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Free Souls in a Trapped Environment

by Citizen Fish

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jonpar777
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jonpar777 I can't say I know the other Citizen Fish albums particularly, but this one I have on vinyl and I just bought it from Bandcamp. It's such a great mixture of ska punk with very sharp tongued, insightful lyrics delivered with anger but the ska gives it a positive edge. All in all a perfect combination and it takes me back a bit to my youth. Nice one. And great to see you're still going strong. I will have to check out the newer albums. Keep on going strong and hope I can see you live at some point
Seb B
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Seb B Great fuckin' skapunk, a must have in any collection. Favorite track: Break Into a Run/Rainbows.
jareyes500
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jareyes500 Fantastic album, all around. Many many moons ago in the mid 90's I saw you play the Showcase theater in Corona, CA. shortly after went out to find this album and it's well worn and plenty scratched these days.
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1.
SUPERMARKET SONG In the shops and supermarket chains The checkouts play that song again The notes ring in, ring out the change Laughing all the way to the stock exchange The music keeps us happy as we choose The products that we can't afford to use The tokens on the packets, the percentages that drop The ringing and the singing from the ceiling never stops Buy the product and be free! Live a life of luxury! And it says so on T.V. Every quarter of an hour Consuming all the facts Makes you feel you can relax Comes neatly wrapped in packs With ingredients on the back So when you're sick from plastic snacks You'll know precisely why While you uphold the megastores By paying what you can't afford The man who runs the shop next door Remembers how it was before When personality meant something And customers would laugh with him They'd smile or nod as they came in And adverts didn't mean a thing But now the supermarket chains Are around your neck and purse They sell the products to the strain Of some long-forgotten dirge Just loud enough to wash away The headaches of outside Another shopping paradise Where god is on your side They channel mediocrity As life's essential quality You're buying two to get one free It's some thing that you'll never need But greed and curiosity Make you consume and let them feed
2.
BREAK INTO A RUN/RAINBOWS [Break Into A Run] Why life appears to be a series of ups and downs I'll never know And I've a feeling that if I find out then everything will turn to stone The lifeless boring routine block of all things neither good nor bad To break that rock and destabilise is risky but I'll take that chance Just to know that every up and down must balance out somehow And there's a smile to end a conversation that was full of frowns And here's a major chord to lift the minors up and dance around And if the song seems far too long then tune in to another sound Of course the opposite is true the rain must sometimes hide the sun And you can't escape the feeling that there's more to life than having fun But it's better to go crazy and just break into a run Than to grow old always being told how everything should be done So take the path of most resistance and feel good when you arrive The other one is straight downhill and never asks you 'why?' Experience the reap and sow, feel the strengths of high and low Who can dictate how far to go? There are no limits set- let's go! [Rainbows] The last time was forgotten in remembrance of the first We carried on in ignorance not knowing it was worse And all the sinking standards were related to the past So when the end came up again we really had a blast! We counting on this memory And not counting too fast Cos everything's still happening So I guess it's gonna last! It's easier to minimalise the present point of view Cos memories desensitise the bad things we go through But when all that was happening we remembered just the same So presently we come to see that for rainbows you need rain
3.
Possession 01:58
POSSESSION How much do you want? How much do you need? How wide is the gap between possession and greed? Anyone in particular thinks in terms of how much more he needs to earn To afford the dubious luxury of being able to boast that he could do it free But it all takes a very long time indeed to reach the achievements set By the time he possesses all the things that he wants He'll have forgotten what he set out to get How much is enough? Do you need a bit more? How wide is the gap between now and before? There's not much difference in the way he lives And the empty satisfaction that possession gives Storing it all for a sense of success When he's got time to look back if there's any time left Cos it all takes a very long time indeed to amass all the needs to be met Unless you consider that all that you really need Is something to eat Is something to breathe Something to be there when you leave Is something to drink Is something to say Something that says "I went this way"
4.
SMALL SCALE WARS Everything we do on a personal scale Taking 'we' to mean everyone who ever existed Is the basis for everything wrong in this world And of course everything right as well But the list of wrongs that offend the soul Like the chance of being killed before we get old Is far far longer than the list of rights Falling in love won't stop the war But hating other people might start some more You blame the politicians For making all the wrong decisions Which are just the same as ours But we haven't got that power That enforces domination So we take out our frustration On the weaker opposition Reinforce our egotism In our small scale wars On the disco floors Against the man next door Falling in love won't stop the war But hating other people might start some more You can blame the politicians You blame the television You can blame your education Cost of living and inflation But the basis for everything wrong in this world Is the way that people behave When you scorn the system but fight each other You're behaving exactly the same If you thought a bit more before starting the war Then maybe the structure would change Falling in love won't stop the war But hating other people might start some more
