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The Prisoner Lyrics
THE PRISONER MEETS THE MUPPET HI-FI
NORTH OF WATFORD JUNCTION
WE GET IN BUT WE DON'T HAVE FUN
AN' WE LEAVE BEFORE THE TRUNCHEONS
SO IT'S BACK TO WATCH THE DAY TO DAY
SAGA OF WORKING PEOPLE
HANGING OUT THE WASHING AND CLIPPING COUPONS
AND GENERALLY BEING DECENT
JOHNNY TOO BAD MEETS JOHNNY BE GOOD
IN THE CHARING CROSS ROAD
THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT HAPPENED TODAY
SAYS THE WEST END JUNGLE CODE
AND ALL THE GERMANS AND ALL THE FRENCH
JAM THEMSELVES DOWN THE TUBE
AND RE-ENACT THE SECOND WORLD WAR
WHILE THE RUDE BOYS GET RUDE!
AND I LOOK TO MY LEFT
AND I LOOK TO MY RIGHT
AND I'M LOOKING FOR A MAN
I'M LOOKING FOR A SIGN
I DON'T WANNA BE THE PRISONER
THE PRISONER LIVES IN CAMDEN TOWN
SELLING REVOLUTION
THE PRISONER LOADS HIS TRACKING ARM UP
WITH SELF-DISILLUSION
YOUR MOTHER DOES THE WASHING UP
YOUR OLD MAN DIGS THE GARDEN
YOU'RE ONLY FREE TO DODGE THE COPS
AN' BUNK THE TRAIN TO STARDOM
NORTH OF WATFORD JUNCTION
WE GET IN BUT WE DON'T HAVE FUN
AN' WE LEAVE BEFORE THE TRUNCHEONS
SO IT'S BACK TO WATCH THE DAY TO DAY
SAGA OF WORKING PEOPLE
HANGING OUT THE WASHING AND CLIPPING COUPONS
AND GENERALLY BEING DECENT
IN THE CHARING CROSS ROAD
THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT HAPPENED TODAY
SAYS THE WEST END JUNGLE CODE
AND ALL THE GERMANS AND ALL THE FRENCH
JAM THEMSELVES DOWN THE TUBE
AND RE-ENACT THE SECOND WORLD WAR
WHILE THE RUDE BOYS GET RUDE!
AND I LOOK TO MY RIGHT
AND I'M LOOKING FOR A MAN
I'M LOOKING FOR A SIGN
I DON'T WANNA BE THE PRISONER
SELLING REVOLUTION
THE PRISONER LOADS HIS TRACKING ARM UP
WITH SELF-DISILLUSION
YOUR MOTHER DOES THE WASHING UP
YOUR OLD MAN DIGS THE GARDEN
YOU'RE ONLY FREE TO DODGE THE COPS
AN' BUNK THE TRAIN TO STARDOM
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Weird song. Listening to this while high was the greatest experience I ever had while in that state... On the surface it sounds like a straight up punk song, but listen closely and there's a lot of strange noises in the mix.
Indiemonkey seems about right... Also the title is referring to the bizzaro British 60s tv series of the same name.
funny. I once thought this song on Black Market Clash was about being a prisoner of love, as that's what I though he sasy at the end of the chorus. but it's prisoner-er-er- . But reading the lyrics the song seems to be about not wanting to be a prisoner of heroin, one of the many anti-junky references in Clash songs. "Prisoner loads his tracking arm up with self dissolution..." referring to needle tracks. I have no idea what the 'muppet hi-fi' is. would love to know.
Paul is performing again!!
favorite song right now!
To me this song seems to be expressing a desire to escape from being a "prisoner" of boring everyday life... about a year ago when I first heard it it instantly became one of my first songs
To me this song seems to be expressing a desire to escape from being a "prisoner" of boring everyday life... about a year ago when I first heard it it instantly became one of my favourite songs
very good bass riffs..paul simonon smash your bass now..bad thing he stopped performing after the clash evaporated..
This song is actually about Bernie Rhodes (the original Clash manager) on account of his obsessive nature of working in the rehearsal rehearsal's office.
I have heard before that this song refers to Bernie Rhodes- certainly the Camden town line seems to refer to him. But when I listen to this song I imagine Mick may have written this while riding the tube somewhere and looking around at people stuck in the monotony of everyday life and thinking, I don't want to be like that.
the song is not exclusively about Bernie Rhodes, if it is at all, which i doubt. The line 'the prisoner lives in Camden Town selling revolution' could be about him but I'm pretty sure wasn't living in Camden at the time - i'd need to delve into my pile of Clash biographies t check that though.
The song is mostly about day-to-day life for a city kid as far as i can tell. Probably Mick Jones himself, as he did like to write about himself a lot ('Train in Vain' 'Deny' 'I'm Not Down' 'Stay Free'...)
the day to day saga of working people - british coap opera Corontion Street.
MeX