Get all 13 The Undercover Hippy releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Poor Little England, Greed, Hey Boy, These Days, Fool Britannia, Truth & Fiction, Our Streets - DJ Hiphoppapotamus Remix, "Boyfriend" Single, and 5 more.
1. |
Rise & Fall
04:15
|
|||
We created the state in Iran
We created the afghan Taliban
We created the hate in Iraq
That provided the spark for the ISIS clan
We created this mess
Playing the world now like a game of chess
Anybody wanna guess
Who the pawns are?
Getting fucked like a porn star?
Damn right that’s us
Any fool can tell
Banging on the door at the gates of hell
You’d do well
To educate yourself
Instead of getting caught up
trying to make your wealth
Forget about yourself
for one minute people look around the world
how bad does it need to get
before you get upset
and realise that you can rebel
CHORUS
You think you know now what you know
But you know what you see
And you see what they show you
So come along
You think the world is set in stone
Look around how many Romans d’you see?
Everything that rises must fall
Think you know now what you know
But you know what you see
And you see what they show you
So come along
You think the world is set in stone
Look around how many Romans d’you see?
Everything that rises must fall
Give your more to receive your less
How many gadgets you get for your pound of flesh?
Forty hours a week of pure stress
Just to be able to dress to impress
While the rest of the world might as well be Mars
Empire never really meant to last
Throw rocks in a house of glass
Like a madman living in Centreparcs
But don’t listen to me
Go read up on your history and you’ll see
It’s never really what it’s supposed to be
Looking through the lens
Of the shit they show on TV but the news we see
At best serves the interests of the powers that be
Saying if you wanna drink tea
And live in a democracy
Then the market’s got to be free
CHORUS
Wages fall and they push up the prices
These people don’t know what nice is
Take a look at the crisis with ISIS
Governments left to their own devices
You might think that’s unrelated
But the fact is reality is complicated
And the backroom deals that seal the fate
Of these countries never even get debated at all
Even when the countries at war
Even when all the young men fall
And all because the energy companies still want more
While the poor
Here in the UK can’t even afford to stay warm
While they struggle surviving
Profits are rising
Ask yourself why we support the violence
CHORUS
Everything that rises must fall x4
|
||||
2. |
Truth & Fiction
04:25
|
|||
See these MP’s on the TV
Talking on repeat like a scratched up CD
So many lies that their face looks seedy
So much to hide that they can’t talk freely
It seems now we just simply allow
That every single word that comes out of their mouths is
Put politely, a load of cobblers gonna
House the homeless, employ the jobless
Man you gotta be a total idiot
To buy any of that shit or even consider it
So considerate, leave us a little bit
Throw a few scraps then call that benefit
What? I’m just saying that you can’t lie
Get caught then make out you’re a nice guy
When the cost of just living’s got so high
People can’t even get buy
And we try, but it’s still not enough
Rent just doubled and I got laid off
Caught in a struggle just to pay the debts off while I
Make the best of juggling two jobs
So why, do we cat like it’s such a surprise
Every time we discover new lies
We just sigh
And then scroll on by saying
CHORUS
I don’t know what to believe no more
When the truth becomes the fiction and the fiction is all
When the politicians play their games of war
We’re busy watching shadows on the wall
I’ve given up looking up to leaders,
Man they can’t even feed us let alone leads us
Nurses eating out of food banks
While they excuse banks and let the market bleed us
Do you really wanna feed these leeches?
Do you really wanna hear these speeches?
Go scare some Daily Mail readers
I’m throwing in my lot with the basket weavers
Cos you lot are basket cases
Having debates over who’s less racist
It’s like we’re living in the end of ages
And I still can’t tell whose mask is fakest
But that’s how they keep you focussed
Get your attention then you don’t notice
That power never rests in the hands of the voters
Nah that’s hocus pocus
Now I’m not saying voting’s hopeless
I’m just saying that your vote gets wasted
When you let yourself get sucked in
By the media telling you where you can’t place it
Cos let’s face it, it’s just basic
Human emotion mate, you can’t fake it
So if you ever get a chance to vote for someone taking a stance
You better damn well take it
CHORUS x 2
Does anybody out there know
Where the hell did our grip on reality go?
