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The Few Lyrics
At night the baby brotherhood and the inter city crew
Fill their pockets up with calling cards
And paint their faces red white and blue
Then they go out seeking different coloured faces
And anyone else that they can scare
And they salute the foes their fathers fought
By raising their right hands in the air
Oh look how my country’s patriots are hunting down below
What do they know of england who only england know
From the stands of the empire stadium
Come the heralds of the new dark age
With the simplicities of bigotry
And to whom all the world’s a stage
These little john bullshits know that the press
Will glorify their feats
So that the general public fear them
And the authorities say give ’em all seats
And the wasted seed of the bulldog breed
Is shouting here we go
What do they know of england who only england know
Our neighbours shake their heads
And take their valuables inside
While my countrymen piss in the fountains
To express our national pride
And to prove to the world that england
Is just as rotten as she looks
They repeat the lies that caught their eyes
At school in history books
But the wars they think they’re fighting
Were all over long ago
What do they know of england who only england know
And the society that spawned them
Just cries out who’s to blame?
And then wraps itself in the union jack
And just carries on the same
Oh look outmy country’s patriots are hunting down below
What do they know of england who only england know
Fill their pockets up with calling cards
And paint their faces red white and blue
Then they go out seeking different coloured faces
And anyone else that they can scare
And they salute the foes their fathers fought
By raising their right hands in the air
Oh look how my country’s patriots are hunting down below
What do they know of england who only england know
Come the heralds of the new dark age
With the simplicities of bigotry
And to whom all the world’s a stage
These little john bullshits know that the press
Will glorify their feats
So that the general public fear them
And the authorities say give ’em all seats
And the wasted seed of the bulldog breed
Is shouting here we go
What do they know of england who only england know
And take their valuables inside
While my countrymen piss in the fountains
To express our national pride
And to prove to the world that england
Is just as rotten as she looks
They repeat the lies that caught their eyes
At school in history books
But the wars they think they’re fighting
Were all over long ago
What do they know of england who only england know
Just cries out who’s to blame?
And then wraps itself in the union jack
And just carries on the same
Oh look outmy country’s patriots are hunting down below
What do they know of england who only england know
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I'm not sure I understand the line 'what do they know of England, who only England knows'?
It means that if you have no worldview outside of your own narrow existence, you are ignorant. If you blindly cling to your flag and have a jingoistic attitude, you are the worst of the worst. It could be applied to anyone, not only the English, or even just national identity. For example, if you're an adherent of a religion but know nothing about other religions, yet insist that yours is the one true and correct faith, you have absolutely no credibility.
It means that if you have no worldview outside of your own narrow existence, you are ignorant. If you blindly cling to your flag and have a jingoistic attitude, you are the worst of the worst. It could be applied to anyone, not only the English, or even just national identity. For example, if you're an adherent of a religion but know nothing about other religions, yet insist that yours is the one true and correct faith, you have absolutely no credibility.
@Petabite - when "Don't Try This At Home" was first released, I read an article or a review and it mentioned that "The Few" was about football hooligans, many of whom had ultranationalist/right wing views which often resulted in violent assaults of those who were of a different colour and/or nationality.
@Petabite - when "Don't Try This At Home" was first released, I read an article or a review and it mentioned that "The Few" was about football hooligans, many of whom had ultranationalist/right wing views which often resulted in violent assaults of those who were of a different colour and/or nationality.
The first line makes reference to the "baby brotherhood" and the "inter city crew", both of whom were reference to different football "firms" (gangs with links to organised crime).
The first line makes reference to the "baby brotherhood" and the "inter city crew", both of whom were reference to different football "firms" (gangs with links to organised crime).
The inter city crew would often leave calling...
The inter city crew would often leave calling cards on their victims.
Congratulations You have just met the I.C.F. (West Ham United)
The phrase "What do they know of England, who only England know" is a quote from Rudyard Kipling's "The English Flag", apparently "to empthasize the neglect that most Englishmen showed towards the British empire".
If you take note of the following lines, it all begins to make sense:
"And they salute the foes their fathers fought By raising their right hands in the air Oh look how my country’s patriots are hunting down below What do they know of england who only england know"
These "patriotic" hooligans would often drape themselves in the English flag, while espousing ultranationalist/right wing/pro Nazi beliefs that their own fathers had once fought against.