Unemployment's rising in the Chigley part of town
And it's spreading like pneumonia
Doesn't look like going down
There's trouble at the fire station
Someone's had the sack
And the lad's are going to launch a scheme
To get rid of Captain Flack
Tell PC McGarry to get himself a mate
And arm themselves with CS gas
They're going to be out late
We've had Cant Conformism since 1966
And now subversions in the air
In the shape of flying bricks
Someone get a message through to Captain Snort
That they better start assembling the boys from the fort
And keep Mrs Honeyman right out of sight
'Cos there's going to be a riot down in Trumpton tonight
All this aristocracy has really got to stop
We could overthrow the surgery
And Kidnap Dr Mopp
Then Chippy Minton's Socialists
Could storm the market square
And make plans to assasinate
Our autocratic mayor
Windy Militant leads his Basque-like
Corngrinders to war
With windmill sails and bombs with nails
They smash the Town Hall door
But Snorty and his boys arrive with one big erstwhile crew
Whereupon they bring about a military coup
Someone get a message through to Captain Snort
That they better start assembling the boys from the fort
And keep Mrs Honeyman right out of sight
'Cos there's going to be a riot down in Trumpton tonight
Monkey Man adds:
A 2003 reworking of the 1986 original "Trumpton Riots " the lyrics are taken from the CD "Back in the D.H.S.S. /Trumpton Riots EP
Half Man Half Biscuit Half Hearted
Half Man Half Biscuit Half Hearted
Ah yes. Why spend time typing up the lyrics to Half Man Half Biscuit songs? Because they are gems like no other. We celebrate British bands and artists for seminal musical works (think Bowie or Elvis Costello) and, unless you happen to know the late John Peel's inside leg measurement or you were enlightened as a student, the majesty, wit and sheer intelligence of the HMHB opus is ignored. Shame, shame, shame.
Over the years a number of web sites have recorded some lyrics and a multitude of research notes for the songs [see the excellent www.hmhb.co.uk]. The latter are invaluable to understanding the wide ranging and often obscure historical references. The former are a mixed bag, with only a few songs listed.
So what started out as a full hearted attempt by me to record the lyrics so my sister could understand the songs has developed into a blog post and a project to educate the half-hearted masses and to provide a definitive song list with lyrics.
They'll be other crap on here too such as my own songs "Progressive Dads", "People called Wilson", "Blog-proof iPod", "Armchair Expert" and "Holistically Challenged"- I need to finish writing them first :)
"...Baby I'm from the Wirral Peninsula.
A merciless despot with nothing to lose"
Please note that all lyrics are mostly my interpretation and are presented here to assist you in understanding the songs. They are the copyright of others.
You should also pay a visit to www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/ for HMHB lyrics - a superb site with a superb range of listings
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3 comments:
excellent - thanks for this very useful compendium!
One correction:
'Then Chigley Militant Socialists
storm the market square'
Chigley being the neighbouring town to Trumpton as I recall, which even had it's own spin-off series.
Hey Psylophone,
Yep that makes sense except that the lyrics are printed in the cd booklet that comes with the "Back in the D.H.S.S" cd and clearly show "Chippy Minton".
He's the Trumpton carpenter (hence "chippy" as his forename") and that makes even more sense.
Still, having printed lyrics to refer to with a HMHB album is a rarity!
And Chigley was a neighbour to Trumpton albeit a very sleepy neighbour. In fact it was a bit like Eastbourne. Without the sea. Just old people.
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