Ewan Maccoll - Legal illegal
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Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger - Legal Illegal
DEvery time you pick Aup a newsDpaper
Every Gtime you turn Don the TA7V
You can Gbet your old Dboots that at Gsome point you'll Dsee
A high ranking Acopper or Gelse an MA7P
DCalling on Aall who are GBritish and Dfree
To stand up and deA7fend law and Dorder
It's illegal to rip off a payroll
It's illegal to hold up a train
But it's legal to rip off a million or two
That comes from the labour that other folks do
To plunder the many on behalf of the few
Is a thing that is perfectly legal
It's illegal to kill off a landlord
Or to trespass upon his estate
But to charge a high rent for a slum is OK
To condemn 2 adults and 3 children to stay
In a hovel that's rotten with damp and decay
Is a thing that is perfectly legal
If your job turns you into a zombie
Then it's legal to feel some despair
But don't be aggressive that is if you're smart
And for Christ's sake don't upset the old apple cart
Remember the boss has your interests at heart
And it grieves him to see you unhappy
If you fashion a bomb in your kitchen
You're guilty of breaking the law
But a bloody great nuclear plant is OK
Though plutonium processing hastens the day
When this tiny little isle may be blasted away
Nonetheless it is perfectly legal
It's illegal if you are a Gypsy
To camp by the side of the road
But it's proper and right for the rich and the great
To live in a mansion or own an estate
That was got from the people by pillage and rape
That's what they call a tradition
It's illegal to carve up your missus
Or put poison in your old man's tea
But poison the rivers, the seas and the skies
And poison the mind of a nation with lies
If it's done in the interest of free enterprise
Then it's proper and perfectly legal
It's legal to join a trade union
And to picket is one of your rights
But don't be offensive when scabs cross the line
Be nice to the coppers and keep this in mind
To picket effectively that is a crime
Worse than if you had murdered your mother
DIt's legal to Asing on the Dtelly
But they Gmake bloody Dsure that you A7don't
If you Gsing about Dracists and Gfascists and Dcreeps
And thieves in high Aplaces that Glive off the A7weak
And Dthose who are Aselling us Gright up the Dcreek
DThe twisters, the takers, the conmen, the fakers
The whole bloody A7gang of exDploiters!