EXPLAIN TO ME by David Hockey
I’m a simple man, explain to me
I’m sure I’ll understand
What it is, our leaders have done
To this, The Greatest Land
261 murders
In the year of ‘58
A killing was the biggest news
Our papers would relate
Those in power in ’65, thought
‘That really is enough’
“Our people can live their life in ease’
‘Without us getting tough’
320 died that year
Suffering a killer’s blow
But from now on, there would be less
Our yearly figures will show
We quickly broke the gallows down
And threw away the noose
Barbarism had no place for us
Understanding was of more use
In ’69 we sealed the Act
No killer would pay ‘That ‘ price
Our population more civil now
Would become as quiet as mice
ONE year on, the figure rose,
…………………………396
If patience and understanding was shown
That would surely do the trick
1980… ten years on
that year………………….. 621
Some of us did have the thought
‘Is it right? what we have done’
In 1990 how many died?
…………………………….661
It looked as if, at last we’d peaked
The abolitioners MUST have won
2005, that year it claimed
………………………………853 !!!
“We’ve got it wrong?” .. I truly felt
Perhaps ………………………that was ONLY me
2007,…. that year a drop !!
A mere ………………………734
Our leaders still do not hear us cry
“For God’s sake, we want no more”
Today our papers lead off
With news of a celebrity
Who has now had two boob jobs
And is thinking about number three
Even better, a footballer’s mistress
Involved in some road rage
The Rape.. and Murder .. of an 80 year old
At the bottom ……………….. of the 14th page
I’m a simple man, explain to me
I’m sure I’ll understand
What it is, our leaders have done
To this, The Greatest Land
Our schools they were a place to learn
Teachers,… yes they were strict
True, we could be a rowdy lot
But a quick smack did the trick
When an adult spoke we listened hard
For we all knew our fate
If we messed about in class, at all
We’d be getting home real late
Parent’s questions, for sure they’d come
“What time do you call this?”
And one thing I’m NOT going to say
“I got a row from Miss”
When I was bad and I got caught
I surely got some strokes
But they were few and far between
Dad’s still the greatest of blokes
Today I can’t feel the smacks at all
My kids? ……… they are my light
And I will teach what Dad taught me
To know what’s wrong and right
Again it was, we HAD to change
Schools MUST get civilised
Understanding towards those kids we’ll give
They don’t need to be chastised
In ’87 they called a halt
The cane was gone for good
Scottish schools threw out the ‘strap’
As yet no one wore a hood
Now this may come as no surprise
But since that very day
Good order and good manners
In schools …. has melted away
Today if kids don’t want to work
Prefer to do sod all
Just tell the ‘Teach’ to “Go F off”
Then head down to the Mall
2008, things are getting worse
We ask Teachers to do their job
Prepare our children for a future bright
Why is your class a mob?
Our Teachers, they cannot control
Nor discipline their charge
For we took away from them their powers
To be a figure ……………. LARGE
We took away from them the tools
Now ? ……………. we just complain
Oh why can they not get results?
You know the answers plain
No discipline for kids in school
No rules from a heavy tome
How can old ‘Teach’ expect to win
When there is no discipline at home
As for home …”What can I do?”
“I’m not allowed to spank”
Our children use the threat of law
And think it such a prank
Our schools they yearly turn out
A generation who
Will live life doing nothing
Financed by me and you
Days of school, soon they pass
To a big wide world they’ll head
They’ll get a job, and live their life
……………………… When they get out of bed
They’ll meet a boss, …. “I’ll work for you”
“I’ll’ take your job today”
“What is it, to the job you bring?”
The boss is sure to say
“Well, …… not a lot, ….. nothing at all”
“For school was not for me”
Then speaks the boss, “Get bus back to town”
“It’s the Number 23”
Liberal schooling, it has failed them
More ‘Education’ they now seek
To learn how to work the system
For money every week
I’m a simple man, explain to me
I’m sure I’ll understand
What it is, our leaders have done
To this, The Greatest Land
Our Premier tells our people
“Your interests I have at heart”
Then he takes our soldiers
To a war that he HAD to start
A war to keep us safe and sound
As we sleep in our bed
Take “Weapons of Mass Destruction”
From those that would have us dead
Our Military power made tyrants fall
We freed those who were oppressed
No weapons of death…. have yet been found
By our leaders so obsessed
Our troops fight on in hostile lands
So very far away
Lives are lost and millions spend
Yes, each and every day
What is it for? Why are we there?
