‘Message, The’ [6:35] (E Fletcher, M. Glover, S. Robinson, J. Chase), Mike Peters

‘Message, The’ [6:35] (E Fletcher, M. Glover, S. Robinson, J. Chase), Mike Peters
Lead Vocals:Mike Peters
Lyrics
:

(It's like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under) 

Broken Glass everywhere 
People pissing on the stairs 
You know they just don't care 
I can't take the smell, can't take the noise 
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice 
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back 
Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat 
I tried to get away but I couldn't get far 
'Cause the man with the tow truck repossessed my car 

Don't push me

Standing on the front stoop, hanging out the window 
Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes blow
Crazy lady, living in a bag 
Eating outta garbage pails used to be a fag hag 
Says she danced the tango, skip the light fandango 
Was zircon princess seemed to lost her senses 
Down at the peep show, watching all the creeps so 
She could tell the story to the girls back home 
She went to the city and got social security 
She had to get a pension, she couldn't make it on her own 

Don't push me
Close to the edge
I try not to lose my head
Don't push me
Close to the edge
I try not to lose my head
It's like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under 
It's like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under)

Say what

My brothers doing bad, stole my mothers TV 
Says she watches too much, it's just not healthy 
All My Children" in the daytime, "Dallas" at night 
Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight 
The bill collectors, they ring my phone 
And scare my wife when I'm not home 
Got a bum education, doubledigit inflation 
Can't train to the job, there's a strike at the station 
A neon King Kong, standing on my back 
Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac 
A mid-range migraine, cancered membrane 
I think I'm going insane 
Swear, I might hijack a plane 

So don't push me,  I'm close to the edge 
I'm trying not to lose my head 
So don't push me,  I'm close to the edge 
I'm trying not to lose my head 
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under 
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under 

Say what

My son said, "Daddy, I don't want to go to school 
cause the teachers a jerk, he must think I'm a fool 
And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be cheaper 
If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper 
Dance to the beat, shuffle my feet 
Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps 
Cause it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny
You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey
They pushed that girl in front of the train 
Took her to the doctor, sewed her arm on again 
Stabbed that man right in his heart 
Gave him a transplant for a brand new start 
I can't run through the park 'cause it's crazy after dark 
Keep my hand on my gun 
Cause they got me on the run 
I feel like a outlaw 
Broke my last glass jaw 
Hear them say, "You want some more?" 
Livin' on a seesaw 

Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge 
I'm trying not to lose my head 
Say what
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under 
Say what
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under 

A child is born with no state of mind 
Blind to the ways of mankind 
God is smiling on you but he's frowning too 
Because only God knows what you go through 
You grow in the ghetto, living second rate 
And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate
The place that you play and where you stay
Looks like one great big alleyway 
You'll admire all the number book-takers 
Thugs, pimps, pushers and the big money makers 
Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens 
You wanna grow up to be just like them, huh 
Smugglers, scrambler, burglars, gamblers 
Pickpockets, peddlers, even panhandlers 
You say "I'm cool, huh, I'm no fool" 
But then you wind up dropping out of high school 
Now you're unemployed, all nonvoid 
Walking around like you're Pretty Boy Floyd 
Turned stick-up kid but look what you done did 
Got sent up for a eight-year bid 
Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag 
Spend the next two years as a undercover fag 
Being used and abused to serve like hell 
Til one day you was found hung dead in the cell 
It was plain to see that your life was lost 
You was cold and your body swung back and forth 
But now your eyes sing the sad sad song 
Of how you lived so fast and died so young 

Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge 
I'm trying not to lose my head 
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under
�..

Notes
:Recorded at Sain Studios, Llandwrog, Wales
Produced by Mike Peters
Mixed by Risteard O’Monaigh & Field Marshall Slug
Engineered by Gethyn Evans
Mike Peters Notes
:”One of my first major influences as a musician was The Clash who were always a challenge to their audience. They have to take the credit for bringing Rap to the UK I remember the hostility when Grandmaster Flash ‘opened’ for them, on one of their early tours, a hostility which turned to admiration upon the release of ‘The Message.’ The stuttering lyrics have remained timeless and worked perfectly over the music of ‘War.’ The production is deliberately lo-fi, in fact the whole track was recorded and mixed in only a few hours. I may have had all the time in the world to record the album but sometimes speed ‘creates an excitement all of it’s own”.
(21st Century Fanzine #2)
Dave Sharp Notes
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Eddie MacDonald Notes
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Nigel Twist Notes
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