It’s like we’re living in a tv show
With a screenplay stolen from HBO
And there’s a 8 year old in the director’s chair
Giving a major role to anybody with a grand air
Preferably two or three grand hair
Effectively he doesn’t give a damn or care
Why should he? The ratings are soaring
Who said politics are boring?
He logs in his google account each morning
And watches the ad revenue just pour in
And anyway he’s just reporting
He knows trumps views are all appalling
But he’s not gonna win so just ignore him
Oh hang on: This just in, he just got sworn in
CHORUS x 3
|
||||
3. |
Who's In Debt To Who?
05:07
|
|||
City boys, sit in traffic in Ferraris like
Pretty boys, sipping soda camparis
Comittee boys, committed to the company goal
Well they say they sell futures
Take a look and you’ll see what the truth is
You were sold a lie
Well the futures they were trading
Were the futures of our children
Who hold the light
You opened your bed up
To accept the company setup
Then you offered them up your soul
They played you for fun
But when they take the money and run
Tell me who’s got to take the fall?
CHORUS
Said we’re all, all in debt to you
I don’t even know why we respected you
When it all went bad, who picked up the tab
Tell me, who’s in debt to who?
X2
Too big too fail to tough to nail, that’s what they say
Now they’re too rich for jail, too poor to bail
Have it both ways
Now I don’t need to speculate to set you straight, oh no
Well this is not my theory this is history
If you missed it
Check the writings on the wall
Sooner or later this fairytale elevator it was
Bound to fall
Now we’re falling flailing
Trying to find someone to blame
And leave the system all the same as before
CHORUS x 2
Hey Mr Morgan Chase
Mean old man with a gorgan face
He likes to make what the organ plays
Build a big bubble in the marketplace
And then skank all the money you saved
Every single one of us here we got played that day
Like a round of Monopoly
Bye bye property
Seems like we never get bored of this game
But all the same
I think now we’re getting bored of playing I’m gonna
Board a plane
Travel all the way to New York just to
Flip up the board reset get born again
Cos in the hall of shame
Corrupt politicians and bankers make up all the names
I’m sick of all the money getting drained
Like a trickle in the vein
Of the god damn water main
And then we all get blamed
They say you’ve gotta give it back to the man
No pain no gain
It’s like a ball and chain
Dragging the people down
And taking all their chances away
CHORUS x 3
|
||||
4. |
One Heart One Life
03:53
|
|||
CHORUS
One heart one life one planet to inhabit
And only one chance left to hand it
To our children in one piece
Before the damage is too much
But only if we all kick the habit now
X2
Until the corporate can incorporate
Anything above a love of money in their mental state then we
Rely on the state to regulate
Hold these people to account for all the mess they make, but wait
There’s one problem with this proposition
‘cause whether leading or in opposition every single politician
is on a mission to take his honoured position
use it for his own ambition like he’s on a commision
but it’s the same old story, Labour or Tory
vote if you want to just don’t ignore me
Until we separate the business and politics
Politicians are gonna listen to all the lobbyists
Until we separate the money and the media
People stay obedient and power gets greedier
Until we separate the lies from the fact
Well it’s one step forward but it’s two steps back
CHORUS
Well I’m an addict for the oil like the rest of them
Selfishness gets the better of the best of men
It's like the emperor's new clothes
So full of holes
May I suggest we take a rest
Then get dressed again
Cause this mess we’re in, whoa oh oh
It isn’t going anywhere unless we’re investing in, whoa oh oh
The future generation don’t allow the wickedness to win, whoa oh oh
Were heading for disaster but we can arrest the trend
Stand testament to a future where humanity is blessed again, eh.
