We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Great Leap Forward (compilation)

by The Great Leap Forward

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £5 GBP  or more

     

1.
Heart & Soul 04:40
I’ll put a smile on that face divine I will make all that’s yours – come around and take all that’s mine. Just leave here for me The Freedom of the Streets… You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul You’d take everything, everything I own (as the stakes grow higher) You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul (as the stakes grow higher) Take everything until the life blood runs cold… We’re flexing muscles to a point above pain We’ve been breaking more backs – exceeding goals again and again. Blow the trumpet free – free for Liberty… You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul You’d take everything that I own (as the stakes grow higher) You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul You’d take everything, being a criminal… You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul The things you do to me – you take me higher. Well, this is it – but is this how it should be? For in the Land of our Dearth we’ve got work re-writing history. Images rise and images fall… You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul Take everything ‘til the life blood runs cold… As the stakes grow higher.
2.
I’m in over my head (as my stockbroker says) That’s what debts are for – overwhelming. I’m not really scared (although my rights are impaired) Just leave me alone – for a moment. I’m having the time of my life in the prime of my strife Amongst amusing union wives – Adjust the radio, adjust the TV set, and we can all sing together: “I have the strength, I have the will”. This is what you scheme for. I get a knife in my back (some sort of ironic attack) When I open the door. I get points down my throat (god knows we all love to gloat) Well, that’s what fiends are for. So when you’re making your bed for countless other heads Who are calculating and self-concerned Why not mash the radio, sell the TV set and we can all sing unhindered: “I have the strength, I have the will”. This is what you strive for. I’m having the time of my life, the time of my life Amongst confusion, stress and lies – Don’t trust the radio or what the TV says So we can all sing together, sing together: “I have the strength, I have the will”. This is what you grind for.
3.
“Until we’re truly equal we will not be truly free.” A point imprinted over your father’s knee. Pull back the curtains, let that hiding sink in, Pondering on what it means to you and your kin. No apologies to the Good Time Clan, For when the big ship sinks then so does the band – Driven to care, who was the soul that said: “The heart on my sleeve goes with the art in my head.” “Two Nations…” To safeguard all that’s left in life is now a treasonous and a heinous crime, And if you’ve not got the joke yet, if the punchline’s amiss Then here’s a good friend who’ll tell you just how it is ‑ Tell ‘em, big fella: “You are compelled to pass all your life in want and in heavy work, whilst others, who do not work at all profit by what you produce. You are slaves to these men, and this should not be.” “We are all workers now..” “In such a time of mass employment it was a wonder that men weren’t more often up in arms about it. For those afflicted by economic affliction, a word of comfort, a word of encouragement:” “Blow the bloody bugle, bang the bloody drum, Blast the bloody bourgeoisie to bloody kingdom come ! If the Young haven’t the guts to be audacious and full of Fire Then there’s not much hope for any of us – Socialism isn’t something to apologise for!” IF YOU REALLY WANT TO CHANGE THINGS, YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE THE POWER TO DO IT. “We are all workers now..” “We found the Union Jack worth living under!” “I want you ask yourselves: – What about us though? We don’t own our country! – DON’T TALK SUCH A LOT OF ROT. – Why do you think that’s rather troublesome? – IT IS OUR COUNTRY, AND IF THERE IS INJUSTICE AND INEQUALITY, IT’S OUR FAULT FOR ALLOWING IT!” “Why not write to your MP about it? “ Ho Ho – you’re joking aren’t you??
4.
Honey Dear, if the sun is in your eyes, I’ll steal the shade to keep the staple things in life ‑ There are many up here who think its over, Choking on their beer as it instigates tears: low and Be-Holed. Honey Dear, when the country’s undermined, There’s a moral duty to smash the steel behind that complacent smile… Well, staring into your beer won’t make the weather clear – no no no ! Honey Dear, what’s to be done, it can be done! I’d gladly sell your begging bowl To put a brick in the mouth that grates on and on. Honey Dear, take the sticks and stones with the froth and the foam ‑ Cornered beasts would do anything to keep control and everything they own. There are many down here rolling in clover – Skimming the cream off the Monetarist Dream and auctioning off the left-overs. Honey Dear, we will get what we deserve: Slaughtered daughters, castrated sons if we haven’t the nerve to pull a fast one, for Honey Dear, there’s an Achilles Heel to the strong: It’s called insolence, pride and arrogance, And a crass belief that “We is never, never wrong.” Where are the many thinking it over? Stepping up a gear out of the Bondage of Fear? Brollies to the fore, girls! I can’t hear the thunder but I can feel the rain, So do we just talk about the weather, merely hope it gets better? No, no no!
5.
6.
“It is just after dawn, and the crew of the George C. Marshall are making a final check: STAND CLEAR TUBE SEVEN – COMING SHUT TUBE SEVEN. In missile tube number seven, a Poseidon missile with its multiple warheads waits, ready for blast-off once the submarine reaches the firing zone. What Commander Fred Fear and his crew will do on this mission is what they would do in a nuclear war. There is an apparent absence of tension or emotion – maybe this is because this is not the real thing…maybe because the men are trained not to question what they are doing, but to just obey orders – JUST OBEY ORDERS!” It’s the real thing, Hope is. “The scale of destruction which is implied by any of failure of defence is…unimaginable: JUST OBEY ORDERS! If this risk is the price of maintaining peace, an increasing number of people regard the continued arms build up as an unacceptable threat to ALL of our lives – JUST OBEY ORDERS! It’s as simple as turning the key in your front door…” It’s the real thing, Hope is.
