Sharp Minds, Raised Fists

Lyrics

1. Post-Patriarchy Disco

My sisters got sharp minds, raised fists and feminist dreams
My sisters are beautiful, dangerous, rebel queens
My sisters they got each other’s backs in solidarity
My sisters they analyse, organise, and push till victory

My sisters are queer straight, cis, trans, black, white and brown
My sisters make noise, make headlines and shut shit down
My sisters are restless, there’s always more work to do
My sisters got red lines, black lists, they take no shit from you

This is the resistance, calling all my sisters
Raise your voices loud

And I’ll see you at the post-patriarchy disco
Cause we waited so long, and we won’t back down
Yeah I’ll see you at the post-patriarchy disco
‘Cause all we want is liberation now

My sisters got war wounds, back stories, tales to tell
My sisters they build each other up, and build themselves as well
My sisters will keep on coming and we will outlast
My sisters got contacts, networks, they’re building movements fast

My sisters they think big, they got grand designs
My sisters got strong game, weird style, they colour outside the lines
My sisters create new worlds and they draw big crowds
My sisters they play hard, love deep and laugh out loud

This is the resistance, calling all my sisters
Raise your voices loud

And I’ll see you at the post-patriarchy disco
Cause we waited so long, and we won’t back down
Yeah I’ll see you at the post-patriarchy disco
‘Cause all we want is liberation now

‘Cause we’re getting impatient
This situation is holding us down
Are we done here?
Get ready
Go go go go go

And I’ll see you at the post-patriarchy disco
Cause we waited so long, and we won’t back down
Yeah I’ll see you at the post-patriarchy disco
‘Cause all we want is liberation now


2. They Cut We Bleed

They say cutback, we say fightback
Cut back – fight back
Cut back – fight back
They say cutback, we say fightback
Cut back – fight back
Cut back – fight back

Fight back, Fight back, Fight back, Fight back,
Fight back, Fight back, Fight back, Fight back,

They cut we bleed, They cut we bleed
They cut we bleed, They cut we bleed
They cut we bleed, They cut we bleed
They cut we bleed, They cut we bleed

It is our duty to fight for our freedom
It is our duty to win
We must love and support one another
We have nothing to lose but our chains

Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom
All these sexist racist cuts, we don’t need ‘em, need ‘em
Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom
All these sexist racist cuts, we don’t need ‘em, need ‘em

In the UK two women a week on average are killed at the hands of a partner or ex-partner
Two women a week – murdered
Two women a week – murdered
Two women a week – murdered
Two women a week – murdered

They cut we bleed, They cut we bleed
They cut we bleed, They cut we bleed
They cut we bleed, They cut we bleed
They cut we bleed, They cut we bleed

To those in power, our message this
We stand against austerity
Your cuts are dangerous
We will not be silenced
We stand united
And fight together
And together we will win

Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom
All these sexist racist cuts, we don’t need ‘em, need ‘em
Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom
All these sexist racist cuts, we don’t need ‘em, need ‘em
Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom
All these sexist racist cuts, we don’t need ‘em, need ‘em
Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom
All these sexist racist cuts, we don’t need ‘em, need ‘em


3. Red Flags

I didn't say you could take my photo
And I didn't say you could touch me there
I'm sending all the signals that I don't like this
And you're taking liberties 'cause you don't care
I’m keeping it polite, ‘cause you might be dangerous
You’re pretending like the message isn’t getting through
You say you're a nice guy and probably believe it
But everything you’re doing tells me that’s not true

Yeah you’re toxic, and not in the Britney sense
So miss me with your hashtag not all men defence
All the alarm bells are ringing out loud
And you don’t even know

You’re raising up red flags, red flags
A warning to the world
You’re raising up red flags, red flags
A warning to the world

It’s a language we learn and we teach to each other
‘Cause we gotta get wise and look out for our friends
We wanna stay sexy and not get murdered
It shouldn’t be on us but it’s our only defence
We’re working for a world where we don’t have to do this
Where we can let down our guard and just exist
But we’re still giving out those fake phone numbers
And we’re still walking home with out keys in our fists

