Song: MAGGIE T'ATCHER WE ARE GOING HOME

CHRONOLOGY:
June 1984: hits the UK charts at #3
July 1984: peaks at #1 in Jamaica for 4 months
Aug 1984: makes US #7

NOTE: At the time the song caused quite a stir in the UK on account of its controversial lyrics (see below). Margaret Thatcher was quoted saying she was "not pleased at all -- in my humble opinion this song should be banned". Enoch Powell was said to be furious, threatening to take legal steps against the publication of the song.
Rumor has it that Thatcher's somewhat rash reaction inspired Bob Marley to write one of his minor hits, "No Woman, No Cry".

LYRICS

1. we come to dis country
to dis promised land
leaving life in poverty
we can no longer stand
man say go to England
take your family
we don't get tru de customs
very easily

MAGGIE T'ATCHER WE ARE GOING HOME
COS AMONG YOUR PEOPLE WE'RE ALONE
IN JAMAICA SUN WILL SHINE ALL DAY
IN U.K. COLD PEOPLE, NOT OKAY.

2. racial discrimination
we don't get no job
lots of hostility at school
kids come home and sob
no help from race relation board
wife begin to sigh
Enoch Powell on de telly
Wife begin to cry

3. in de Caribbean
life can be more fun
swimming in de water
lying in de sun
we don't need no white collar
under de palm tree
we don't need no white colour
by de clear blue sea
.
.
Copyright 2008 by Bernd Wahlbrinck
Why? You may have guessed - because I wrote and recorded the song myself (I'm afraid it did not (yet) turn up in any charts ...)
.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• jamaica
• immigration
• Margaret
• Thatcher
• racial
• discrimination
• reggae
• satire
• enoch
• powell
• wahlbrinck
• wulf
• jürgen

[janisakironmaiden]

great song man, but u suck at patwa.

[Berniewahlbrinck]

@janisakironmaiden

Hi!

Thanks for the praise regarding the song.

How come you know about Patwa if you are Norwegian?

(I tried my best, but I'm German ...)

[Suppressedify]

Very nice work man !

[Berniewahlbrinck]

@Suppressedify

Muchos gracias, hombre!

[CloeBuckingham]

What do you mean by "need." There is a world market in coal and steel that sets the price . British industries buy coal and steel at those prices. If the British coal and steel industries can compete, that's great.

Since Thatcher closed down loss making mines, British coal is highly profitable. The mines that were left open are doing well.

I think that Thatcher closed down too many mines by mistake. Miners were sleeping on the night shift, so mines seemed to have less potential than they had.

[CloeBuckingham]

Those were fake jobs. Every miner's job was subsidised by the UK taxpayer more than £16,000. East Germany also saw higher unemployment during reunification of with the West. It is the inevitable consequence of a transition from a moribund planned economy to a the dynamic vibrant one we have today.

If I lost my job, I would look for another one. Sometimes that means I move 7,000 miles. Some working class people were willing to move, because the City of London is full of difference accents.

[janisakironmaiden]

@Berniewahlbrinck passion for weed= passion for reggae=passion for patwa :) once again, great tune. even with a fucked up acent like that i really love it.

[zivkovicable]

@Berniewahlbrinck OK let's debate the song. Poorly performed, with a borderline racist droning out of tune jafaken accent. Patronising, again borderline racist lyrics. Totally out of time shaker in the chorus. Kept all the keyboard mistakes in? Couldn't you afford the studio time for another take? This charted? To all those who think music was better in the 80's listen to this!

[CloeBuckingham]

@lfischer88 Import duties might help to level the playing field, given that countries like China make it hard to show our films but do little against pirating. The problem is dealing with the WTO.

While it is true that some opportunists benefited from Thatcher's market liberalization, I don't think she shared their values or lack thereof.

[lfischer88]

@CloeBuckingham See that's just the type of stupid thinking that led us into the economic crisis in the first place. If a company wants to produce their products in China, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, that's fine, but they should pay import taxes out the arse to get their products into Western markets. Oh wait, but that would affect the bottom lines of the corporations that own our politicians, so nobody would ever suggest it.

[HaiLsKuNkY]

good luck in Jamaica :/

[Suppressedify]

@Berniewahlbrinck De nada :D