FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE


Well they took you from you mother's womb 
And put you in a school told you how to run your life 
By following the rules 
Told you not to pick your nose or disrespect the queen 
Scrub your teeth three times a day 
Keep your mind and body clean 
Save all your pocket money 
Nothing is for free 
And you'd better trust your parents 
'cos there's no one else you see 
And when they send you off each day 
Remember what your told 
"You may think you don't need teaching 
but you'll need it when your old" 
And if you'r too intelligent 
They'll cut you down to size 
They'll praise you 'til you'r happy 
then they'll fill you full of lies 
'Cos intelligence is threatening 
And genius is in 
If you could ever see through them 
They know they'd never win 
So they channel your ability 
Into the right direction 
If you'r good enough and rich enough 
You can be a politician 
On the other hand if your too think 
They'll tell you that you'r lazy 
They'll put you down and wind you up 
Until it drives you crazy 
They'll say you ought to learn a trade 
To help you in your life
Success is written in three parts 
A job, a house, a wife 
They'll say that school prepares you 
For the awesome world outside 
Well it certainly gives you bigotry 
And a patriotic pride 
Racism sexism teacher to class 
From school to work remain the same 
Are you white and middle class? 
You'll learn that badmen dress in black 
And goodmen dress in white 
And the pamphlets in the playground 
Say that's right 
And the girls were made for housework 
Boys were made to fight 
And the naughty pictures on page 3 
Make everything alright 
And so from school to the outside world 
These morals you will take and unless 
You can reject them you'll have your mind at stake 
They'll give you a decision 
When you get to 18 too the right to vote 
For someone else who says he cares for you 
But the only thing he cares about is getting to the top 
By conning you with empty words 
That promise you a lot but the end result 
Is slavery to a flase set of ideals 
You'll be tempted to believe them 
'cos they'll seem so very real 
The slavery of attitudes 
That make you keep in line 
Subconsciously devoted 
To the morals of our time 
And when you end up on the dole 
Which you very likely 
Will they'll offer you a brand new trade 
Learning how to kill 
Why don't you join the army? 
Be a man and not a fool 
There's someone else to think 
For you just like there was at school 
They'll promise you absolution from the murders 
You'll commmit in the name of god and country 
You can get away with it the fill you full of orders 
And promise you rewards like busting up your family 
And sending you abroad a holiday in germany 
Or iceland or hong kong making money being useless 
Well it seems it cant go wrong 
But then its off to northern ireland 
Where you'll practice what they preached 
You'll shoot to keep yourself alive 
And kill to keep the peace 
And then it won't be so much fun 
As you hear the wounded crying 
'cos before, they couldn't speak english, 
And you didn't know what they were saying 
But when the children call you "bastard" 
It will make you think again 
When you cannot tell the difference 
Between animals and men 
Animals don't wear uniforms 
But they kill as much as you 
But the army kills for money 
And animals kill for food 
Its the basest degradation 
In the name of what is right 
Become something you never were 
And regret it til you die 
'cos your father will tell you 
"Sonny you must do as you are told" 
And you'll say the same thing To your kids 
When you'r 32 years old 
And unless you can react against the brainwash 
From the start your government will rule your mind 
And your mind will rule your heart 
You'll conform to every social law 
And be the system's slave 
From birth to school to work to death 
From the cradle to the grave 

[BACK]