Yeah you’re toxic, and not in the Britney sense
So miss me with your (hashtag) not all men defence
All the alarm bells are ringing out loud
And you don’t even know

You’re raising up red flags, red flags
A warning to the world
You’re raising up red flags, red flags
A warning to the world

Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve missed them
We’ve all been there
Just chalk it up and let it go

You’re raising up red flags, red flags
A warning to the world
You’re raising up red flags, red flags
A warning to the world


4. I Am Not My Productivity

We are all so anxious
With workloads and debts and deadlines
They call us ‘lazy, entitled generation’
While they pull the ladder up behind

For 6 hours each night I am an animal
Just breathing, sleeping, curled up in my nest
For 18 more I try to tame
These restless thoughts I entertain like uninvited guests

I’ve gotta do some of what pays me
Some of what sustains me
Hold on to what I'm living for
But I’m not my productivity
I think all this work is killing me
And I can’t face it anymore

We are all so anxious
Our lifelines can so quickly disappear
Living in times of plenty but still running on empty
I think I need a sick day, month, year

For 6 hours each night I am an animal
Just breathing, sleeping, curled up in my bed
For 18 more I try to tame
These restless thoughts I entertain like uninvited guests

I gotta do some of what pays me
Some of what sustains me
Hold on to what I'm living for
But I’m not my productivity
I think all this work is killing me
And I can’t face it anymore


5. Terminal 4

I assign meaning to railway stations, street signs and park benches
Landmarks of my triumphs, traumas, heartbreaks and adventures
Cities feel like chapters from my autobiography
Brought to life in a movie screening only I can see

London Heathrow arrivals, you were waiting at Terminal 4
That's when I first knew you did not love me anymore
Every time I pass through there I can see us standing there
In amongst all the smiling faces, our ghosts still hang in the air

Certain locations, precise coordinates transport me
Like combinations of words and melody they bring back history
Now I’m five and I’ve got nothing but time
Now I’m old and I want to go home

I never felt so excited as Christmas 1993
We waited so impatiently, just my big brother and me
Standing outside the house we lived in, strangers live there now
As though we never existed, but we’ll be always there somehow

Certain locations, precise coordinates transport me
Like combinations of words and melody they bring back history
Now I’m five and I’ve got nothing but time
Now I’m old and I want to go home
I just want to go home


6. Rewind and Replay

I keep myself busy working hard
All day copy paste send receive
I search and retrieve
But when I lie awake in bed at night
There’s nothing around me but the constant beat
Of thoughts on repeat

It’s a midnight call from a past suppressed
Did I state my case? Did I do my best?
If I can’t forget then I must accept what’s done
But the tape rolls on

Rewind and replay
My body is here but I’m miles away

Sensing danger in the everyday
To keep me safe I made my world so small
Hid away from it all
There’s still a heart beating in my chest
I think I’m ready for this song to end
Ready to live again

It’s a midnight call from a past suppressed
Did I state my case? Did I do my best?
If I can’t forget then I must accept what’s done
But the tape rolls on

Rewind and replay
My body is here but I’m miles away

I invent conversations where I finally can convey
Every word that eluded me on that day
Clever me
I’m arguing with a memory

It’s sunny today
I’m present and safe and feeling okay
I wanted to stay
But the past crashes in and calls me away

Rewind and replay
As my mind circles round each crushing detail
Rewind and replay
I hear each awkward pause, each cruel turn of phrase
Rewind and replay
It's past time I broke free from this windowless place
Rewind and replay
Won't somebody help me change my ways?


