‘Spirit Of 76 (June 1985 Marcus Studios rough mix)’ [7:07] (Macdonald/Peters), The Alarm
Lead Vocals:Mike Peters
Lyrics
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Well I find myself in reverie 'Bout what we might have had And what might have been We had something going once That was such a long, long time ago It was way back in '76 Our friendship formed of pure innocence We thought we might change the world We were all so much younger than today A sign stands over a door, it says "Four lads who shook the world" In the depths of those heady nights We would dream of those bright lights Oh my friend, Oh my friend, Oh my friend And my friend John, he went away And he made some mistakes Got himself put in jail And now when I see him we still talk But there's no light shining in his eyes And Jenny, she was seventeen And more beauty in this world I swear you'll never see I was gonna be king And she was gonna be queen But now all she does is hide behind the tears If there was more sense in this world And work wasn't so hard to find You would not be going your way I would not be going mine Oh my friend, Oh my friend, Oh my friend Somewhere tonight out on the street Somewhere beneath this city's heat In the eyes of strangers who pass me by Oh life is cruel and so unkind Oh the SPIRIT OF '76 And me I've seen my dreams come true But that don't make me no hero I'm just one of the lucky few If a man can't change the world these days I still believe a man can change his own destiny And nothing comes for free in this world no more You got to fight hard for what you want and more And if you don't you'll never unlock the door You'll always be faced with the things that you never tried for I will never give in until the day that I die Get myself some independence Carve out a future with my two bare hands Oh my friend, Oh my friend, Oh my friend Somewhere tonight out on the street Somewhere beneath this city's heat In the eyes of strangers who pass me by Oh life is cruel and so unkind Oh the SPIRIT OF '76 I've been down, down to the river Down to the river of love I'be been down, down to the river Down to the river of love Somewhere tonight someone just might be crying Somewhere tonight someone just might be dying Somewhere over the rainbow I can hear you now I can hear you now Somewhere tonight out on the street Somewhere beneath this city's heat In the eyes of strangers who pass me by Oh life is cruel and so unkind Oh where's it gone The SPIRIT OF '76
Notes
:A backing track rough mix.
Recorded at Marcus Studios, Westbourne Grovem London, June – July 1985.
Mixed at Marcus Studios 27th June 1985.
Mike Peters Notes
:The song that means the most to me on Strength is “Spirit Of ’76” because it’s an autobiographical story of me growing. I didn’t want to write it for this record because I didn’t think I’d yet acquired the skill, but the rest of the band loved it and pushed me through it. I like it because it doesn’t make any illusions. It’s a real-life story about real-life people in a real-life place.
(Strength Tour Program, 1985)
The song is about the most important time in my life. I had my whole
life mapped out before me and life seemed pretty unexciting. Then I
saw bands like The Jam and The Buzzcocks and U2 and things and they really had an impact on my life. It gave me the courgae to leave
something behind, and go out and try to build a new life for myself, on be where I’d be a lot happier and one that was a lot more exciting. It’s a take on that sort of struggle and the fight to establish yourself in this world on your own terms. The music that I heard was the motivation for that, and I tried to capture that feeling in the song.
It involves my friends, my story.
(1985, Backstage Pass 91X)
Dave Sharp Notes
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Eddie MacDonald Notes
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Nigel Twist Notes
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