It was no personal defeat That suicide on Downing Street They found him burning in his car He paid the price for what we are A stroke of luck, a trick of fate The life I build, the mess I make Too young to retire, too old to live This message all he had to give Derek Bainbridge did not die in vain And I will sing his sad luck story Desperation is a warning flame Now we stand or fall with Derek Bainbridge He came 160 miles To wipe away all those smug smiles The empty hours dragging by His spirit withered up inside Derek Bainbridge did not die in vain And I will sing his sad luck story Desperation is a warning flame Now we stand or fall with Derek Bainbridge He felt the man that he could be Was only wasted potential He went swimming in the deep forbidden sea Looking for that extra dimension In a selfish blue nation It was no personal defeat That suicide on Downing Street You cannot call us civilized As long as one life is denied Derek Bainbridge did not die in vain And I will sing his sad luck story Desperation is a warning flame Now we stand or fall with Derek Bainbridge Swinging on a one way pendulum Driving down a dead end highway Desperation is a warning flame Now we stand or fall, do we stand or fall