CHORUS
Well I’m a cynical lyrical animal
Spinning all manner of flammable mannerisms
Til I’m shackled and manacled like that
Cannibal Hannibal I’m in it to win it
Pushing the limit minute to minute but barely beginning to get a
Grip on the basics yeah let’s face it you’re wasted mate
You know you never even tasted it
And you don’t even know my name
You don’t even know my…
You don’t even know my name
You don’t even know my game
x2
CHORUS x2
|
||||
5. |
Mate Like That
02:46
|
|||
Everybody's got a mate like that
It’s 8 o'clock, you’re round at your mates
You’re getting ready for a night on the town, It’s gonna be great
But it’s getting late, so you all do a dab
And neck a bottle of tequila while you order the cab
It’s gone 11 when you finally rock up at the club
The girls are hot as fuck and you’re a sucker for love
The queue’s long but the skirts are short so of course
You try your patter on the ladies and then work the floor
An hour later and you're almost in in more
Ways than one judging by this girls grin
But then Jim, he’s been on the gin, he starts to
Get that expression that can only mean one thing
Next minute he’s up in the face
Of the biggest bouncer trying to tell him he’s a fucking disgrace
Before you know it there’s a scuffle and you’re out on your arses
And Jim’s moaning that they broke his glasses!
What the fuck Jim?!
CHORUS
Everybody’s got a mate like that
The one who talks back to the bouncer when he’s being a twat
And everybody’s got a mate like this
Gets way too pissed and then tries to give your mother a kiss
Everybody’s got a mate like me
Prancing around like he’s on TV
Not everybody’s got a mate like you
Yeah the one who stays true when it all falls through
Well anyone can be your friend
But when it all falls down
Will they be there to pick you up again?
Re-wind, you’re 16 years old
On a mission to never listen or do what you're told
The only people who matter are your mates but some days
You feel like you could batter them anyway, like one day…
You had a party cos your mum was out, you stole a
Bottle of whiskey cos the rum was out
It’s getting messy when you suddenly hear your worst fear
Keys in the front door and your mum’s appeared
The room freezes, time stands still
Jenny’s in the corner trying to hide Stan’s pills
But you mum just laughs, throws you a wink
Says “Is no one going to offer me a drink?!”
No way man, your mum’s too jokes! She’s the
Queen of the party, she’s the host with the most. Now she’s
Of in the kitchen making everybody toast with baked beans
Acting like she’s suddenly 18
But better than than she be acting grown up
Discovering the bedroom where Emily’s thrown up
So now you’re taking her a rum and coke
Only to find some bloke with his tongue
Halfway down her throat!
What the fuck Jim?!
CHORUS
|
||||
6. |
Pull Up A Chair
03:28
|
|||
Pull up a chair let’s have another one
Just don’t get me started on the Government
We'll be here all night, because I'm mighty pissed off with all these toffs who talk shite
Just give it a rest you're like Fred West, nothing but a well-dressed sex pest
Doing his best to make sure that his mates with the money are left to make more and I'm
Sick of seeing all the lies you spin, sick of seeing all the suckers get sucked in and I'm
At the end of my tether, whether or not I'll ever see a better day
I don't know but hey whatever
Until that day we might as well have fun
Because when everything is said and done
We're just a bunch of clever monkeys on a rock spinning round the sun
What, am I the only one? No
CHORUS
I don't want to play this game, it's getting old now
I don't want to be your slave until it all falls down
Anyone feels the same, well come on over
Cos time’s running out
Check this, this is for all of my listeners, lyrical satirical business
Got revolution on my christmas wish list
Oh wait a minute that's a risky business yeah
So if you're listening in GCHQ
Get a proper job mate the public hates you
I know you're probably just some overweight dude
Trying to compensate because you can't relate to
Anybody in the real world
Evil geek genius dreaming ‘bout the body of a real girl
I bet in Second-Life you're like a player
Soothsayer, dragonslayer, eh ya
Down here on Earth you're just a pawn in a game
Being played by the people who were born into money
They all think it's funny when they're calling your name
And you're running like a dog on a chain, so log in again
This time do the right thing, copy all the data to your keyring
You could be like Edward Snowden
Horns posse blow dem, whistle posse blow dem
CHORUS
Here I go again taking a pen
And taking issue with the mission of these eminent men
But what do I know?
I’m good at hitting a high note
What gave me the impression I was ever entitled
To talk back, take back the power to break that
Conditioned inhibition I could every debate that
Or take that tack with the people who make fact
Mate, give me a break I hate that!
