Author: Ian Louis Harris

Clearly it was becoming a Sunday habit for me to write these lyrics for NewsRevue – all of the March 1994 ones were written on a Sunday – apart from one which I finished off on the Monday.

This one I didn’t finish off, nor, as a result, did I even catalogue it. I discover it now in the electronic folder with the others, looking sad and forgotten…

…which is exactly what it was.

_ COMEDY _

(To the Tune of "Tragedy")

VERSE 1

Here I lie in a lost and lonely Parliament,
Screw a spy and appeal up to the firmament;
Getting off with Bienvenida,
Army toff those boss men need her,
Holding them, moulding them, scolding them, balding men.

CHORUS 1

Comedy, when you need a fuck with a tart named Buck,
A travesty, kissing in the dark with your research clerk,
It’s tough out there, so men who are faithful are going nowhere.
You’re history, with a Kings Cross slag or a plastic bag;
It’s parody, when your MPs lie and you know well why,
It’s hard to say, why men who hold power behave in this way.

VERSE 2

Ev’ry day another top dog bites the dust,
Spokesmen say “a private tragedy”, you must…
Not believe this explanation,
They deceive, the entire nation;
Absurdity with birds you see ain’t tragedy or savagery.

CHORUS 2

Comedy, when the knickers drop pants are down and the

Here are the Bee Gees singing Tragedy with the lyrics on the screen:

Yes, I think I can see what I was trying to doi here. Neat idea, reads quite well, but was not destined for a long run in the show, if indeed it got a go at all.

_ SHOOTING FOUR MORTARS AT HEATHROW _

(To the Tune of "24 Hours From Tulsa")

(Irish accents are virtually compulsory for this song)

VERSE 1

Gerry Adams,
Called us to say that the IRA might not fight no more,
But in the voice of an actor,
He also said that we should get rid of our old mortars.
So we were only taking four mortars to Heathrow,
Only transporting our aged arms,
Our Micra looked odd en route,
With missiles aimed out the boot….

VERSE 2

Stuck in an M4 tailback,
When we all saw the Excelsior with a huge car park,
Right by a Heathrow runway,
We stopped the car and aimed our mortars to fire after dark;
Cos we were only, shooting four mortars at Heathrow,
Only 24 yards from a plane;
Some bastard sold us a pup,
The fire bombs failed to erupt,
But our car blew up.

(You could try an instrumental with a little Irish jig type dancing at this juncture, or you might decide to give that a miss)

VERSE 3

But still we’d left some mortars,
Home we returned but as our car burned we went home by tube;
Set off some more bombs remotely,
Somewhere obscure like Terminal Four when the Queen was due.
And we were only firing more mortars at Heathrow,
Only discharging all of our arms;
Our mortars were a damp squib,
Security was so glib,
Gave us the rib,
So we shall never never never go there again…..
……ho, ho, ho, maybe?

Below is a video of Gene Pitney singing 24 Hours From Tulsa:

Here is a link to the lyrics of 24 Hours From Tulsa.

Yet another lyric which my log claims I penned on 6 March 1994. I’m not sure if this one was used or not; I don’t think it was…or if it was I don’t think it worked in the show.

Some good lines though, matching the lines from I Am The Walrus quite neatly.

_ THEY ARE THE TORIES _

(To the Tune of "I Am The Walrus")

VERSE 1

It’s absurd that such a turd as Douglas Hurd can run our foreign office;
See how they run those bits of a gun see how the arms, are firing.
Sitting in a courtroom, waiting for Lord Justice Scott,
Parliamentary penguins tried to cover proof up,
My they’ve all been naughty boys they are a wicked lot.

CHORUS 1

They are the egg heads {ooooh} they sold the war heads {ooooh},
They are the Tories, goob goob ga joob.

MIDDLE EIGHT

Sitting in a Baghdad garden waiting for the gun,
If the gun don’t come,
They’ll buy their Scuds from Georgia or from Ukraine.

CHORUS 2

They are the despots {ooooh}, they have the death squads {ooooh},
They are the warlords, goob goob go joob.

VERSE 2

Matrix Churchill bosses were still going down Old Bailey thanks to you,
Ministers all signed except for Heseltine says Justice Scott’s, inquiry;
(Inquiry, inquiry, inquiry.)
Yellow man don’t trust Hurd,
Although he can speak Mandarin;
Mahatir Mohamad’s angry in Malaysia,
Cos the English press say’s he made on the Pergau Dam.

CHORUS 3

They were the aid men {ooooh}, now there’s no trade men {ooooh},
They are the Tories, goob goob ga joob goob goob goob ga joob ga goob.
Oompa oompa stuff Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur stick it up your jumper, oompa oompa damn Kuala Lumpur…….(exit gracefully).

Here is a video of The Beatles singing I Am The Walrus: