‘Sixty Eight Guns (Part I)’ [3:15] (MacDonald/Peters), The Alarm
Lead Vocals:Mike Peters
Lyrics
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And now they're trying to take my life away Forever young I cannot stay Hey On every corner I can see them there They don't know my name they don't know my kind They're after you with their promises (Promises of love) They're after you to sign your life away (Yeah, yeaoh) Sixty-eight Guns will never die Sixty-eight Guns our battle cry Sixty-eight Guns will never die Sixty-eight Guns our battle cry Sixty-eight Guns Sixty-eight Guns Oh, the Sixty-eight For living in the backstreets That's our home from home The painted walls are all we've ever known �The Guns Forever' that's our battle cry It is the flag that we fly so high For every day they'll try and drag us down (Drag us down and down) I cry with anger I have done no crime No (Yeah, yeaoh) Sixty-eight Guns will never die Sixty-eight Guns our battle cry Sixty-eight Guns will never die Sixty-eight Guns our battle cry Sixty-eight Guns Sixty-eight Guns Oh, the Sixty-eight Sixty-eight Guns will never die Sixty-eight Guns our battle cry Sixty-eight Guns will never die Sixty-eight Guns our battle cry Sixty-eight Guns Sixty-eight Guns The Sixty-eight Guns
Notes
:Produced by Alan Shacklock
Engineered by Chris Porter
Recorded At Good Earth and mixed at Abbey Road
Additional Musicians: Keyboards: Ian Kewley, Trumpet: Arthur Fairlie, Piano: Alan Shacklock
Mike Peters Notes
:The song was inspired by a book I’d read about Glasgow street gangs, in the year 1968. 1 always thought that was an important year for young people, it was the first time they really said ‘no.’ It was just when the hippie thing was ending, when peace and love was all going sour. So we’re writing about a street gang called the 68 Guns. It’s about how society reacts against the presence of these young people on the street, and how they turn to violence in response.
(Boston Rock, 1984)
Of the many Seventeen songs, only “Sixty Eight Guns” went on to become an Alarm song. It was the last written during the Seventeen era and was played during the band’s last tour of Scotland and at the final Seventeen show (The Half Moon, Herne Hill, Dulwich London, January 1981). It was at this show that we announced our new name “Alarm Alarm”.
(MPO Web Site Interview, 1996)
Dave Sharp Notes
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Eddie MacDonald Notes
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Nigel Twist Notes
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