7. The Unmentionable

Why are we all pretending that we’re fine?
I’m going to mention the unmentionable
Why aren’t we all just smashing things and screaming?
I want to do something irrevocable
Why do we all respond that we’re okay?
I’m going to say something uncomfortable
Why aren’t we all just breaking down and making a scene
I want to talk about what we’re all avoiding


8. Mixtape Song

When I was moving house I found a shoebox packed
With every letter that you wrote me all preserved intact
From 2000 to 2003
And the mixtapes with tracklists all written by hand
So carefully selected, only one song per band
You hoped might resonate with me

While the others were all out there getting drunk with their friends
We just talked to other lonely kids on MSN
While pirating the Manics and the Smiths
And a soundtrack made us feel like we could be enough
As if all of those songs could have been written about us
The Mountain Goats, The Faint, Magnetic Fields and Flaming Lips

Ball of burning spacerock spinning through the dark
I wish you every good thing, wherever you are
Well we all survived somehow
And though I never see you now
I still believe in certain bonds that never break
So send me your co-ordinates
I'm making you a tape

The last time we spoke you were down on your luck
Oh did you hear that The Weakerthans split up?
I always thought you’d be a writer or a rock star
Well I never had anything worthwhile to say
But you always wrote back anyway
You said “I’ll change the world we live in, please don’t change the way you are”

Ball of burning spacerock spinning through the dark
I wish you every good thing, wherever you are
Well we all survived somehow
And though I never see you now
I still believe in certain bonds that never break
So send me your co-ordinates
I'm making you a tape

Music connects me to people, connect me to music
Connects me to you
Music connects me to people, connect me to music
Connects me to you
Music connects me to people, connect me to music
Connects me to you
Music connects me to people, connect me to music
Connects me to you


9. Such a Girl

Hide all emotions under six feet of cement
Like a plague victim or a nuclear accident
Whatever it takes to stop the world from seeing
No one must know I’m a human being

I cry, they say must you always be this way
And they say, they say

Don’t be such a girl
You know you’ve got to man up
It’s a brutal world out there
But I don’t see what’s wrong with letting everyone see
That I get broken and lonely and scared

You don’t care about anything or so I’m told
It keeps you safe but it leaves me cold
So drop that nonchalant act, I’m not buying it
Show me who you really are, no justifying it

You cry, they say you’re not meant to be this way
And they say, they say

Don’t be such a girl
You know you’ve got to man up
It’s a brutal world out there
But I don’t see what’s wrong with letting everyone see
That I get broken and lonely and scared

So feed me digital entertainment direct into my frontal lobes
And let it wash away feelings, the kind I’d rather not expose

They say don’t be such a girl
You know you’ve got to man up
It’s a brutal world out there
But I don’t see what’s wrong with letting everyone see
That I get broken and lonely and scared


10. Why I Left You Standing Outside Pizza Express

Thank you for your text message, excuse the late reply
I had such a nice evening and you seem like a great guy
Your anecdotes amuse me and you’re into some good bands
But I’m sending you this message in the hope you’ll understand

‘Cause when you leaned in to kiss me I ran off to catch my bus
I had all these nagging doubts that there could be a chance for us
I’m not resigned
To the fate I’m assigned

Love is beautiful, I can’t deny
I remember the dopamine high
The euphoria and pain is second to none
Is it written in biology?
Is it really my priority?
Or just the constant stream of love songs that we all have grown up on?

All my friends are coupled up and they expect me to comply
As if the only way to be someone’s to be somebody’s wife
But I won’t die
I’ve got love in my life

And did I mention I find marriage to be problematic
I think the state should have no say in whose love is legitimate
Race, nationality
Gender, geography

My calculations tell me it’s true
We’re financially safer as two
All those buy one get one frees are wasted on me
But is money a good rationale
Even I am not so cynical
That my affections can be bought so easily

And what if you begin to grate, become right wing in middle age
We’ve got the house, the cats, the kids and it’s too late to disengage
Would I last a week?
Smother you in your sleep?

So you see it’s not your jokes or your misguided facial hair
I’m just not sure I can see myself as one half of a pair
I’m not the romcom sweetheart or the fairytale princess
And that’s why I left you standing outside Pizza Express

Yes that’s why I left you standing outside Pizza Express