Labour Strikes, NewsRevue Lyric (Unused), 8 May 1992

Well, I had a surge of lyric-writing productivity on the back of California Here I Go making the cut for NewsRevue in late April…

…but like most of those early efforts this one didn’t get through the discerning filter of John Random and his cast.

Slow numbers are hard to make funny and this one only has a couple of really good lines.

LABOUR STRIKES

(To the tune of “Edelweiss”)

VERSE 1

Labour strikes, labour strikes,

More industrial action;

German Reich’s, labour strikes,

Give we Brits satisfaction.

CHORUS 1

Germany’s woe makes the English Glow,

Cos we know,

The feeling;

Farpotchkeit, labour strikes,

Prejudice is revealing.

VERSE 2 (Gently)

Labour strikes, labour strikes,

Stay at home, have a wank, Kurt;

Britain likes, labour strikes,

When they happen in Frankfurt.

CHORUS 2 (Full chorus – increasingly triumphal)

Once they go slow they won’t boom and grow,

Then we’ll show,

Our muscles;

While they fight, labour strikes,

We shall take over Brussels.

I tried updating this one in May 1996, I think to no avail:

LABOUR STRIKES – 1996 REMIX
(To the tune of “Edelweiss”)

VERSE 1

Labour strikes, labour strikes,
More industrial action;
German Reich’s, labour strikes,
Give we Brits satisfaction.

CHORUS 1

Germany’s woe makes the English Glow,
Cos we know,
The feeling;
On yer bikes, labour strikes,
Prejudice is revealing.

VERSE 2 (Gently)

Labour strikes, labour strikes,
Stay at home, have a wank, Kurt;
Britain likes, labour strikes,
When they happen in Frankfurt.

CHORUS 2 (Full chorus – increasingly triumphal)

Once they go slow they won’t boom and grow,
Then we’ll show,
Our muscles;
While they fight, labour strikes,
We shall take over Brussels.

Here is a vid of Edelweiss from the film The Sound Of Music:

…and here is a link to the Edelweiss lyric.