Peter Wells
Who one day was arrested and dragged to the cells
For being in love with a man of 18
The vicar found out they'd been having a scene
The magistrate sent him for trial by the Crown
He even appealed, but they still sent him down
He was only mistreated a couple of years
Cos even in prison they...
Look after the queers.

A sense of proportion is where we begin
We're fighting a virus, not punishing sin
The medical facts are ignored or forgot
By the bigots who think it's the Judgement of God
The medics are baffled and caught on the run
They tell us the nightmare has barely begun
While government funding is worse than a joke
Cos saving our lives doesn't... win any votes

Now enemies everywhere laugh at the sight
Of gay against lesbian, dyke against dyke
I don't give a toss about who's in the wrong
The ins and the outs - or the faults in this song
We're getting oppressed and arrested and banned
While we bicker politically where we should stand
Forget the aggression from everywhere else
We still do a wonderful job... oppressing ourselves

So sit back and watch as they seize all our books
And treat us like lepers and sinners and crooks
Just hope you don't get caught up in the raids
Or pick up a pig or a partner with AIDS
Lie to your workmates & lie to your folks
Put down the clones and tell lesbian jokes
Forget the aggression from everywhere else
While we still do a wonderful job
Oppressing ourselves... so try and (SING IF...etc)

With friends and supporteers from over the land
We're gathered together and making a stand
To fight for the right for a home and a job
And to walk without fear of a kick in the gob
Slagged in the media, bashed by the bill
With cheap politicians all making a kill
We're lesbian women, we're men who are gay
We're here and we're human and... won't go away

(With grateful thanks to Eric Presland for his help and suggestions over the years in keeping the references current and up-to-date)

14) Right On Sister

She's a right on sister
And she knows what she likes
She needs you and me, man
Like a fish needs a bike
Suffragette city
Don't bother her none
Cos the women's revolution
Is bound to come... and I say

Right on, sister
Right on sister, right on

She's a clear level thinker
Just look at her play
She's got it together
In most every way
The women's army is marching
And the weak shall be strong
Power to the sisters
Right on, right on... and I say

Right on, sister
Right on sister, right on

From 1978 EP by Tom Robinson Band 'Rising Free'

15) 2-4-6-8 Motorway

Drive my truck midway to the motorway station
Fairlane cruiser coming up on the left hand side
Headlight shining, driving rain on the window frame
Little young Lady Stardust hitching a ride... and it's

2-4-6-8 ain't never too late
Me and my radio truckin' on thru the night
3-5-7-9 on a double white line
Motorway sun coming up with the morning light

Whizzkid sitting pretty on your two-wheel stallion
This ol' ten-ton lorry got a bead on you
Ain't no use setting up with a bad companion
Ain't nobody get the better of you-know-who

2-4-6-8 ain't never too late
Me and my radio truckin' on thru the night
3-5-7-9 on a double white line
Motorway sun coming up with the morning light

Well there ain't no route you could choose to lose the two of us
Ain't nobody know when you're acting right or wrong
No-one knows if a roadway's leading nowhere
Gonna keep on driving home on the road I'm on...

2-4-6-8 ain't never too late
Me and my radio truckin' on thru the night
3-5-7-9 on a double white line
Motorway sun coming up with the morning light

16) I Shall Be Released

Lyrics & music by Bob Dylan (with small addition by TR)

They say everything can be replaced
They say every distance in not near
Yet I remember every face
Of every man who put me here

I see my life come shining from the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now I shall be released

They say every man needs protection
They say that every man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Somewhere so high above this wall

I see my life come shining from the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now I shall be released

They say there'll be a new enquiry
They say there's been a slight mistake
But while they write reports,we've heard it all before
Let's get him out before it's all too late

Now yonder there's a man in this lonely crowd
A man who swears he's not to blame
Ten long years he's been there shouting so loud
Just crying out that he was framed

I see my life come shining from the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now I shall be released

'B' side of '2-4-6-8 Motorway' single

17) I'm Alright Jack

Don't you worry, I'm alright, Jack
We've never had it so good
House in Hampstead, fallout bunker
Done everything we could
Fitted the Rolls with a shatterproof windscreen
Soon as we heard the news
Harrods do a nice little teargas
Even a woman can use

All good men at Number Ten
Everything's understood
Don't you worry, I'm alright, Jack
We've never had it so good

Don't you worry, I'm alright, Jack
We've never had it so good
There's plenty of grouse at the country house
We're eating as we should
Hugh's at Sandhurst, everything's safe
With Perkins running the farm
Half a dozen shotguns in the Land Rover
Ready for the call to arms

Gin traps down around the grounds
Trip wires out in the wood
Don't you worry, I'm alright, Jack
We've never had it so good

'B' side of 'Up Against The Wall' single