You're Not Alone Lyrics
On an Empire,
It's too much to waste.
Don't let the walls come down,
Round an Empire,
It's too much to wave goodbye.
We've been fighting for a way,
Now in the streets men standing in lines they're all wasted anyway.
You're living in an incestuous world,
Where you're conscious holds no weight,
You sold us down the river like rats then,
You drowned and beat the brave.
You're not alone you know,
You're not alone no no.
You're not alone you know,
You're not alone you know,
You're not alone no no.
On an Empire,
It's too much to waste.
Don't let the reigns come down,
Round an Empire,
It's too much to wash away.
We've been fighting for a way,
Now in the streets men standing in lines they're all wasted anyway.
You're living in an incestuous world,
Where you're conscious holds no weight,
You sold us down the river like rats then,
You drowned and beat the brave.
You're not alone you know,
You're not alone no no.
You're not alone you know,
You're not alone you know,
You're not alone no no. (yeah,yeah)
There's just too many dreams in this wasteland for you to leave us all behind.
You're not alone you know, (yeah,yeah)
You're not alone no no.
You're not alone you know,
You're not alone you know,
You're not alone no no.
ahhh i love the enemy!.....what an amazing song. i heard it was written about their hometown where a bunch of ppl lost their jobs right beofre christmas 2006. " You sold us down the river like rats then, You drowned and beat the brave" wow what a powerful line
The band are on record as saying this track is about Thatcher and the miners strike. Very powerful, "you sold us down the river like rats then you drowned and beat the brave" thats the crux of the song folks, Thatcher destroying a proud part of our society and thinking nothing of it
The Peugeot factory down there shut down recently but the lyrics do relate to what's been going on since Mrs Thatcher first came to power.
the phrase "they sold us down the river" was first used by scargill (i think?) in the 80s to describe the attitudes to the miners and subsequently the unions. also "in the street men stand in lines" is dual meaning, it refers to the lines of unemployed and the dole ques but also the lines of miners and workers who protested against pit closures, union bans etc.
i also think the song talks a bit about the labour movement in general..."we've been working for a long time/ we've been fighting for a way" could refer to the genuine labour socialists and trade unionists who have been fighting since way before the pit closures for a way to save and help the workers.
love this song =]
A couple of comments on the lyrics:- I think it should be "Our" Empire - not an empire. Then in the second verse it should be "Don't let the rains come down on our empire". I think its about all the major job losses - like the pit closures etc. The video shows lots of scenes from protests in the '80s and is filmed in a ship yard. Very emotive stuff from such young guys.
Hey just to shed some light on that job thing- I live in Coventry where The Enemy are from, there was a major job layoff here from a car manufacture fairly recently. Coventry isn't the happiest of towns at the best of times and there was (and still is) a bleak feeling hanging round here ever since. I think this song is their reaction to the big companies who are outsourcing all their work and creating huge pockets of unemployment around the country. The lines in the streets are most likely the dole queues.
The lyrics differ from the ones on the album cover - but buy the album and you'll get the correct lyrics.
'There's just too many dreams in this wasteland for you to leave us all behind' - Nicest line.
"Don't let the sun go down/On an Empire/It's too much to waste"
The empire = Britain? Nice reference there.
I heard the band on the radio say that the song was about the closure of a car factory in coventry