Time For Heroes

This song is a ballad about the genreal state of london, the first verse is about the mayday riots (the wombles are the name of a prominant anti globalisation group who participate in the rioting). The second verse is about it's general decline and expressing a love for the city. The baseball cap bit is about the loss of a national identity.

Bill Bones is Pete's nickname for Carl.

The song is about London, and the difference between the positive forces at work on May Day and the negatives of your everyday baseball cap-wearing idiot.

The "stylish kids in the riot" are, I think, the upper class young scallywags who joined in the May Day riots a few years back. (I remember one kid from Eton or Harrow who was expelled after he was shown putting in the windows at McDonald's!)

Interesting interview with Pete about the May Day riots here: http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php4?article_id=2937

"there are fewer more distressing sights than that of an englishman in a baseball cap yeah we'll die in the class we were born that's a class of our own my love we're in a class of our own my love"

That bits about chavs, how upper/middle class kids act like the lower classes yet he's saying that no matter how you try to hide your identity, you'll die in the class you were born, if you're middle class you'll always be middle class.

The ironic thing is, Pete is from a middle class, somewhat wealthy family yet he acts like one of these working class "from the streets" type people.

This song is not about London guys. It's about World of Warcraft.

I feel I must say something here, because some of you guys are way off. There is nothing anti-chav about this song, its the opposite, its anti-establishment to a degree. The point is not that they are wearing the baseball caps (although it is to a degree, Doherty/Baret do like to promote englishness, so they arn't that impressed) it is that the type of civil protest that the song obviously documents "riots," "wombles," "coughing up blood" is ultimatly useless and in capitalist society the lower classes, whom Pete in particular is known for his afinity with, are powerless to escape their place on the scale. The Libertines love finding a romance in un-romantic things (thats where the morrissey influence is most obvious) and here they have tried to find a sort of freedom angle in the ending "were in a class of our own my love," which could mean as cheddaringo points out that you should try to ignore and transcend class, or alternitively could mean that by attempting to fight the class system as the songs characters are, they are above the futility of the class system and as such in a class of their own.

Don't sit on the internet insulting chavs please, its an econmically driven sub-culture with far more political value than emo, goth, or alcoholic student.

Socialist Review,April 2004

The cover of the album Up The Bracket has lines of riot police, and 'Time for Heroes' talks about 'the stylish kids in the riot' and 'truncheons and shields'. Where did those ideas come from?

I wrote 'Time for Heroes' after May Day in 2001. At the time it was one of the most exciting days of my life. Everyone said, 'Oh, it was rubbish, we got penned in at Oxford Circus,' but we didn't. Quite a lot of people got penned in, but some of us made a break for it, and that was a great feeling. It was quite a peaceful protest up until the police attacked. But I like the fact that when the police kicked off, and it wasn't justified, a lot of people stood their ground. And it felt quite good to be fighting for a cause. I felt like there were so many things wrong, and I didn't know where to channel it, and for that moment it felt like I was with a lot of people who believed in the same thing, and we were all channelling it together. If there had been more, we'd have gone to parliament - that was the dream.

The most contentious line in this song is 'He knows there's fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap'

The song is principally about the may day riots, that opposed globalisation. Mostly because it was often viewed as a form of Americanisation, or even a form of American cultural imperialism. There's plenty to suggest that Doherty agreed with the riots, and clearly denounces the treatment of the rioters. I think you can also infer references of the public school boys who joined in the riots too.

I think the baseball cap is a metaphor, that represents Americanisation. Dohertry quite clearly approved of the multi-cultural nature of the UK his anti-BNP rhetoric shows this. Further, given his affinity with the working class (ironic since the was clearly middle class) it's highly unlikely that it was an 'anti-chav' lyric. It's often suggested he was simply talking about the 'trackie bottoms tucked in socks' that the Arctic Monkeys reference, but this doesn't work.

So therefore, I would say that what the lyric literally means is that 'there's fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman who has been Americanised' .

anti chav anthem i feel.fuck the rude boys.

No, Wombles are a particular type of anti-globalisation protester. They get their name from the home-made body armour they wear, which makes them look kind of bulky, a bit like the characters from the classic childrens' tv show The Wombles.

Top notch song!

billy bones is a character in the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, "Treasure Island", he's an old pirate who calls himself "The Captain". He's goes to stay at an Inn on the English coast and to protect his treasure. He's a drunkard and gets shocked easily after getting shocked in a drunken haze he dies. maybe its a statement on how billy "had everything" but lost it all because of his sordid past and drunken condition.