AnArcAdiAn

This song is a tribute to the heroic lifeboatmen of Margate, nine of whom lost their lives when their surfboat Friend to All Nations capsized during a rescue mission in December 1897. Thirteen men set out on the boat, powered by oars and a sail. Nine of those on the rescue mission, including three from one family, drowned in the tempest. Sympathisers across Britain and beyond sent donations to a fund set up to provide support for the families of those who perished. However, a self-appointed band of the local great and good decided that the money would be better invested in a memorial statue. Imported Italian marble was the material of choice. The stone was so heavy that a special road had to be constructed along which to transport it from the harbour to the local cemetery. Meanwhile, the families of the deceased were left in poverty, receiving little of the money that was collected, eventually having to appeal to local churches for alms. Understandably this caused considerable resentment across the community. The statue, not the familiar one in the image shown here, stands in the local cemetery, many people still totally unaware of its existence. The crew's selfless act of humanitarian bravery, not undertaken for money or fame, but purely because seafarers understood the need for help in times of distress, remains something that we could learn from today. Has our unspoken ethos of self-interest and the denial of the interrelatedness of all things brought us any closer to happiness, fulfilment and progress? Sail On In the storm-lashed black of a December morn’, many years ago, The stricken crew of a sinking ship signalled: Save Our Souls, Thirteen fearless men set sail, courageous, true and bold, into a sea as black as the devil’s heart and more than twice as cold and we say, sail on, sail on, wherever you may go, the moon will guide you on, Sail on, sail on, wherever you may go, the stars will guide you on… The storm it showed no mercy, and whiplashed by the wind, The first great roller crashed down on the Friend and the sea came pouring in, They dropped the sail to get an even keel, but the fury of a second wave Upturned the boat, sending nine good men to a cold and watery grave And we say, sail on, sail on, wherever you may go, the moon will guide you on, Sail on, sail on, wherever you may go, the stars will guide you on… The town went into mourning, the people deep in shock, Couldn’t recognise the faces of the dead, battered on the Nayland Rock Salt water on the cheeks of the living, was not sea, but bitter tears Shed for love and respect of nine good men they knew, who knew no fear And we say, sail on, sail on, wherever you may go, the moon will guide you on, Sail on, sail on, wherever you may go, the stars will guide you on… Across the country people dug deep For any money they could find, To send to support the women and the children left behind But the funds were spent on statues of fine Italian stone, By men who valued the cold, dead rock above living flesh and bone. And we say, sail on, sail on, wherever you may go, the moon will guide you on, Sail on, sail on, wherever you may go, the stars will guide you on…

We've had more than our fare share of arson in Margate. Various houses and arcades going up in smoke, culminating with the torching of the Scenic Railway roller coaster at Dreamland. The value of property had dropped so much that it was easier and more profitable for 'developers' to send out droogs armed with petrol and matches than it was for them to sell their assets. Burn It Down Burn, burn, burn it down Burn it down to the ground The town that nobody wants People moving out and the pigeons moving in to the town that nobody wants Tear, tear, tear it down Tear it down to the ground The town that nobody wants Posters peeling off the posters peeling off the town that nobody wants Wait a minute man I think I’ve got a plan The answer is shoppingly clear, We build a centre out of town We’ll get all the big guns down And we’ll blast our way out of here! Knock, knock, knock it down Knock it down to the ground The town that nobody wants You better watch your feet, what the dogs leave on the street in the town that nobody wants Wait a minute man I think I’ve got a plan The answer is shoppingly clear, We build a centre out of town We’ll get all the big guns down And we’ll blast our way out of here! The gold mine ran out of sunshine The whole town’s ready to croak Say goodbye to the good times now Because there’s nothing left, It’s all gone up in smoke… Burn, burn, burn it down Burn it down to the ground The town that nobody wants People moving out and the pigeons moving in to the town that nobody wants It’s a rare town, it’s a spare town The town that nobody wants, No one cares town, you’d better say your prayers town, The town that nobody wants

A homage to the sea & the sun. The life they give and the inspiration that we all share Down to the Sea The sun is going down in front of me, throwing diamonds on the sea All those waves of natural energy, they're flowing deep inside of me, And when I feel there’s nowhere I belong, And there’s nothing I believe When I fear there’s nothing left to know I go down to the sea down to the sea The earth it turns eternally, and the movement of the sea Ebbs and flows and life it comes and goes, and who knows what’s left for you and me? And when I fear there’s no one that I know, and there’s nothing I could be When I feel my energy is low I go down to the sea down to the sea down to the sea down to the sea down to the sea The scent of the spray The salt of the earth Gulls are gliding above me, they're calling me to be free The twin towers of my chequered history, Oh they stare right back at me, And when I feel there’s nowhere I can go And there’s nothing new to see I make connection with the mystery And I go… down to the sea down to the sea down to the sea... And when I feel there’s nowhere I belong And there’s nothing I believe I make connection with the mystery and I go... down to the sea The sun is going down in front of me… The sun is going down...

