Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards

Cold March morning northern California back in 1973
He grew up quick and told that he was nothing till the day he turned 16
Broke outta town though he left a trail of violence a mile wide
No one there knew little Jay Woods would end up six foot five.
Five days a week he's working late shift at the C.B.S. Lumberyard
On the weekend he plays a little Rock And Roll on his 100 dollar bass guitar
How do you survive on those nickels and dimes his mother once did say
Put down your guitar get a good job cause Rock and Roll doesn't pay no it don't

[Chorus]
Skinhead roots reggae rock & roll, on parole
Skinhead roots reggae rock & roll, on parole
He said, I don't wanna be poor more
No, I don't wanna be poor no more
No, I don't wanna be poor no more
No, I don't wanna be poor no fucking more

Big Jay's got no problem unless you wanna start one I suggest that you don't stay
If you wanna make trouble he's quick to bust your bubble and send you on your way
Bustin our jaws his friends are outlaws
From their boots to their mutton chops
Most hated crew you know that they are true to the punx in the bastards

[Chorus]

Up in the morning and out to school
Mother says there be no work next year
Qualifications once the Golden Rule
Are now just pieces of paper

Just because you're better than me doesn't mean I'm lazy.
Just because you're going forwards doesn't mean I'm going backwards.

Well if you look the part well then you'll get the job
In last year's trousers and your oldschool shoes
The truth is son it's a buyer's market
They can afford to pick and choose

Just because you're better than me doesn't mean I'm lazy
Just because I dress like this doesn't mean I'm a Communist.

Well the factories are closing and the army's full
I don't know what I'm going to do
But I've come to see in the land of the free
There's only room for a chosen few

Just because you're better than me doesn't mean I'm lazy
Just because you're going forwards doesn't mean I'm going backwards

Well at 21 you're a top of the scrap heap
At 16 you were top of your class
Well I dropped outta high school in Campbell, California
Got a guitar and I never looked back

Just because you're better than me doesn't mean I'm lazy
Just because I dress like this doesn't mean I'm a Communist.

Hey, fellows have you heard the news,
The girls in this town are being misused,
I Seen it all in a dream last night,
Girls says we Don't treat them right

I'm leaving, leaving here,
I'm leaving, leaving here,

Hey, you fellows, better change your ways
Or they'll be leaving this town in a matter of days.
The girls say, and it rings so true,
We fellows run around with someone new.

I'm leaving, leaving here,
I'm leaving, leaving here,

Yeah, one by one
Yeah, two by two
Yeah, three by three
Yeah, four by four.

Loving woman is a wonderful thing
But the way that we treat'em is a crying shame.
One day, one day, and it won't belong.
And all them fine chicks be gone.

I'm leaving, leaving here,
I'm leaving, leaving here,

Yeah, one by one
Yeah, two by two
Yeah, three by three
Oh yeah, Oh, yeah hah,
I'm leaving here.

When I came back from Saigon
Everyone turned their head
No one put their hand out
No one shared their bread
I lost my wife, I lost my job, I lost my brother too
Blue collar kids got nothing to do with it
Nightmares of jungles and M-16's
Hippies give me shit in my army greens
Now I'm running the streets of Birmingham
25 years since Vietnam
Some pull jobs some pull scams
But I'm just doing the best I can
Well it's very hard to realize that there's no love no more
The day I got on the plane was the day that I left the war
Arrived in Heatheron on a red eye flight
Down Kellet road I scored for the night
I took the tube through London town
When I woke up I was on mid land ground
Running the streets of Birmingham
25 years since Vietnam
Some pull jobs and some pull scams
But I'm just doing the best I can.
Vietnam... Vietnam... Vietnam... [repeat till fades]