The Drinking Song of the Merchant Bankers Have we got a reason to celebrate Another cocktail here barmaid Everything's going our way Oh everything's going our way The oiks have been scattered, the commies smashed This government has done alright by us They say that you sink or you swim Either you sink or swim Well I'm not complaining I'm not complaining No I can't complain Well I'm not complaining no, I can't complain No way, no need to be afraid Let us have a little drink People like us cannot sink Let's live for the day and let's not sweat It's not time to commit suicide yet Now what possibly could go wrong? What possibly could go wrong? Have we got a reason to celebrate Another ten cocktails here barmaid They say that you sink or you swim Either you sink or you swim Well I'm not about to I'm not about to Throw myself in the Thames Well I'm not about to throw myself in the Thames No way, no need to be afraid Let us have a little drink People like us cannot sink Let us have a little drink People like us cannot sink notes: Malcolm:
My brother told me this was his favourite song
of ours. At the end it's Kevin Harris, the engineer, Merchant bankers, the bourgeoisie, somewhere between the haves and the have-nots, yet close enough to the former and far enough from the latter to look down on the less well-off. "You sink or you swim." Yet obviously everything is not as sunny as the music and the initial words might suggest, as we soon get repeated mentions of suicide. Indeed, the more the bankers sing "no need to be afraid," the more obvious their fear becomes. No, I don't think I misheard it after all. Oiks is apparently British slang for a working-class person, as well as an unmarried person with children (from urbandictionary). The Thames (pronounced "temz") is a famous river in southern England that runs through London and leads to the ocean. The river is the main commercial waterway of England's capital. found on: Banking, Violence and the Inner Life Today
back to the McCarthy lyrics archive |