The Kinks Album

"News has just reached us of a major victory for Mr. Black
and the People's Army.
The battle took place on the outskirts of a small village
somewhere in the northern zone.
Casualties on both sides are reported to have been very high indeed
and our on-the-spot correspondent describes the fighting
as some of the fiercest in living memory.
No quarter has been shown on either side."

[Sung by The Tramp]

While the rich get their kicks with their affluent antics
Mr. Black sits and ponders their fate.
He just sits in the gloom of his dimly-lit room
Waiting for them to swallow the bait.
While the rich run their rackets he sits in his attic
And casually clocks their defeat.
While the politicians cover up mistakes that they've made
And all the promises, the lies and deceits.
A military coup has been long overdue.
Now there's fighting and panic in the streets.
Amid the mass disillusion, disorder and confusion,
He will rise now his plan is complete.
But me, I'm only standing here
Watching it all go on and I'm watching it all go wrong
And it's painfully clear that the battle is near
And I wish I could just disappear.

While Flash and his men drink champagne in their den
And debase life with crude ostentation,
The poor cry for more, but they're reaching the point
Where the people can't stand any more.
But me, I'm only standing here
Watching it all go on, and I'm watching it all go wrong
And it's painfully clear that the battle is near
And I wish I could just disappear

[Sung by Mr. Black in an attic somewhere in suburbia]

When a solution comes,
It's gonna breathe right down on everyone.
When a solution comes
It's gonna cover up the clouds
And eclipse the sun
And black out a pale blue sky,
And everybody's gonna be terrified,
Because they're all going to feel the bite
And there's going to be a revolution
When a solution comes.
It won't take sides with anyone
Regardless of race or creed,
The whole wide world is gonna feel the squeeze.
The red, black, yellow and white
And even the Arabs and the Israelites
They're all going to feel the bite
And there's going to be a revolution.
I've been searching a long, long time,
Looking for a final solution
Searching here, searching there,
Searching everywhere.
Now my day has finally come
It's time to shout to everyone
I have waited a long, long time,
Biding my time and waiting on the sidelines
Watching it all go wrong.
Witnessing the disintegration,
Rubbing my hands in anticipation.
Everybody's searching so desperately,
They've got to run to someone
And that someone's going to be me.
Yeah, I'm gonna change the world,
I'm going to use a little manipulation.
I'm going to build a new civilisation

[Scene:]
Into Flash's den - a night club

[Scene:]
In Flash's den, a night club partly converted into an office.

[Sung by Flash, Floosies and Spivs]

Show me a man who says he can live without bread
And I'll show you a man who's a liar and in debt.
There's no one alive who can't be purchased or enticed
There's no man alive who wouldn't sell for a price,
Money talks and we're the living proof,
There ain't no limit to what money can do
Money talks, money talks.

Money can't breathe and money can't see,
But when I pull out a fiver people listen to me.
Money can't run and money can't walk,
But when I write out a cheque I swear to God I hear money talk.
Money talks and, baby, when you've been bought
You pay attention everytime money talks.
Money talks, money talks.

Money talks and there's no doubt about it
Money talks and we can't live without it,
What's the point of living unless you've got money?
I just couldn't function without money.
Money talks, money talks,
Money talks, money talks.

Show me an upright respected man
And I'll have him licking my boots when I put money in his hand.
It rots your heart, it gets to your soul,
Before you know where you are you're a slave to the green gold.
Money talks and we're the living proof
There ain't no limit to what money can do.
Money talks you out of your self-respect,
The more you crave it the cheaper you get.
Money talks, money talks.

Money buys you time and people listen,
Money can buy a smile and make life worth living.
If you're ugly money can improve you.
I just couldn't face the world without mazuma.
Money talks, money talks

"News has just reached us of a major victory for Mr. Black
and the People's Army.
The battle took place on the outskirts of a small village
somewhere in the northern zone.
Casualties on both sides are reported to have been very high indeed
and our on-the-spot correspondent describes the fighting
as some of the fiercest in living memory.
No quarter has been shown on either side."

[Sung by Mr. Black The Do-Gooders]

Down with sex and sin,
Down with pot, heroin.
Down with pornography,
Down with lust.
Down with vice lechery and debauchery.

We are the new centurians.
Shepherds of the Nations.
We'll keep on our guard
For sin and degradation.
We are the national guard
Against filth and depravity,
Perversion and vulgarity,
Homosexuality.
Keep it clean.

Down with nudity,
Breasts that are bare and pubic hair.
We are here to cleanse humanity
From the man in the raincoat's
Pale faced glare.
So sodomites beware.

