When one voice rules the nation

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

Just because they’re on top of the pile...
Doesn’t mean their vision is the clearest.
The voices of the people
Are falling on deaf ears
Our politicians all become careerists.
They must declare their interests,
But not their company cars,
Is there more to a seat in parliament
Then sitting on your arse?
And the best of all this bad bunch
Are shouting to be heard
Above the sound of ideologies clashing.

Outside the patient millions
Who put them into power...
Expect a little more back for their taxes
Like school books, beds in hospitals,
And peace in our bloody time,
All they get is old men grinding axes
Who’ve built their private fortunes
On the things they can rely
The courts, the secret handshake
The stock exchange and the old school tie.
For God and queen and country
All things they justify
Above the sound of ideologies clashing.

God bless the civil service,
The nations saving grace.
While we expect democracy
They’re laughing in our face.
And although our cries get louder...
Their laughter gets louder still...
Above the sound of ideologies clashing.


Billy Braggg, "Ideology", 1990.