7.
Well, Belle 02:41
Treat me gently – don’t put me down I want decisions that are taken in my home town Sever now, sever all - Give back the power that you stole before. Southern Comfort breeds a Northern Hell A cheap pun on words – how come we’ve borne it for so long, hen? Sever now, sever on down To the communal sounds of your stomping grounds. Well, the spirits are out tonight They’re singing: “Haste ye back for another try - Do good by us an’ we’ll see you right.” When Ah grow up Ah want a Civil Tongue When Ah grow up Ah want a country that fits me in Sever now, sever all – Give back the keys you took from County Hall. Ah believe in a regional voice – Regional voices in regional choices Sever-now, sever on down And cock a snoot at this colonial crown. The spirits are out tonight Singing: “Haste ye back for another try - Do good by us an’ we’ll sithee reight.”
8.
I have The Great British Disease – I plug my ears and pull down the blinds. Playing “Follow Our Leader” time after time, For I’m wealthier now than many friends of mine. I am The Ghost of Britain Past – Can you afford me for my fee is high. My memory is short but my tolerance is not, And when the voting starts my thinking goes to pot. Is this the only way, is this the only way forward? The thing I miss in a politician’s kiss is the lump in the throat And the warmth that goes with it. The future’s rosy anyway – I know! I wipe mine with The Sun and The Times. May the Good Shares protect Our City rejects When they’re made 65 before they’re 40! Is this the only way, is this the only way forward? The thing I miss most in this land of honeyed-bliss is … a nod and a smile. All I ask is this: A home to be proud of and a shirt that fits. The sun is shining on this Pleasant Land. We could laugh and say it was but a sham For if it were not for The Peasant Man My head would be purple. LAST VERSE ALTERNATIVE VERSION: The sun is shining on this Peasant Land. We could laugh and claim our turn at the helm, For if it were not for The Pease-Pudding Man Our heads would be infertile.
9.
10.
Won’t you stay a minute longer, for the night is wearing thin Portray a little stronger that raw emotion which we’re all missing, yea. Don’t I crave a little longer now that The Rot has settled in Time to brave this lazy thinking – unlearn the fears that lock me in. For as my days get ever longer the more my leisure is being imposed I’ll turn to heeding culture and start the fightback from the shelves Where emancipation grows. In the Vision Of The Future In the Heaven Yet To Be Forsake the power of Education And be condemned to Drudgery The people will learn to know right from wrong The people will learn to know that EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. So won’t you fray a little louder, unleash the temper that’s so constrained And claim in the name of The Original Sin This Age Of Plenty to which we all strive and strain. In the Vision Of The Future In the Heaven Yet To Be Forsake the power of Education And be condemned to Drudgery Forsake the Power.
11.
Singing songs for the One I love, Writing words she’d never see and cursing This Audacity! Here I am losing face with the One I love As profit-motive sets the pace and privilege re-incarnates. Falling out of the trees, the one-aim bandits strive to undermine us.. Implanting greed as efficiency and to hell with need. Well I’d move the earth for the One I love, For if I don’t somebody else will in Kremlin or on Capitol Hill. Working flexi-time for the One I love – here’s monetary evidence Should I pay the rent or buy more drinks? Turning up at your door, univited, ten feet small… I’ll eat an apple a day for I’ve heard it said it keeps the dole at bay. Fearing hard for the One I love, These Roundheads put too much at stake And so before we all drown in EEC wine lakes… I will spend an hour with the One I love ‑ She’s smiling and exquisitely frayed, superlative for her age. Sit and talk in the sun, watching chimneys fall around us. Fall back to earth ‑ no more soot on the sills ‑ Impotent…AGAIN.
12.
“Compromise, compromise, that’s the way for you to rise.” - “Theer, look at that – that’s wrong! What’s wrong? The houses are fit to live in aren’t they? They’re not condemned are they? The kids look happy enough? - Aye, but they SHOULDN’T be! But they SHOULDN’T be!” “You get 16 tons, and whatd’ya get? Another day older and deeper in debt St Peter don’t call me cos I can’t go – I owe my soul to the company store. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.” I will…. For these are my mountains, and this is my glen. The place of my childhood will know me again. Ah, the sun’ll never set as it hasn’t yet as long as we tug our forelocks. “The kids look happy enough. - Aye, but they SHOULDN’T be!”
13.
Soft lights, sweet music, the seduction of a nightcap – Such are the means by which all masterpieces grow. I’ll feed the goldfish if you turn off the TV and peruse with me On how the state of things should go: “All men are workers, but most work more than others, Unless you’re female, in which case you were born to slave” And how it is such notions – gift-wrapped for consumption Dominate and trivialise the important issues of the day. Vultures hover behind this condescending façade, You and I, despite ourselves, lose all vestige of respect – The sacrificial sods upon the Holy Fiscal Alter Corrupted in truth by contemptuous neglect. Is this what it’s all about ? Are you really sure it’s worth shouting out? Is this what tears your heart out over a couple of fags and unlimited stout? In this respect there are saints worth pointing out - Some sacrifices are surely worth the ink. In disrespect there’s ample umbrage worth taking - When the need to burn the tongue out is duly amplified by..ha! Drink. Oh, you will be my final nail - My closing down sale.
14.
15.

about

Communications Unique CU004
A 15 track compilation of tracks and unreleased versions of tracks from the debut vinyl album "Don't Be Afraid Of Change" (Communications Unique CU 001 1988) and the vinyl 12" single "Heart & Soul" (Communications Unique CU002 1989).

credits

released October 30, 1990

All tracks copyright and publishing control Alan Brown

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

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

contact / help

Contact The Great Leap Forward

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Report this album or account

If you like The Great Leap Forward, you may also like: