The Dubliners: Protect and Survive

PROTECT & SURVIVE
(This document was prepared for the Home Office by the Central Office of Information 1976.)

Text (by The Dubliners, not by the COI):

Well the government's made a document
To help prevent embarrassment
And in the event of an accident
Catching us with our trousers down
It's no use to you when you're dead
Nor even when alive
And the name of this peace of paper is
Protect and survive

So when the nuke's come raining down
It's great to be alive, well
World War Three can be such fun
If you protect and survive
Protect and survive

Well a nuclear strike can be recognised
It would stand out in a crowd
There's a flash, then a bang, then a blast of heat
Then a bloody great mushroom cloud
So if you happen to see one at the end of your street
Would you please pick up the telephone
And inform your local police

So when the nuke's come raining down
It's great to be alive, well
World War Three can be such fun
If you protect and survive
Protect and survive

Put sticky tape on your windows
Block your ears and close your eyes
But it won't make a blind bit of difference
You won't have to watch yourself fry
If you find yourself in the target zone
And you haven't got a shelter
Take a spade into the garden
And dig like merry hell, sir

So when the nuke's come raining down
It's great to be alive, well
World War Three can be such fun
If you protect and survive
Protect and survive

They've got strategic ICBM's
Both theatre and tactical
With independently targeted
Multiple reentry vehicle's
Backfire bombers, Polaris sub's, cruise missiles
And the boy's who hang around the Pentagon
Can't wait to use these toys

So when the nuke's come raining down
It's great to be alive, well
World War Three can be such fun
If you protect and survive
Protect and survive

When Armageddon gets underway
And the rockets come pouring down
All the bloody politicians who started it
Will scuttle off underground
And when they finally reemerge
With no life to be found
They can administrate the rubble
And they can order each other a round

So when the nuke's come raining down
It's great to be alive, well
World War Three can be such fun
If you protect and survive
Protect and survive

For they give us a four-minute warning
When the rockets are on their way
To give us time to panic and Christians time to pray
So when you hear the siren's going
Place your head between your thighs
Whilst maintaining this posture
You can make a final gesture
And with a little muscular pressure
You can kiss your arse goodbye

So when the nuke's come raining down
It's great to be alive, well
World War Three can be such fun
If you protect and survive
Protect and survive
Protect and...

Category:

Education

Tags:

• World
• War
• Three
• III
• Dubliners
• protect
• and
• survive

[BeggelLeonardo]

when was this song first brought out??

[HierKommtMicha]

I don't know this, Leonardo. But I think it was in the early 80's. Maybe an irish friend will know this?

[tamagoMMA]

It came out in 1987 on the double-LP "25 Years Celebration" :D

[HierKommtMicha]

Thanks for this information! I have this double-LP, but I thought it came out earlier on another album...

[DancingMadRB3]

Protect and survive, the British equivalent to Duck and cover here in the US of A

Also I love I love Irish humor sometimes :D

[KidnapsNinja]

Plan on taking this to history ^^ blooming brilliant!

[AtheistCanuck]

2 people were part of the government committee that made the offending pamphlet.

[Pooknottin]

@sandyrow100

I think they should enter into a burning building, preferrably one surrounded by angry men with automatic weapons, but I guess we don't always get what we want.

[sandyrow100]

@Pooknottin maybe, but him and Clegg are very compatable, do you think they should enter a civil contraxt

[Splittiful]

This is a really great song.

[Condors55]

2 people who rated this video will not survive....

[Pooknottin]

@sandyrow100

You think David Cameron has a nice face?

[sandyrow100]

@75leprechaun TheProtect and survive leaflet was possibly the "greatest" contribution to society that the former british prime minister Margaret Thatcher made....No I stand corrected getting chucked out of the job by her own party was. You can see 20 years on the Conservatives are just as ruthless, they just put a nice face on it

[dathomas1243]

epic song <3