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Billy Bragg - Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards (Official Video)
Watch Billy Bragg - Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards (Official Video) on YouTube

Top Songs By Billy Bragg

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Lead Vocals
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Composer
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Producer
Wiggy
Wiggy
Producer

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway, filling up with gasoline
Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying
Over luxury's disappointment, so he walks over and he's trying
To sympathize with her, but he thinks that he should warn her
That the third world is just around the corner
[Verse 2]
In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr. Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell
At the first hurdle
[Verse 3]
In the cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of someone stacking chairs and mopping up spilt beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer
[Verse 4]
Mixing pop and politics, he asks me what the use is
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses
While looking down the corridor, out to where the van is waiting
I'm looking for the great leap forwards
[Verse 5]
Jumble sales are organized and pamphlets have been posted
Even after closing time, there's still parties to be hosted
You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers
While you're waiting for the great leap forwards
[Verse 6]
One leap forwards, two leaps back
Will politics get me the sack?
Waiting for the great leap forwards
[Verse 7]
Well, here comes the future, and you can't run from it
If you've got a blacklist, I want to be on it
Waiting for the great leap forwards
[Verse 8]
It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll
From top of the pops to drawing the dole
Your waiting for the great leap forwards
[Verse 9]
If no one out there understands
Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman
Waiting for the great leap forwards
[Verse 10]
In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality, so give me some room
Waiting for the great leap forwards
[Verse 11]
So join the struggle while you may
The revolution is just a T-shirt away
Waiting for the great leap forwards
[Outro]
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards (Beam me up, Scotty)
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Written by: Stephen William Bragg

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