The Australian IRA Show

All Tomorrow's Parties
Our agent says it's called
As we pull up in the seaside rain
to the Butlins bingo hall
As we wire up pyrotechnics
And the lighting rig is raised
The extras pin on poppies
Grab their medals and berets
Who'd have thought we'd find ourselves
With showbiz for a trade
We who cut our baby teeth
On Semtex and grenades
We trot out all the greatest hits
in a half-cut tourist daze
The Australian IRA Show
Double-jointed valley girls
We've got you in our sights
The Enniskillen show at the Hollywood Bowl
For fifteen sold-out nights
And we might refloat Mountbatten's boat
At Henley next July
Or re-deconstruct Canary Wharf
One sponsored New Year's night
Who'd have thought we'd find ourselves
Untouched by any rage
From our tooled-up former comrades
As we mount our burning stage
They're tied up beheading Latvians
For the Leinster poppy trade
The Australian IRA Show
The guy from the Corrs is asking
To excavate South Armagh
The Grail, Shergar's bones, Twin Towers
One big cover-up
Blah, blah, blah, blah
Who'd have thought we'd find ourselves
Being asked in many tongues
If we intend to make new work
When our revivals are all done
Ah, but that's to miss the point, of course
And the golf course in the sun
The Australian IRA Show