We are the new centurians,
Shepherds of the Nation.
We'll keep on our guard
For sin and degradation.
We are the national, guard
Against filth and depravity,
Perversion and vulgarity,
Homosexuality.
Keep it clean.

I visualise a day when people will be free
From evils like perversion and pornography.
We'll cast out Satan and we'll set the sinners free,
So people of the nation unite.

Put all the pervs in jail,
Bring back the birch, and the cat of nine tails.
Bring back corporal punishment
Bring back the stocks
And the axeman's block.
Let righteousness prevail.

Down with nudity and hard core magazines.
We'll bring religion back
And keep our country clean.
Keep it clean.

We are the new centurians
Shepherds of the Nation.
We'll keep on our guard
For sin and degradation.
We are the national guard
Against filth and depravity.
Perversion and vulgarity,
Homosexuality.
Keep it clean

[Sung by Flash, Spivs & Floosies.]

[Flash:]
They call me the scum of the earth.
They say I'm the scab of the nation.
But deep inside I'm only human.
Just an ordinary man.
With ordinary plans.
They say I'm crooked and bent,
They call me a rogue and a villain,
But if they could see deep inside me
They'd see a heart that once was pure
Before it touched the evils of this world,
For if I cut myself I bleed
And if I catch a cold I sneeze.
Have I not eyes to help me see?
Have I not lungs to help me breathe?
Have I not hands, organs, senses
And affections just like you?
Stop the music.
Well ain't I human
Like everybody else?
Before you condemn me my friends,
I suggest that you look deep inside you
For good and evil
Exist in all of us,
And no man is a saint
And each creates his heaven and his hell.

[Chorus:]
We know that he's only a man.
He's got feelings and faults
Just like everyone else.

[Flash:]
So don't put me down because I've done well,
For even wide boys, hoods and spivs
Have got the right to live.

[Chorus]:
We know we're the scum of the earth,
We know we're the scab of the nation,
But we're your enemies and your brothers
And no man is a saint
And deep down we're all the same as one another

[Sung by Spiv, Flash & Floosies]

Spiv: I was born a slum gutter infantile,
Brute-force educated, delinquent juvenile.
I am a product of mass produced factory fodder,
Streets full of tenement blocks, rat infested filth and squalor.
I left school, went straight on the dole
And unemployment's no enjoyment,
Welfare State owned my mind and my body and my soul.
So I worked my way up to be a second-hand car spiv,
But don't judge me harshly because I'm just a slum kid.
I built up my business with a quick wit and fist,
So don't double-cross me or my hoods will dissect you
With their black jacks and shiv.
Slum kids never get a break, they've got to fight their way up.
Wheel and deal, beg and steal,
Sweat blood to earn a buck.
I didn't want to work on the factory floor,
I wasn't content, I wanted more
Than to be a slave of a lathe,
Work all day and go home bored.
So a second- hand car spiv was what I became.
I built an empire because I used my brains.

[Chorus:] He was a second-hand car spiv up from the slums,
So don't judge him harshly because he's just a slum kid.
Then he moved into property, stocks and shares,

Spiv: And into high finance and you've got to agree
That running a multi-million corporation
Sure beats selling cars second-hand.

[Chorus:] Once he sold old worn out heaps to the punters on the street,

Spiv: Now I'm in control of the country as a whole,
And the world is at my feet.

[Chorus:] The world is at his feet.

Spiv: Power, power, I've got power oozing out of me,
And when you think of all the things I've done
It says a lot for one
Who worked his way up from the streets.
Yes I'm a second-hand car spiv.
Do a deal, buy and sell,
It's my trade, I know it well.
Make a sale, ring the bell
And let the suckers go to hell.
Bank the profits, count the change
Another sucker comes your way.
Life is a crooked game,
And slum kids never change

[Scene: A party political broadcast - Mr. Black and his followers]

He comes on smooth, cool and kind,
But he wants your body not your mind.
He's got style, personality,
But he's the devil in reality.
He'll make you laugh, make you smile,
And make you feel good for a while.
Wicked smile, decadent grin,
He likes school girls, nuns and virgins.
His skin is soft but his mind is hard,
He'll lead you on then he'll tear you apart.
He'll treat you rough and he will make you cry,
And you will kiss sweet innocence good-bye.
And once you're in there'll be no getting out,
So look out, look out, look out, look out.
He's evil. He's evil. He's evil. He's evil. He's evil.
He's evil. He's evil. He's evil. He's evil. He's evil.

