‘Spirit Of 76 (single edit)’ [4:40] (MacDonald/Peters), The Alarm

‘Spirit Of 76 (single edit)’ [4:40] (MacDonald/Peters), The Alarm
Lead Vocals:Mike Peters
Lyrics
:

And my friend John, he went away
He made some mistakes
Spent some time in Walton jail
And now when I see him we still talk
But there's no light shining in his eyes
And Susie, 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
Life is cruel and so unkind
Oh, Oh the SPIRIT OF '76

And Pete has seen his dreams come true
But that don't make him no hero
He's 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
But the price is high that has got to be paid
For everyone who survives there are many who fail
I've seen my friends caught out in that crossfire

All their dreams and hopes smashed on the funeral pyre
I will never give in until the day 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
Life is cruel and so unkind
Oh, Oh the SPIRIT OF '76


(Can you hear them)
(Can you hear them)

(Lights are still shining)

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- Oh
Where's it gone
The SPIRIT OF '76

Notes
:Produced by Mike Howlett
Engineered by Nigel Luby
Recorded at Marcus Studios, London June/July 1985
Mixed at Battery 4, August 1995
Keyboards by Rupert Black
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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