British blood on foreign loam
There are things far more pressing now
To sort out here at home
I’ve now had time to contemplate
I feel like such a fool
That I sit and do nothing
While the loony minority rule
My father too … fought bloody war
So I’d enjoy “Freedom of Speech”
Would he have thought, “Politically Correct”
Meant THAT ‘ Freedom’ was out of reach?
What the Majority wants the Majority gets
That’s certainly not true
For when I speak to honest folks
They feel no one supports their view
What of the men that took us here?
And the mistake they won’t admit?
Titles and financial rewards they get
After dinner they’ll be a hit
I’m a simple man, explain to me
I’m sure I’ll understand
What it is, our leaders have done
To this, The Greatest Land
One day there’s a decision
That some know will change they’re life
Just five words in an English tongue
A husband learns them with his wife
They pack up their belongings
They head off down a road
Does their future weigh upon on them
Like an unforgiving load?
Many countries their path takes them through
Where the U.N. says they can stay
Countries that are kind and just
Yet they still go on their way
On and on, they travel roads
Until their path’s denied
By 20 miles of water
High cliffs on the far side
Our travellers must now decide
Upon what they must do
To carry on across that swell
Or stay in this country new
They’ve passed through many many lands
Where sunshine is bright and warm
What lies ahead is dark and bleak
With hail and rain and storm
The lands they’ve passed have milk and wine
A man can lay his head
Upon the ground, beneath the stars
So warm, can make a bed
NO, they will strive, and they’ll press on
And any price they’ll pay
To cross that brine, to that dark place
They cannot stop today
When they get there and look around
A country cold, wet and bleak
And people that don’t understand
A single word they speak
Into a city they struggle on
Even though they do not fit
Unto a policeman, speak those five words
“Where do I get …. Benefits?”
I’m a simple man, explain to me
I’m sure I’ll understand
What it is, our leaders have done
To this, The Greatest Land
The time has come to for us to choose
Our feelings we must set free
I feel the choice is simple
It’s SANITY …….. not P.C.
Murderers must pay an ultimate price
For the life they took that day
And the pain they caused the families
That will never go away
Its true some hanged, committed no crime
Caused no murderous spree
But I do not recall, that in one year
We wrongly hanged ……………………853
There must now be a deterrent
What kind we can debate
As daily, more innocent than guilty
Pass through St. Peter’s Gate
For those that kill our innocents
A mother or her child
I feel for them no sympathy
They are to be reviled
You may tell me I’m not civilised
If what you say is true
Then I feel that I must reply
I’m glad I’m me …… not you
The world you’ve sought to live in
Is a Utopia,……. not real
I pray your never made aware
Of what the parents of a victim feel
Our schools, …… they must return once more
To places of learning and gain
Our children need to grow and learn
Without receiving pain
A simple Certificate can be their goal
If their behaviours good
No matter what results they get
If they work and are not rude
Once their days of learning pass
They can show they’ve done just fine
Leaving Certificates they will receive
If …….. 80% of their teachers sign
With that in hand they’ll venture out
A useful aid for work
It shows a boss, they’ll show respect
From labours they’ll not shirk
And what of those that don’t receive?
To school they thumbed their nose
Two years in a non-combative role
In Her Majesty’s Forces for those
“Good morning Sergeant Major”
“You got me out of bed”
“While I was lying wishing”
“I’d listened to what teacher said”
The time has come for us to say
That they have done their best
And bring our young men home again
Before their laid to rest
For what is it their fighting for?
It’s surely lost on me
Our premier was simply WRONG
Let’s end his killing spree
As soldiers die, the costs mount up
More money must we spend
To stand them in a foreign land
Ill equipped to self-defend
You must not spend what you can’t afford
Our elders taught us that
We must now stop our wasteful ways
Before we’re passing the hat
We cannot spend, we cannot lend
It’s time for US to save
There’s little chance, none at all
Others will refund what we gave
It’s time to stop the hand outs
To those that do not work
For we need folk that step up
And not those who will shirk
It’s time for us to close our doors
And think of family first
It’s time to look after our own
Before this land is ‘Burst’
No longer can we be the one
That gives succour to all
If in fact WE are the country
That now has “Bugger All”
I thank you patient reader
For giving me your time
And getting to the end
Of this my lengthy rhyme
One last thing I must beseech
You’re the only one I’ll ask
The answer to my final verse
It’s quite a simple task
If you cannot answer now
For no answer is in your view
I beg you that you give it thought
And let your heart be true
It’s YOU our country’s waiting for
It’s YOU who must now react
Don’t say ……“I can do nothing”
For nothing gets nothing … that’s a fact
I’m a simple man, explain to me
I’m sure I’ll understand
What it is, our leaders have done
To this, …………………………………… The Greatest Land