So while you fixate on click bait they’re gonna instate
Slick new visions of a world in which they can dictate
Every angle of a debate
Until the very definition is you live in a cage
Live in a world where exploitation is a given
The only way of living is the one where you’re driven
To earn more, own more, borrow, loan more
You can’t afford the rent, now you’re living at home more
We own more shit now than ever before
We’ve never been more connected and we never get bored
And so you wonder why we haven’t left this crap behind us…
Mate, there’s not an App for kindness
CHORUS x 2
|
||||
7. |
Bristol Peeps
04:07
|
|||
CHORUS
This one’s for all my Bristol peeps
Staggering these streets half asleep trying to lift your feet
This ain't trick or treat
Wake up and smell the roses
X2
What’s that? What you tryin to say?
Your lips move like you're trying to communicate
But your eyes are all glazed
What’s that you say? You done too much...
Ohh K! Yeah it’s all clear now
That’s why you’re on the floor crawling around
And you’re calling out
To your mates but your mates can’t help you
Cos they’re falling about like
Zombies in a B-movie
That’s all you ever really seem to be
But it seems to me the only brains you eat
Are the ones that you may soon need
So get up and get yourself outside
Watch the sun rise
Open up your eyes
Cos there’s so much more to your life
CHORUS
Everyone I’d like you to meet mixie
16 going on 60
Used to have a sparkle in her eye and her smile could lift me
But now the skies are misty, eh
Cos these days
She hoovers up lines like a dyson
Gets knocked out like mike tyson
Yeah half the time it’s white lines and white lightning
As for the other half
Well it’s way to frightening
Being sober when you gotta face
All the shadows of the past that you can’t erase
So now you’re running to that other place
It’s written in the lines all over your face
And you say you’re having fun
That you’re not the only one
You say it’s just a game
You can take it as it comes
But when you’re all alone
That’s when the cracks begin to show
You fill them in the only way you know
CHORUS
Well your logic it’s lost on me
Seems like a pretty high cost to me
Only 23 now it hurts to pee
Yeah pretty soon you’ll have your very own colostomy
So wake up before you wreck yourself
Take a minute to collect yourself
You gotta learn to respect yourself
You better check yourself before you wet yourself
And maybe I don’t know what I’m missing
But I’ve got a bladder not a bag to piss in
Yeah I don’t gotta be no mathematician to figure that’s a rash decision
And even if nobody listens
Well it doesn’t matter cos I’m no magician
I’m just a poor musician
Trying to make some people listen
CHORUS x2
|
||||
8. |
Nothing To Lose
04:59
|
|||
Well they can read your face like a book, one look
I’m telling you that’s all it took, that’s all it takes
To catalogue your past mistakes
Write your pattern to a database
And it all happens in the blink of an iphone
Communication at the speed of light
Passing through the eye of the cyclone
Everything I own
I’m gonna pass it all down
Not to my kids, instead I’ll give it to my clone
Or my clan, with an indefinite life-span
Wanna live until the end of the world?