He's got wit he's got charm.
But when he gets rough he'll break your arm.
He's got taste, manners and grace,
But when he gets tough he'll slit your face.
He'll buy you jewels, expensive clothes,
Then his mind'll go and he'll bust your nose.
He's a joker and a clown
But he'll pervert you and drag you down.
He comes on smooth, cool and kind,
But he wants your body not your mind,
He is just the devil in disguise.
He will drag you down and he will make you cry,
And once you're in there will be no getting out.
So look out, look out, look out.
Look out, look out, look out.
He's evil. He's evil. He's evil. He's evil. He's evil.
He's evil. He's evil. He's evil. He's evil. He's evil

Why I love you though you treat me bad.
'Cos when I look at you I'm looking through the mirror of love.
Oh the mirror of love and you look alright,
'Cos when I look at you I'm looking through the mirror of love.
You're such a cool lover,
But you're such a cruel lover,
Treat me like I'm a fool,
I hate you but you know I would kill for you.
You're a mean and obscene lover,
But I would have no other,
Even though you treat me bad,
You were the best man I ever had,
'Cos through the mirror of love, mirror of love,
When I see you through the mirror of love,
You're alright and I forget that you're bad,
'Cos when I look at you I'm looking through the mirror of love.

Why I love you though you treat me bad,
'Cos when I look at you I'm looking through the mirror of love.
The mirror of love you sure look alright.
I see your reflection when I'm looking through the mirror of love.
You're a crude and a rude lover,
But I would have no other,
You slap me down, treat me bad,
You're a two-timing swine and you drive me mad.
You're a mean and obscene lover,
But you are my dream lover,
'Cos even though you treat me bad,
You were the best man I ever had,
'Cos through the mirror of love, mirror of love,
I see your reflection in the mirror of love.
And you're alright though you treat me bad.
When I see you I'm looking through the mirror of love.
Oh the mirror of love, sure look alright
'Cos when I see you I'm looking through the mirror of love

"News has just reached us of a major victory for Mr. Black
and the People's Army.
The battle took place on the outskirts of a small village
somewhere in the northern zone.
Casualties on both sides are reported to have been very high indeed
and our on-the-spot correspondent describes the fighting
as some of the fiercest in living memory.
No quarter has been shown on either side."

[Sung by The Tramp]

I can't understand why everybody's quarreling,
Nobody gives in case they lose face,
And everybody's guilty and everybody's innocent,
And the fact of it is nobody gives any more.

It's the same throughout all history,
Nobody gives unless they receive,
And nobody trusts or is willing to believe
And nobody gives or is willing to concede.

Back in nineteen hundred and twenty-five
There were thousands of people struggling to survive.
There was hunger, unemployment and poverty,
Then in 1926 they decided to be free
So they all went on strike and
The workers told the unions, who blamed it on the government,
The politicians blamed it on the strikers and the militants,
Everybody's guilty and everybody's innocent,
But the fact of it is nobody gives any more.

Back in nineteen hundred and thirty-nine
There were scores of German military waiting in a line,
And the Fatherland wanted what the world wouldn't give,
And then Hitler decided he could take what was his,
So they all went to war and said
Kill all the left-wing intellectuals,
Annihilate the Jews and wipe out their race,
Eliminate the weak because they're ineffectual,
And the fact of it is nobody gives any more.

I'm only sitting here watching it all go on
And listening to both sides.
Yeah, why can't we talk it out,
Why can't we sort it out,
We'll work it out if we try.
Why can't we sit down and work out a compromise,
Why not negotiate and try to be civilised?
I'll tell you why, because nobody gives a damn.
Nobody listens and no one will understand.
Yet I'm wondering, sitting here wondering,
And listening to both sides.
Why can't we work it out?
Why can't we sort it out?
We'll work it out if we try.
Why can't we sit down and work out a compromise,
Why not negotiate and try to be civilised?
I'll tell you why, because nobody gives a damn.
Nobody listens and no one will understand.
Yet, I'm wondering, sitting here wondering,
Yet I'm wondering, sitting here wondering
Listening to both sides.
Nobody gives, nobody gives, nobody gives.

The workers told the unions who blamed it on the government,
The politicians blamed it on the strikers and the militants,
Everybody's guilty and everybody's innocent.

Nobody gives. Nobody gives a damn any more.
The politicians, unions, workers and the militants,
The fact of it is nobody gives any more

[Sung by: The Tramp and the Do-Gooders]

In a world full of jive,
Full of homicide and suicide,
There's no room for love and romance.
In a world full of spite
Full of hatefulness and bitterness,
Sincerity don't stand a chance.
And every night I close my eyes
And ask the stars above,
Oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where is love?

