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Finished Unfinished Business

by The Great Leap Forward

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1.
Tolerance & Respect 04:20
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Findings from the Young People Now Positive Images campaigns: • 1 in 3 articles about young people concern crime • 71% of press stories are negative, but only 8% quote young peoples’ views • Young people are referred to repeatedly as thugs and yobs • Other commonly used words: evil, lout, monsters, brutes, scum, yobbo, menace, heartless, sick, menacing, inhuman • 66% of young people would not trust a journalist – can’t think why not…. I am resourceful and creative I have many ways to go. I am resilient and inventive I’m hungry, working towards my goals. I am reliable and punctual I can persevere. For I am on a learning journey I will take it – and face up to all your fears. So just give me tolerance and respect. Give me half a chance and I can. I am resolute and headstrong I have a world to lead I’m taking risks and handling changes I can give care, and take care of all my needs. I know my levels of achievement I know my warts and all I have the skills to be that leader And you will need me to scrape you up off the floor. So just give me tolerance and respect. Give me half a chance and I can. Rolling on, I’m gonna keep rolling on. Demonised and pressurised and held to blame Totally at fault for what the media claims are Society’s ills – but that’s a lame excuse: Who guides the young? Who make the rules? Who sets the tone? Who runs the home? Just give me tolerance and respect. Give me half a chance and I can.
2.
The Freedom Of The Street 04:53
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A civilization maintains its power by denying its graces to the great majority of its people.” (Jack Common, “Freedom of the Streets”). Maintaining the freedom to express dissent remains a powerful indicator of the political health of a nation. Liberty is the lie of the age As the Government moves to keep opinions caged by Dismantling laws that protected me So now I can’t go out the door – I can’t take to The Street You know Freedom is real for those who control and those who impose it. Lean Age kicks so hard to beat, every time I gather in threes Now it’s a measure of democracy That I can’t wave my flag at you but you can stick the boot in me Freedom comes real with steel toe caps and wrap-around whiplash. The freedom of the street is a freedom of the mind, It’s a stage to play the world, chew the cud and organise. Your Black Box lurks inside of me, tracking my tears and logged activities My mobile phone becomes a friend and a foe When my calls are monitored on a “need-to-know” You’ll know Freedom is real only in the National Interest…. So place controls on my Right To Be with your “reasonable-interception capability” And I’ll give you a smile as I walk down The Street Where the cameras see all so control is complete Freedom is real through the eye of the lens and the lies of the Gatherers. The freedom of the street is a freedom of the mind. It’s both positive and negative and most of all – its mine. Don’t cross my path, or the line that’s been drawn Or the cracks in the pavement full of neo-con spawn Let’s dance around the Statute and the Liberty Tree And play at hit-the-coursey – we need our ball back please (mester): Freedom’s not real where the path’s denied and slabs defiled Freedom’s not real where the razor wire’s built higher and higher Freedom’s not real – it’s the wool over eyes, the Tyrant Wolf’s disguise. The freedom of the street is a freedom I can’t find The freedom of the street is a freedom still denied The freedom of the street is a right for all mankind It’s both positive and negative – but most of all yea, most of all it’s mine.
3.
Tradesman's Utopia 04:36
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Well, you can’t have too much of a good thing.” Ever you discovered that you can? For everything’s up for sale these days Everything has a Command-To-Buy. I’m up for sale myself – Conforming to your notion of “good form”. So hoike me round the markets And work me like you work your horse. Good for us, it’s good for you and me Good for us, good for The Family Good for us is good for you and me Good for us -The Bloodline,The Family. Let’s not talk in boss-words. Let’s talk and flatter me up, milord. You’ll glimpse my potential Before the fog of “form” obscures again. Don’t push me off the barrow – Put a plus sign after my name It’s a mark of servitude that I don’t like, but I don’t have the guts to change. Good for us, it’s good for you and me Good for us, good for The Family Good for us is good for you and me Good for us -The Bloodline,The Family. Bow down to Eye: Bow down and put your mind and nose to the grind. No one to hear you so SQUEAL IF YOU WANT TO.
4.
Wholesome Ways To Change The World 03:28
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(India): Land investment has been dwindling for years Extremes of weather added to my fears I’ll take the low road to the City of Dreams Where the good life’s an illusion and the squalor is real Take charge of our futures, reject feudal owners And manage our livestock together we are all strong Build up the stone walls that trap vital water Wholesome ways to change the world: (Honduras): I couldn’t read and I couldn’t write My husband beat me hard every night I worked long days over 18 hours For what my famly needs and the greed of the powers We broke free from poverty, expanded technically Our land now grows coffee that sells well in Sainsburys On farms run by wives we have seized back our lives Wholesome ways to change the world: Civil ears, civil eyes, civil ears, civilised. (Your back yard) We’ll grow our food mountains and manage our water Control the resources that belong to the people For these lands were made for you and me Wholesome ways to change the world Where do you wanna go today to change the world? Where do you wanna go?
5.
It'll All End In Cheers 07:05
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“Please welcome Doncaster Rovers” I wanna go, I wanna stay It’s Holy Saturday - Where the Wise are. “Come on Donny. Quality ball in though won’t it? It’s what you get innit? Goo-on have a gu! Come on Rovers! Come on Rovers! You’re not singing, you’re not singing, you’re not singing anymore! Nice. Come on Rovers! Come on Rovers! Come on Rovers! Come on Rovers! Come on you reds! Come on you reds! Come on you reds! Come on you reds! SHOOT! Come on ref, sort this out. Come on ref, sort this out. Shoot! Shoot! Gerrawaywiya! Hit it! HANDBALL! Warrrrrrh! Hit it! HANDBALL! Warrrrrh! Come on Rovers, gerrit on the floor – show how it should be done. Gerrawaywiya! Come on Rovers! Come on Rovers! Come on Rovers! Come on Rovers! You’re not singing, you’re not singing, you’re not singing anymore! Red army! Red army! Red army! Red army! Come on you reds! Come on you reds! Come on you reds! Come on you reds! SHOOT! SHOOT! Ladies and gentlemen: promotion to The Championship. We are going up.” I wanna go, I wanna stay It’s Holy Saturday - Where the Wise are. I’m Rovers ’til I die.
6.
My Account Of The Revelation 04:05
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To keep the people subjugated the powers invented stories to dupe the mind and make the people slaves to the global hierarchy. I am the voice of The Almighty I am the god of mind-control I am a child of the Serpent – the Monkey: A Satanist in Jesus clothes Sold on a lie by the Watchers on high Let the global enterprise of the Dynasties arise – Lords arise! I am the Truth that speaks all evil I am the Baal in Babylon I am the Nimrod and the Tammuz – The Trinity: The pagan “T” in hoT cross buns Sold on a lie by the Watchers on high All sing with The Seraphim when the camera’s in Uphold The Cross to front the Secret Sins I am The Sun, The Eye of Horus I am the twat of Mother Moon I am the crest that guards The City: The Dragon – The common theme of Uncommon Man Sold on a lie by the Watchers on high Other shape, other kind, Out to take the whole and dominate the mind Shapeshifters of the world – mutate and take over.
7.
Work Dulls The Senses 06:15
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What’s so wrong with the day job When the hours you work are just not enough? What’s so wrong with the day job That you readily work for free? What’s so wrong with the day job That you’re obliged to work in your private time? What’s so wrong with the day job That you neglect your friends and family? What’s so wrong with the day job Where’s there’s a mentality that’s out of date? What’s so wrong with the day job Where the expectation is that you’ll work late? What’s so wrong with the day job That it impacts on your emotional health? What’s so wrong with the day job When your private life belongs to somebody else…? Work dulls the senses, work dulls the mind I need Enlightenment of the Common kind Work dulls the senses, work swallows time Keeps me humdrum and toeing the line Work dulls the senses, work dulls my brain Restricts my thinking and exploits my grace Work fools the senses into thinking Life is fine Though my clannad may differ and my conscience never lies Work dulls the senses, work dulls the mind Emotional hell and eternal crime-in-all: Dulls my shine. Work dulls the senses, work dulls my shine There’s no prize in heaven once the contract’s signed – Dulls my shine. Dulls my senses, dulls my mind. Dulls my shine.