5.
HOME ECONOMICS Granny is starting to look pretty costly At anywhere up to £500 a year So even though she is capable, happy and lovely Its out of the house cos it won't be so dear And into the poll-tax-free state-run environment Waiting for death in a small cosy room We can visit her then and she'll make lots of friends They'll be queuing for places so we'd better book soon Charlie is eighteen there's no point in waiting Forget all that learning and get a job fast And a flat of your own cos the money's all blown The family unit's a thing of the past Well then my darling you'd better start working Cos husbands are meant to pay tax for their wives You could be an inspector or a poll tax collector The only job open are the ones we despise And the baby is due, maybe we should consider Abortion, adoption or changing our name Cos for each extra head there's a mouth to be fed And the poll tax eats more than we've managed to save By the year 1999 all these old friends of mine Will be in prison or gone far away For the tax's evasion, unable to pay them Or just for the wanting of somewhere to stay With Thatcher replacing the tiles on our roof With demands for more money than we've ever got We'll look back and wish we'd known more and resisted The poll tax Student loans More cuts in benefits All got together and said fuck the lot of it!
6.
Paint 01:04
PAINT I heard the notes all fade away Leaving memorial stones Yesterday's thoughts have come to stay Until they decompose A picture paints a thousand words With nothing much to say What last night seemed had to be heard Is left unsaid today So when you said you understood I couldn't understand I was looking at an empty beach As you saw the grains of sand I was counting views from windows When you looked in from outside The light was blurred and distant And several cities wide So I turn up the volume To hear the notes so dim You said you couldn't hear it So I asked you to come in Then you held up a mirror And I saw my face congeal I was thin and getting thinner And I dreamt it was for real
7.
TALK IS CHEAP Talk is cheap and its easy to shout If we spent all our time working things out Would it change anything? Words are cheap and anyone can sing So let's sing a song about all the wrongs Complaining and straining This is where it belongs Or so some one said It must've been something I read But while I was reading The ethics lay bleeding Stab the back of the hand that feeds you We fall apart in the 'basic human nature' excuse It's the heart of the gig that bleeds From the endless soul self-abuse Tied to the bar in the hope of reviews From the obvious to the obtuse The critics who sound so profound About the mythical 'new underground' But talk is cheap The words of wisdom put you to sleep And you don't even read the cuttings you keep Just following trends The trail never ends When all the solutions are just round the bend You're upholding ideas that you'd never defend In the endless search you cannot comprehend That there's nothing that wonderful In worshipping trivial Ego material Cos music sells papers Who sell you the feeling As if it was missing Talk is cheap Till you put it in print Sing as you read The words all fit Now we're learning the words Obscure or absurd It makes no difference It never gets heard No it never gets 'in' But you really want to win When there's nothing to be You say 'look at me!' And it works! Yes it works! Cos talk is cheap But shouting is free!
8.
FACE OFF/YOUTH [Face Off] Lots of them You know there's lots of them There's reasons Everyday changes my mind like the seasons I'm asking for answers I'm looking in mirrors Ripples in rivers Face just drifting away...... Where's the reasoning? Yes and no are neither good enough Gimme some of that spontaneity stuff Blink before you think too hard Saw your smile in a passing car Borrowed your pen I wanna write like you do again and again Riots in the uniform of peace Coupla big ones up your sleeve Ten to nine and it's shut down the factory Pull up the floorboards and build a bonfire Having a party in your head Sniff this geezer! And go to bed! Turned off the lights Stayed up all night Blown to bits! Shrivelled up opened out and exploded Where he usually sits Go to it youth Discover the truth Don't bottle it up Cos it's 99% proof [Youth] No no it's not how old you are Not the blushing brides and the propped up bar After the bells have rung And the next perspective has begun Not the corner of some foreign field Not the name engraved on stainless steel Not the thank you note for inventing the wheel But an innocence dressed in knowing too much Never scared to theorise but half scared to touch But rejecting the world that made it such Oh to be as youthful as I am Oh to be as manic as you are Oh to be as worried in our happiness But never will we be so near Yet look so far Be so near Yet look so far Yet look so far Beyond the social attitudes That narrow the path and distort the view Complacency defies energy And the other way round We grow as fast as time is slow Enough to keep our head to the ground For youthfulness is a louder sound Than age - that turning of the page - can make A forced resemblance of getting old Left the majority feeling cold Forgot that energy never gets old We grow with what we'll always know And feel the sense of experience
9.
FLESH AND BLOOD If animals are animals And animals have brains We are no more than cannibals Who refuse to feel the pain The meat you eat is wrapped up neat You didn't see it bleed... And what you kill does not fulfil Your dietary needs Take a look from this direction Save yourself the indigestion Our guts are geared to vegetation And it's healthier as well Open your eyes and face the facts Meat cost a lot, it gives you heart attacks A lot of people think vegetation lacks In vitamin B12 If you really think that's gonna make you ill Then buy a bottle of vitamin pills! You could be more healthy Maybe it doesn't really bother you But can your conscience bear the strain Of all the pain that makes your food? You could feed a lot of needy people With the grain they feed to cows But can you comprehend these end results Or can you not allow Yourself to break the old tradition? False conception of nutrition Well they all eat meat on television Except those little starving children Would you ever eat the meat From another human being? Flesh and blood Is animal Is you and me Animal is suffering
10.
GET OFF THE PHONE Someone phoned and said "hello?" And for about, well, I dunno A few split seconds I thought "Oh no I know that voice"... so I said real slow "Uh yes?" Who could it be? Of course it turned out [There was no room for doubt] It was you all along It's just that your voice Was covered in noise That didn't belong You said "Don't mention my name I got something to say The police came around About ten minutes ago They got my address book And you ought to know They were asking weird questions About what I believe And reading my fanzines And your record sleeves." I said "Get off the phone I don't think we're alone I keep hearing these noises They're tapping my phone They're searching your house And now they'll search mine, They'll pull us all in If they get enough time If you've done nothing wrong They'll make up a crime They'll say you're unbalanced Cos you went out of line. There's no freedom to move Unless it's forward or back And you can't speak your mind Cos your phone's being tapped But we know all these things So we have to react They're not defending our freedom It's blatant attack They take all our freedom And give nothing back"
11.
EXPERIMENT EARTH A zillion miles into outer space Is a very very very big telescopic lens Someone labelled 'alien' is looking at this place Checking out experimental women and men Several million years ago They planted human beings on a planet called Earth Sent a few biologists to make sure we would grow Who ended up in Spielberg films, or crucified, or worse Lots and lots of time went past Till what we know as 'recently' was when it all went wrong Technology ran the human race the humans finished last They were spending less on medicine and more and more on bombs The layers in the atmosphere were open wide And no-one out in outer space liked what they saw inside Animals in slavery where forests used to be Starving people eating hamburgers and catching heart disease What to do with the toxic waste? The ocean floor is filling up and those drums rust away "We could try dumping all this rubbish in outer space" But the aliens were listening to everything we say A zillion miles into outer space Is a very very very big telescopic lens And when an alien experiment starts messing up the place It is left to self-destruction, clear the mess and start again
12.
HOW TO WRITE ULTIMATE PROTEST SONGS You have to use your imagination To get across the situation You can simplify or overstate To make it easier to relate You can go right over the top With a list of things you want to stop Or you can concentrate on just one wrong And make it easier to sing along But if you say "I don't like this" (Or that or the other in a big long list) Then people write you off as a pessimist Providing no alternatives Or if you decide to simplify And use four-letter words and spit in the sky Then they'll chant the slogans and won't even try To understand the reasons why So perhaps the only way to make clear The views you'd like everyone to hear Is by taking a piece of everyday life And looking at it closer in a different light Let's take an example - the way we eat Sat at the table and it's all so neat Now you can understand that cos that's 'how it's done' And it's probably happened to everyone Having caught the attention you now decide How far to push your thoughts outside There's loads of angles, like dining out The hunger of the old man whose cash ran out The money made by corporations Selling bombs not food to starving nations You see there's a world-wide scope of affiliations Depending how far you wanna stretch imaginations Insert a little optimism now and then Before complaining becomes a trend Repetition defeats the point in the end It numbs imagination till it can't comprehend So walk the line between humour and gloom Amongst the debris there's just enough room To keep your mentality going strong And create some ultimate protest songs
13.
Charity 04:42
CHARITY As the charity department at the Treasury Dispenses licenses so you can do one too The Ethiopians are running out of weaponry So their leaders stock it up instead of food And charity begins at home So get out on the streets And help the refugees And the manager of E.M.I. technology Seems reluctant to discuss his business deals Cos the weapon sales are paying for his meals He'll go to Wuthering Heights To keep it out of sight Profit! Weaponry doesn't feed refugees It's a hit! McCartney's saying please on TVs Royalties to feed the world with guns Wembley Stadium forever on the video And a million spent to raise that sixty more Nothing ever quite as big as this before And it broke our hearts as it topped the charts But when the overkill exploited the reality We forgot the facts and revelled in the noise We didn't see that while we had the voice Companies and laws were pulling vocal chords If the western world was less obsessed with property And the need to keep it safe with threats of war Then the third world wouldn't need a war economy That we're supplying at a cost they can't afford So we buy up all their crops and grain And sell it back again When there ain't no rain And have a big campaign Using famous names And as the penny drops Into the Oxfam box Take off the V.A.T. Then call it charity And the public think the government is wonderful For promoting our assistance to the poor But their profits are a whole lot more They create the need to feed the refugees And delegate the guilty feeling to the public eye Via pictures of starvation on T.V. And get the public conscience back out on the streets With the empty tins And little flags on pins Lets call it charity

credits

released September 1, 1990

Voice+words- Dick
Guitar- Larry
Bass- Jasper
Drums- Trotsky

Recorded at the Refuge, Reading 17-19 April 90
and Southern, London 7-10 June 90

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