Rehearsal take: late, low lights and groovy... Nothing Can Stop It Now We’ll lift your aspirations high, They used to reach above the sky There’s more for your enjoyment Than searching for employment You can do anything you try Till recently you had a dream Of freedom and equality Material distractions Promised you satisfaction And now it’s just a might have been But we got reggae, we got soul, We got rock, we got roll, Weapons of mass construction Start cultural eruptions It’s not something you can control We could be living side by side You never know until you try You ask us how we're gonna do it There’s really nothing to it With evolution on your side The Euro-dollar-Yankee-pound They talk the talk, they do the rounds, Legal teams of hungry vultures Feed on compensation culture We’ve got to turn this thing around With our reggae, and our soul, and our rock, and our roll, We got country, bluegrass, acid jazz, We got garage, house and razzmatazz We got punk, funk, rhythm, blues Soca-delic attitude We got hip hop, prog rock, drum and bass, Ska and blue beat rock the place The DJ spins those wheels of steel It's a soundtrack to the way we feeling There’s not a thing can stop it now… What is it we are waiting for? A welcome sign is on the door Don’t let your education Suppress imagination The future is not what went before Tired of the tyrants who tirade Whose power comes from those they’ve paid Hell bent on self-destruction Or creative re-construction These are the choices to be made With our reggae, and our soul, and our rock, and our roll, We got country, bluegrass, acid jazz, We got garage, house and razzmatazz We got punk, funk, rhythm, blues Folk-a-delic attitude We got hip hop, prog rock, drum and bass, Ska and blue beat rock the place The DJ spins those wheels of steel It's a soundtrack to the way we're feeling There’s not a thing can stop it now…

Live rehearsal; rehearsal live! Come on boy, let's go... Moondog It’s a moondog thing You follow that trail from town to town With your tail in the air and your nose on the ground Sniffing in the shadows where the alley cats prowl Announcing your arrival with a moondog howl. Beat a snaketime rhythm to a slithery rhyme ‘cause no-one ever died in 4/4 time All you wanna do is sing a moondog tune It's just throwing back your head and a-howling at the moon It’s a moondog thing It's a moondog thing You’re a moondog hound on a dog’s life street Mixing up a mess with a snaketime beat Knocking out a rhythm on a trimba with the Sioux Breaking through the bars with an oo-ya-tsu Counting out time, start from 1 10,000 years since you’ve first begun You don’t trust the rhythm of the pendulum rock ‘cause there’s 28 days in the lunar-tic-tock clock Moon dog thing It's a moondog thing... You can see it in the night, you can see it in the day, It’s up there somewhere and it never goes away, It’s a bad hair day for the lunatic fringe A hair of the dog, that’s what you need… Moon dog thing it's a moondog thing Cooking up a symphony, a slime-time cacophony Cocking up a leg against the overtone tree Got a drum-beat-heart-beat-boom-boom-boom But nothing feels better than a-howling at the moon For a moondog It's a moondog thing it's a moondog thing it's a moon dog thing c'mon boy, let's go... I heard it through the grapevine It’s all a lot of moonshine Moondog, treefrog, Ants on a log In the concrete jungle Where the natives like to rumble All night long To the siren’s song Where you risk it for a biscuit of the moondog kind In the park, in the dark, where you wonder what you’ll find I’ll tell you what I found and it blew my mind It was a close encounter of the canine kind Old dog, new tricks Chasing after drumsticks Saint or sinner, well, your hair gets thinner You’ve gone to the dogs But you’re onto a winner All dressed up like a moondog’s dinner It’s the thought for pause When you’re on all fours waiting for a lead just standing by the door But you never wanna get the final walk to the vet There’s plenty of life in the old moondog yet Moondog thing It's a moondog thing it's a moondog thing It's a moondog thing - yeah