8.
Lunar 05:03
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Lyrics by Chris Oxley , with additions by Alan Brown) Sea of Tranquility Mare Vaporum Sea of Serenity Bay of Dew Sea of Fertility Mare Humorum Ocean of Storms Sea of Rains Lunar Mare Orientale Sea of Crises Mare Nectarus Sea of Clouds Mare Moscoviense Sea of Cold Bay of Rainbows Serpent Sea Lunar There are no stars in the sky Except Stars and Stripes riding high There are no stars in the sky Except Stars and Stripes waving with pride Lunar
9.
It's Our Business To Say No 03:02
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“Sometimes it’s our business to say NO: The Co-operative Bank’s Ethical Policy is based on the ethical concerns of its customers. The Bank refuses to invest in businesses whose activities are in direct conflict with the ethical concerns of its customers.” (Say NO! Show the world you care. Wear your halo over your stocks and shares) Come and join the customers who care Actively supporting your welfare – Yeah! (Say NO! Show the world you care. Wear your halo in our branches everywhere) If you’re failing to meet basic human rights Or not paying a wage for a reasonable life Or supplying arms to oppressive regimes Growing addictive plants that lead to disease Using farming techniques that will ruin the soil And harvesting resources ‘til there’s nothing left at all Animal testing for my blemishes and warts And trading in fur, or chasing foxes for “sport”: Come and join the customers who care Or take your flawed philosophy elsewhere – Yeah! You can bank on me – just tick my boxes. You can bank on me – buy me some organic wool soxes. (Say YEAH! Show the world you care. Wear your halo…………) So give careful thought about where you invest your billions Try Community Finance and give power to millions Buy your Fair Trade jim-jams and eco-toiletry For the people of the world who need stability Save on energy and help reduce the cost Take the power that’s free from a renewable source And everything rosy in the world will be When we’re ethi-cool and GM-free: Come and bank with us today!
10.
Call To Arms 03:24
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ay down your arms, sit down beside me Lay down your arms – we can resolve this thing peacefully You have your faults, I have my weakness Lay down your arms – my white flag’s beside me And if it’s not you then it’s me – oppressively brutal and frightening Come to my arms, lay down beside me Come to my arms – we can sort this thing easily. I have my faults, you have your weakness Lay down your arms – come freeze and thaw with me And if it’s not me then it’s you – impressively fruitful, enlightening One step forward, two steps backwards That’s the way the money goes You’re not bleeding, bleeding obvious Burning bridges and bombing the roads One step backwards, two steps forwards That’s the way the honey flows I’m not bleeding, bleeding noxious Building bridges – restoring the roads Lay down
11.
The Happiest People Under The Sun (Part 1) 07:47
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Let’s walk the path where the hawthorn grows Hugging the river for as long as it flows Through silver trees and the calls on the flash Now wouldn’t that be nice? Wouldn’t that be grand? Around the houses, down the duplicate streets To where the wheels in the sky are now wheels in concrete Flattened hills on which the future’s now cast Will it be nice? Will it be grand? Will it be nice? Will it be grand? Around the bailey where those thoughts were esconsed The night walk home and it’s frosty response The powers that be are laying waste to the land – Now that wasn’t nice, no, that wasn’t grand… WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR CHAINS Wouldn’t that be nice now? Wouldn’t that be grand? Take my word, take my hand Here’s my world, here’s my land Relevant today as it ever was.

