Ordinary Gweilo

Some song lyrics about life in England from this week’s Sunday Times (subscription required):

I give a little muscle
and I spend a little cash
But all I get is bitter and
a nasty little rash
– Cool for Cats by Squeeze

Rent a flat above a shop,
Cut your hair and get a job
Smoke some fags and play some pool
Pretend you never went to school
– Common People by Pulp

Girls who are boys
Who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls
Who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone you really love
– Girls and Boys by Blur

I don’t want to change the world
I’m not looking for a new England
I’m just looking for another girl
– A New England by Billy Bragg

I got a job with Stanley
He said I’d come in handy
And started me on Monday
So I had a bath on Sunday
– Up the Junction by Squeeze

Sometimes when we’re as close as this
It’s like we’re in a dream
How can you lie there and think of England
When you don’t even know who’s in the team
– Greetings to the New Brunette by Billy Bragg

Hit me with your rhythm stick
Hit me, hit me
Je t’adore, ich liebe dich
Hit me, hit me, hit me
– Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick by Ian Dury and the Blockheads

I get up when I want,
except on Wednesdays
When I get rudely wakened by the dustmen
– Parklife by Blur

Father gets up late for work
Mother has to iron his shirt
– Our House by Madness

Had a love affair with Nina
In the back of my Cortina
A seasoned up hyena could not have been more obscener
– Billericay Dickie by Ian Dury and the Blockheads

There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
Just like you swore to me / that you’d be true
There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Elvis
But he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you
– Chip Shop by Kirsty MacColl

I would go out tonight
But I haven’t got a stitch to wear
– This Charming Man by The Smiths

Pyjamas lyin’ side by side
Ladies’ nighties I have spied
I’ve often seen what goes inside
When I’m cleanin’ windows
– Cleaning Windows by George Formby