WE DON'T MEAN YOU
We Don’t Mean You.
She teaches English at an English university
Speaks it better than she does her mother tongue
Owns a house, is mother to 2 English girls, and now
A fourth English grandchild has come along
And I hope when grown, he’ll feel that he belongs
She’s lived here thirty years, and pays her taxes (as you do)
Never claimed a penny benefit on the way
Did jury service as requested when they asked her to
And was treasurer of the local PTA
Yes she’s been a model citizen you might say
And they say, “Of course my dear we don’t mean you
Yes, you’re an EU citizen but still
It’s the other ones, the ones who take our jobs and fill our schools
and steal our homes, of these we’ve had our fill,
I’m sure you understand we don’t mean you.”
But when the vote came through and they chose for us to leave
She was more upset than I have ever seen
And sad, because this country that she thinks of as her home
Is no longer quite as welcoming as it seemed
Because the things that they were saying were quite obscene
When she heard what they were saying, she just didn't understand
Why people wanted to believe the lies
Told by self-serving politicians and the English gutter press
It’s enough to make you hang your head and cry
It seems that tolerance and decency have died
And they thought that when they said, “They should go back where they belong!”
She’d understand it wasn’t aimed at her
And we say, “Of course it won’t affect our friendship”, but it does,
Cos It’s so hard when those you care for cause you hurt
At times like this you must decide what friendship’s worth
And just how can it be that so much hatred hides unseen
How come I didn't notice it before
Like a rotten egg, you seem alright. But when I crack your shell
There’s something in there rotten at the core
I don’t think I need to see you any more
And they say, “Of course you know we don’t mean you
Yes, you’re European, this we understand
It’s the other ones, the ones who take our homes, claim benefit
And send the money back home to some foreign land
But we don’t mean you I’m sure you understand.”
It was the gypsies, and the blacks, and the Asians,
And the Irish and the lesbians and queers
And the homeless, and the Catholics and the Jews and refugees,
All of these people have at some time lived in fear,
Maybe next European citizens living here
And after who’ll wait table in the restaurants?
What if the doctors and the nurses all go home?
And who will pick the strawberries and the apples in the fields?
Cos you know these jobs we English just don’t want
How will we manage when the immigrants have gone have gone?
And they say,”Of course you know we don’t mean you,
Yes, you’re a foreigner, this we realize,
No, It’s the scroungers and the beggars and the prostitutes and thieves,
It’s those other ones, it’s them that we despise
No we don’t mean you, I hope you realize.”
And when they say, “Of course we don’t mean you,”
There’s an anger rising in my chest so strong
Because intolerance and racism and prejudice and hatred
Of foreigners, these things are always wrong
And that is why I sat and wrote this song