Come follow my plan, eye-scan
Across your retina vettin ya
Getting all of your letters and never letting you blend in
To the back of the background
Barack Obama telling us he’s backing a crackdown
American smackdown
Wearing a pack on your back and you’re black
You better be expecting attack now
CHORUS
But you’ve nothing to lose if you follow the rules
Kids killing other kids on PS2’s with real drones
Dropping real bombs on real homes
With real bones
In the rubble of the enemy zones
x2
Paranoia is a valid reaction
When your government is monitoring every action
That you take
Every choice you make every stance you take
Every unnecessary law you break
So wake up, and take action
Together we can Beat It like Michael Jackson, our
Biggest enemy’s our own inaction
But together we’re a movement that’s gaining traction
And I hope someday we find our way
Better be soon or there’ll be nobody left
Who we can call sane
We feel connected like we’re part of something bigger
In reality we’re talking to ourselves in the mirror
CHORUS
POST CHORUS
But there’s hope, I have hope, I have hope
Cos I know, that every seed we sow
If we water it, water it, it will grow
And there’s no knowing where this could go
Next time, you and your lover do Facetime
Sexting bare selfies, but not of the face kind
Remember what you’re doing is having a three-way
Just you, your lover, and Teresa May
So please obey the rules we make
Follow the news we fake the views we take
Cos every single move you make or bond you break or breath you take
We’ll be watching you
Closer than anybody’s ever watched before
When the price of freedom is conceded as the cost of war
We’re losing liberties across the board
And if we give in then we’re lost for sure
But what’s more well
These days we’re giving up our privacy willingly
Become our own worst enemy, man it’s killing me
The stupidity of my own ability to buy it
Hash-tag #Share if you’re feeling me
CHORUS / POST CHORUS
|
||||
9. |
You Keep Telling Me
04:40
|
|||
CHORUS
Ukip telling me
Ahh they keep on telling me no no
To turn upon my neighbour no no
I won’t turn upon my neighbour no no
Cos where I’m living there’s a shop on every corner
With a million food to try, whoa oh oh
And where I'm living there’s a face of every colour
In the street when I go walking by, whoa oh oh
And if you listen you can hear the sound of music
From the windows as your walking by, whoa oh oh
That’s what you're missing when your wishing for a Britain
That was never even real so why… yeah
CHORUS
I said I’ve been around the world
Seen a lot of things yeah
And the one thing I know is that
People are people wherever you go
X2
CHORUS
You’re so dramatic, act like a fanatic
It’s such a classic misdirection dirty tactic
While we’re distracted, picking on that black kid
The real villains rob us blind as a bat yeah
So if you wanna point that finger of blame
Aim a little higher, aim a little higher my friend
And if you wanna point that finger again
Aim a little higher, aim a little higher
And then you’ll see the target you’ve chosen
Is just another victim of a system so broken
Even as the waters are closing in
The borders are closing down
CHORUS x2
|
||||
10. |
So Undercover
03:29
|
|||
Young Dave fights crime for a living
Never being thanked for the time that he’s giving, but he
Dons his uniform at the crack of dawn
And counts the days down to Friday
Dave is an undercover raver, cheesy quaver
Whistles, white gloves and wild behaviour
During the week he’s a man of the law
Come the weekend he’s a demon on the dancefloor
Most happy when he’s busting moves
He never really got off on busting the youths
But he never really felt like he got to choose
And now he’s got too much to lose
CHORUS
How many lives do you hide to get by
How many lies do you try to justify
Before you wonder why, why
Why you even try
Try to fool them all
When you know that all along it’s just a lie.
Well Barry was a barrister born and bred
25 years of corporate law stored in his head
Cut straight to the chase, poker face,
No silly business please he’s got no time to waste
At least that was until Barry would go to bed
See Barry always slept in a water-bed
Wearing a man-size nappy that he always wet
With a woman that he paid by the week to breastfeed him
While she read aloud from the Law Gazette
But the fact is we’ve all got a little bit of Barry in us
All got a dirty little secret that we carry in us
And maybe it’s alright to hide
If it’ll add a little spice to life, so tell me
CHORUS
Big Mike, works on a building site
Used to wolf-whistle every girl in sight
And let The Sun decide the words he’d say
Then one night, must’ve been his drink got spiked
Suddenly his mind is alight
And he understands the world in ways he can’t convey
Now he’s an undercover hippy but a brickie by day
Has to pull a sickie cos he just can’t say
That he needs time off for his chakra healing workshop
So instead he has to practice being all
Page 3 tits and
PG Tips and
Extra mushy peas with his cheesy chips
Doing his best to deceive these kids
But does anybody there even give two shits or
Are they too busy trying to blend in
Everybody in his own way pretending
The big secret we’re all defending…
CHORUS x 2
|
The Undercover Hippy Bristol
The Undercover Hippy is actually UK based singer-songwriter Billy Rowan. After 7 years spent DJ’ing and MC’ing on the Drum & Bass circuit, Billy ditched the decks for a guitar and started out as a solo act in 2007. He now plays with a 5 piece band, bringing together, keys, drums, bass, congas and backing vocals to create a high energy, interactive and highly entertaining live show. ... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like The Undercover Hippy, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp