D                   D/A         D/F#             D
Well a teacher of mine once told me that life was just a list of 
    G                                      A           A/E
disappointments and defeats and you could only do your best, 
                  D                D/A                  D/F#     
And I said "Well, that's a fucking cop-out, you're just washed up and you're 
D               G                          A
tired, and when I get to your age, well, I won't be such a coward" 
          Em                           G                  Bm
But these days I sit at home, known to shout at my TV and Punk Rock didn't 
                  A
live up to what I hoped that it could be 
            Em                                 G
And all the things that I believed with all my heart when I was young are 
     Bm                           A
just coasters for beers and clean surfaces for drugs 
      G             Em                G             A              D 
And I packed all my pamphlets with my bibles at the back of the shelf 


[Instrumental]

D/A  D/F#  D  G  A  A/E


[Verse 2]

            D                             
Well it was bad enough the feeling, and the first time it hit, when you 
G                                 A               A/E
realised your parents had let the world all go to shit 
             D           D/A             D/F#                D  
And that the values and ideals for which many had fought and died had been 
       G                                 A          A/E
killed off in the committees and left to die by the wayside.
           Em                           G                       Bm
But it was worse when we turned to the kids on the left and got let down 
              A
again by some poor excuse for protest 
        Em                       G                              Bm
Yeah by idiot fucking hippies in 50 different factions, who are locked 
                         A
inside some kind of 60's battle re-enactment 
      G          Em          G           A             G    A
And I hung-up my banner in disgust and I head for the door  


[Chorus 1]

        D             A                Bm              G
Oh but once we were young, and we were crass enough to care 
                Em            A                      Em           A
But I guess you live and learn, we won't make that mistake again, no 
       D                   A             Bm                 G
Oh but surely just for one day, we could fight and we could win 
                  Em           A                         Em           A
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible  


[Verse 3]

           Bm                                              A
Well we've been a good few hours drinking, so I'm going to say what everyone's thinking 
         G                           D                Em            A  
If we're stuck on this ship and it's sinking, then we might as well have a 
D
parade 
            Bm                                       A
Cos if it's still going to hurt in the morning and a better plan's yet to get forming
     G                            D           Em          A        G   A 
Then where's the harm spending an evening, in manning the old barricades   


[Bridge]

      D                                         G            A
So come on old friends to the streets let's be 1905 but not 1917 
         D                                                       G
Let's be heroes, let's be martyrs, let's be radical thinkers who never have 
                  A
to test drive the least of their dreams.
      Em                           G                        Bm   
Let's divide up the world into the damned and safe and then ride to the 
                     A
valleys like the old life brigade  
    Em                          G                           Bm 
And straighten our backs and we won't be afraid and they'll celebrate our 
               A
deaths with a national parade 


[Chorus 2]

      D             A                Bm              G
So come on let's be young, let's be crass enough to care 
                 Em           A                       Em            A
Let's refuse to live and learn, let's make all our mistakes again yes 
         D                    A            Bm               G
And then darling, just for one day, we can fight and we can win 
                    Em        A                           Em      A
And if only for a little while, we could insist on the impossible 


[Outro]

          D                                                        G
Leave the mourning the to the morning, yes pain can be killed with aspirin 
            A
tablets and vitamin pills.
      D                                          G         A            D
But memories of hope, and glorious defeat are a little bit harder to beat