Where is love and romance,
And appreciation of storybooks, fairytales
And the ordinary things people did long ago.
Where did it go?
Where is love?
Where is hope?
Where is sympathy and trust?
Where is faith?
Where is joy in simplicity?
And where is regard and respect?
Oh where, oh where is love?
This world is spinning and turning
And my head is full of learning,
But my thoughts keep on returning
To the things I used to know.
I should be stronger,
But my mind continually wanders
And deep inside
A voice keeps crying
Where, oh where is love?

Where is love and romance,
And appreciation of storybooks, fairytales,
And the ordinary things people did long ago?
Where did it go?
In a world full of jive,
Full of homicide and suicide,
There's no room for love and romance.
In a world full of rape,
Full of hatefulness and bitterness,
Sincerity don't stand a chance.
And every night I close my eyes
And ask the stars above,
Oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where is love?
Where oh where is love?
Where is Love?
Where is hope?
Where is sympathy and trust?
Where is faith?
Where is joy and simplicity
And where is regard and respect?
Oh where, oh where is love?
Oh where oh where is love?
Oh where oh where is love?

[Scene:] Mr. Black's army is closing in on Flash & The Spivs.
After a long day's campaigning Flash, having overindulged
The alcohol, has fallen asleep in his den.

Voice: Cooee. Cooee. Flash. Flash

[Flash:] Who is this?

Voice: Wake up Flash. Can you hear me Flash?

[Flash:] Who is this? Who dares to wake me from my slumber?

Voice: Need I announce myself? Am I such a stranger to you?

[Flash:] Say your name. Speak!

Voice: I am your soul.

[Flash:] My soul?

Voice: I have come to show you who you are.

[Flash:] Show me who I am? I know who I am you upstart! How
Dare you intrude.

Voice: You lied and schemed and took over a simple village and
Turned it into a vulgar playground for your own money-
Making ends. Before you came people lived simple lives.
This was a happy place. Then you ploughed up the fields,
Sold off the land and lined your own pockets with the profits.

[Flash:] Lies! Lies! I did it to help the nation

Voice: You did it for your own preservation!

[Flash:] No! No!

Voice: Prepare yourself Flash, there are many who suffered at your
Hands. They are craving for vengeance. Time is running out.

[Flash:] Can this be the end? Can this be the swan song? The final
Elbow? I will not go. The people need me.

Voice: Men like you will always come and go, but the people will go
On forever. Take one final look at the past Flash. Enjoy it,
Because you have no future.

[Flash:] No! No! No! I can't stand this.

Trumpets herald the final confrontation between Flash and himself

I've just had a dream that I never will forget.
And I wish I could erase.
I was standing on the street with a whole crowd of people
And no one knew my name.
And I was just another face
No one looked at me or touched me
Spoke to or acknowledged me.
I had no identity or individuality
No thoughts of my own, no mind or personality.
I was just a no one, a total nonentity
I'm just a number waiting to be called.
It is time for confessing it all,
I'm just another face,
Yes, it's time for confessing it all.

Been a cheat, been a crook,
Never gave I always took.
Crushed people to acquire
Anything that I desired.
Been deceitful and a liar
Now I'm facing Hell Fire.
I can't believe that my time has come
For confessing all the evil
And the wrong that I've done.
The reckoning's come
And now I'm just a no one.
I confess to the timid and the meek
To the cripples and the beggars
And the tramps in the street.
I confess my cruelty, my ego and conceit.
I've opened up my body and looked inside
And I'm everything that I once despised.
I confess for the thieves,
The affected and deranged,
I confess for the muggers and incurably insane.
I confess to the ugly for being vain,
I confess to those I hurt for causing them pain.
I'm just a number
Waiting to be called
And it's time for confessing it all,
And I'm just another face,
And it is time for confessing it all,
Yes, it's time for confessing it all,
Yes, it's time for confessing it all

[Scene:]
Flash is on the run and he goes to Belle for help.
He sings this song with Belle.

[Flash:]
When we were young and green
We shared our dreams together,
And you were my friend.

[Belle:]
We had our good times pal,
We thought they'd last forever.
But nothing lasts forever,
Nothing lasts forever.
Time goes by and people change
It's best we go our separate ways
And it was wrong to think our love would never end
My friend
Nothing lasts forever,
Nothing lasts forever.
Time goes by it takes us all,
Nations crumble and empires fall
And who are we
To think that we would always be,
You see nothing lasts forever,
Nothing lasts forever.

[Flash:]
I know that you'll survive
And you'll get by whatever.
Though you say goodbye.
My love will never die,
It will last forever.