about

INFORMATION

www.thegreatleapforward.net
www.facebook.com/thegreatleapforward.comm.unique

Multi-instrumentalist Alan Brown (former member of John Peel favourites Big Flame, A Witness, amongst others) returned to his The Great Leap Forward musical project in 2008 with a scintillating new CD release Finished Unfinished Business.

The title of the CD tells the story of the release – all eleven songs featured were at incomplete “work in progress ” stage when Brown decided to put The Great Leap Forward on hold in the early 1990’s to pursue other interests.

Returning to update and complete those songs more than a decade and a half later, Finished Unfinished Business features a confident and assured Brown delivering trademark melodic and danceable guitar-driven tunes with those familiar social commentaries and politically overt lyrics – the quintessential mix that received such critical acclaim the first time around.

From the countering of the demonisation of young people in the pop opener Tolerance and Respect , through the support for land reform in developing countries in the rolling Wholesome Ways To Change The World and the only song yet known to be written in support of the ethical policies of the Co-operative Bank in the driving It’s Our Business To Say NO to the reflective home area vignette of the pumping The Happiest People Under The Sun (Part 1) – Alan Brown wears his social conscience on his wide-ranging musical sleeve as only he can.

Regardless of whether you’re already familiar with The Great Leap Forward, or you’re discovering the band for the first time, Finished Unfinished Business sees the return of a distinctive appraisal of modern society through the medium of pop music that’s as relevant for today’s pop kids (and their parents) as it ever was.

credits

released October 30, 2008

All songs composed and performed by Alan Brown, except "Lunar" composed by Melodia (Hunt, Oxley, Rose), additional lyrics and interpretation by Alan Brown.
Piano and accordion on Call to Arms by Anthony Chapman.

Copyright Control and Publishing Alan Brown 2008.

Mixed and mastered by Anthony Chapman & Alan Brown at inFX Studios July 2008. www.infxonline.com
Cover design by drinkmilk: www.drink-milk.net
Manufactured by Key Production.

www.thegreatleapforward.net


What they said…

Norman Records
“Alan Brown’s back with ‘Finished Unfinished Business‘ – a lesson in social politics set to anthemic New Order-esque pop with scratchy funk guitars, joyous keyboards and a pulsing drum track. .. . I think his vision is quite individual & life affirming and there’s a great deal of quality tuneage on this album so if you want some edgy, hook filled songs to sing along to (you’ll honestly feel like you know them like friends) give this a crack cos it’s well good (but I’m a long running fan of this quiet pioneer so I would say that!!!)”

Kisschase.blogspot
“Finished Unfinished Business” is nowhere near being ‘indie pop’: instead, like the previous solo outings, the songs are polished, spattered with samples, keenly political and not infrequently funky…..the lyrics are as pertinent today, whether talking about (un)sustainable farming, the creep against civil liberties or the insidiousness of the capitalist work ethic…..as for Mr Brown, well he’s still our hero.”

Atomicduster
“The fact that John Peel was a fan of this artist speaks volumes, and you can see the appeal from the outset. Reminds me of late eighties Wire output, and after seveteen years of relative musical inactivity, Alan’s Great Leap Forward is hardly that, but a wonderful slice of retro pie. Love this album, it’s so accessible and invigorating, dare I say. Treat it gently and with kindness. If you want uplifting music, look no further than this. 9/10″

The Organ
“Finished Unfinished Business is eleven slices of socially aware 80’s flavoured alternative indie pop that hints at lots of fine things without really sounding too uncomfortably close to any of them….rich enjoyable melodic danceable indie guitar pop with classic 80’s synth undercurrents and everything done just right. Socially aware lyrics, songs that say something, and celebrations of those with sound ethical values – everything just spot on. Nothing else needs saying, just go enjoy it.”

Subba-culcha
“Grown up, refined pop with synth twists and lyrical poetry throughout.
If being championed by the greatest of musical talent spotters John Peel wasn’t enough Alan Brown had to produce album after album on his own, simply put, Alan Brown is The Great Leap Forward and ‘Finished Unfinished Business’ is just that….a return to form this album is a shimmering shining light of well produced and perfectly performed pop standards….his twist on every genre he attempts comes off with great aplomb. Enjoyable from start to finish it’s a shame ‘The Great Leap Forwards’ break was this long with it being an undeniable return to form.”

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The Great Leap Forward

The Great Leap Forward (1986-?) is the very long term solo project of Alan Brown - former member of John Peel favourites bIG*fLAME, A Witness, Inca Babies, Sarandon.

Incisive political and social commentary layered on top of sharp yet melodic guitar pop music. ... more

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