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Brenda's Iron Sledge Lyrics
We head downhill
Our hands fly back
Our fingers freeze
Our hair falls out, our hair falls out
Our fingers freeze
Our hair falls out
The iron piston pumps and spouts
The steaming air as hot as sprouts
Ah, all aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
The ones on top are comfortable
They're sitting on a human chain,
A human chain
They're sitting on a human chain
Their limbs, compressed in icy slush,
Are freezing in a raw meat groove
Ah, all aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
Please don't call me Reg
It's not my name
The bodies rear the bucking sled
Which hits a tree
And falls asleep, and falls asleep
Which hits a tree
And that is that
The grasshoppers curl up and burst
And Brenda shovels on the wurst
Ah, all aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
Please don't call me Reg
It's not my name
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
Please don't call me Reg
It's not my name
Our hands fly back
Our fingers freeze
Our hair falls out, our hair falls out
Our fingers freeze
Our hair falls out
The steaming air as hot as sprouts
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
They're sitting on a human chain,
A human chain
They're sitting on a human chain
Their limbs, compressed in icy slush,
Are freezing in a raw meat groove
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
Please don't call me Reg
It's not my name
Which hits a tree
And falls asleep, and falls asleep
Which hits a tree
And that is that
And Brenda shovels on the wurst
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
Please don't call me Reg
It's not my name
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
All aboard
Brenda's iron sledge
Please don't call me Reg
It's not my name
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Then there's the (live) version--from Gotta Let This Hen Out!--on which he sings:
Please don't call me Reg It's not my name Not yet
We can probably assume the title was inspired by "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". If so, we can thank him for superceding in our memories the original. (All three of the other Beatles were ready to throttle Paul for spending so much time in the studio on it.)
Robyn does whimsy well. Then he writes something like "Glass" (or "Luminous Rose", or "I Saw Nick Drake") to remind us how versatile he can be.
I believe that this is a political song - with Brenda as Margaret Thatcher, hurtling downhill on a human chain of populism.
I believe that this is a political song - with Brenda as Margaret Thatcher, hurtling downhill on a human chain of populism.
Why? Well, I saw Hitchcock perform this in the early 80s and he said as much in his intro - although how much credence you can give to Robyn's inter-song ramblings is questionable. That makes me feel very old. My name is almost Reg I can feel it.
Why? Well, I saw Hitchcock perform this in the early 80s and he said as much in his intro - although how much credence you can give to Robyn's inter-song ramblings is questionable. That makes me feel very old. My name is almost Reg I can feel it.
Of course it's not ONLY a political song. But it is in part. Or it can be. Or something.
Of course it's not ONLY a political song. But it is in part. Or it can be. Or something.
I love "Please don't call me Reg, it's not my name...
I love "Please don't call me Reg, it's not my name (not yet)". To me it suggests a world where being named Reg comes to us all - like grey hair, bad eyesight and increasing conservatism. Calling someone Reg will only hasten that process.
This is what I like about Hitchcock. He doesn't just provide you with a series of baffling images, but provides a packet of seeds to grow your own baffling images - given the right "emotional nutrients" (another Hitchcockism).
Brenda = Margaret Thatcher and the iron sledge is Armoured Punt HMS Incredible from Steve Bell's 'If' cartoons around the time of the Falkland war.
Ok, so the chronology doesn't quite work but that's what it is in my mind!
I like the part about Reg.