Your love will die but mine will last forever,
Your love will fade but mine will last forever.
Your feeling might go but mine will last forever.
And though you're gone you're in my mind forever

"News has just reached us of a major victory for Mr. Black
and the People's Army.
The battle took place on the outskirts of a small village
somewhere in the northern zone.
Casualties on both sides are reported to have been very high indeed
and our on-the-spot correspondent describes the fighting
as some of the fiercest in living memory.
No quarter has been shown on either side."

[Scene:] After his capture, Flash is taken to a secret hideout to have
His brain cleansed, and his mind conditioned.
Flash, Mr. Black and the Mad Scientist sing:

[Flash:] I can't believe it's happening
I just want to stay the way that I am.
I don't want to live a lie in an artificial world.

[Mr. Black:] Let's build an antiseptic world,
Full of artificial people.
Cure all diseases, conquer pain
And monitor the human brain,
And see what thoughts you're thinking.
Observe your feelings,
Secret fears,
Controlling everything you say and do
And we will build a master race
To live within our artificial world.
Tell it to the people all across the land,
We're going to build an artificial man
With the physique of a Tarzan
And the profile of a Cary Grant,
A superior being
Totally made by hand.
Throw out imperfection,
Mould you section by section,
Gonna make you the ultimate creation.

[Flash:] I can visualise the day
When the world will be controlled by artificial people,
But I don't want to live a lie in an artificial world.

[Mr. Black:] Tell the world that we finally did it,
Made a man that's totally programmed,
Preconditioned thoughts and emotions,

Push-button artificial man.
Did you ever want to live forever?
Well here's your chance to be a total automaton
'Cos we've improved on God's creation
An outdated homo sapien.
Make you taller if you want it
Make your hair grow longer if you need it.
If it doesn't exist then I guess we can breed it.
There'll be no disagreements,
We'll dedicate our lives to achievements,
And organise your life and keep it totally planned.

[Flash:] I can visualise the day
When the world will be controlled by artificial people,
But I don't want to live a lie in an artificial world.

[Mr Black] Tell the world we finally did it.
[& Mad] Modified the population,
[Scientist:] Put your senses and your mind
Under constant observation
Even when you're dreaming.
Replaced your nose, heart and lungs,
So shake me with your artificial hand.
We went and built a master race
To live within our artificial world

There ain't no beauty
And there ain't no style,
There's no quality
And there's no purity.
Honour's dead and buried
Because it's unnecessary.

Look at all the people,
Why they all look the same.
They're walking to the factory
In their cloth caps and trilbies.
They've got no style,
Ain't it a pity.

They're tearing old quality down
Without any pity,
Now they're coming to take me away
To Scrapheap City.
They say that good manners belong on a heap,
They say they're outdated and they're obsolete,
And now they're coming to take me away
To Scrapheap City.

There's no quality
And there ain't no style
Just miles and miles
Of Scrapheap piles.
There's no quality
And there's no purity.
They're digging up all of the flowers
Because they look pretty
And erecting identical concrete monstrosities.
They're killing off all of the animals too,
The only ones left are the ones in the zoo.
Now they're coming to take me away
To Scrapheap City.
Ain't it a pity,
Scrapheap City

"News has just reached us of a major victory for Mr. Black
and the People's Army.
The battle took place on the outskirts of a small village
somewhere in the northern zone.
Casualties on both sides are reported to have been very high indeed
and our on-the-spot correspondent describes the fighting
as some of the fiercest in living memory.
No quarter has been shown on either side."

Hear me brothers, hear me sisters,
Citizens and comrades hear my song.
The old life's dead the order's changing
It's time for all of us to move along.

Got no time to live a life
With old worn-out traditions
Swallowed my pride,
Changed my ways,
And found a new religion.
There you go.

Sick and tired of living on loans,
Driving around in a car that I don't own.
Tired of looking at wealthy faces
Flying off to far out places.
The workers of the world
Shall give the profits to the people.
Class will disappear
And we will live our lives as equals.
There you go.

And we'll all walk along
And we'll all sing a song
And we'll all mark time as we go.
Yes, we'll all walk along
And we'll all sing a song
As we walk down Salvation Road.

Goodbye youth, goodbye dreams,
The good times and the friends I used to know.
Goodbye freedom, hello fear,
A brave new world has suddenly appeared.
Got to be hard,
Don't look back
And no more reminiscing.
Times are rough,
We've got to be tough,
And concentrate on living.
There you go.

And we'll all join hands,
And we'll all march along
And we'll all mark time as we go.
Yes, we'll all walk along,
And we'll sing a song,
As we walk down Salvation Road.

We'll all walk along
And we'll all sing a song
And we'll all mark time as we go.
Yes, we'll all walk along
And we'll all sing a song
As we walk down Salvation Road