Cut the Crap, het laatste album van The Clash is ..eh… ‘crap’ – Strummer had Mick Jones nooit moeten ontslaan – maar er staat één pareltje op. This Is England beschrijft de situatie in het land tijdens de eerste jaren van het Thatcher-regime. Uiteraard nog even relevant als altijd. Na Thatcher kwamen Major, Blair, Cameron en May – en veranderde er niets.
I hear a gang fire on a human factory farm
Are they howling out or doing somebody harm
On a catwalk jungle somebody grabbed my arm
A voice spoke so cold it matched the weapon in her palm
This is England
This knife of Sheffield steel
This is England
This is how we feel
Time on his hands freezing in those clothes
He won’t go for the carrot
They beat him by the pole
Some sunny day confronted by his soul
He’s out at sea, too far off, he can’t go home
This is England
What we’re supposed to die for
This is England
And we’re never gonna cry no more
Black shadow of the Vincent
Falls on a Triumph line
I got my motorcycle jacket
But I’m walking all the time
South Atlantic wind blows
Ice from a dying creed
I see no glory
When will we be free
This is England
We can chain you to the rail
This is England
We can kill you in a jail
Big British boots go kick Bengali in the head
Police sit watchin’
The newspapers being read
Who dares to protest
After the attacker fled
Out came the batons and
The British warned themselves
This is England
The land of (il)legal dances
This is England
Land of a thousand stances
This is England
This knife of Sheffield steel
This is England
This is how we feel
This is England
This is England
