Poverty in the UK
It's coming to a town near you
Ok, it's time to talk about something that bothers me
Every direction I'm looking in all I'm seeing is inequality
We're the world's sixth largest economy
And yet there's 15 million people who are living in poverty
People paying through the nose, for payday loans
And bailiffs knocking at the door
Trying to force them out their homes
They're crumbling and worrying
And working their fingers to the bone
They're struggling and guzzling instead of picking up the phone
While the billionaires are chilling in their ivory towers
And throwing rocks at the greenhouse
Abusing their powers
And sitting on businesses that are growing like flowers
When it's the people on the poverty line
Who are putting in all the hours
But it's not their problem, they don't even need care
They're miles away
And sheltered from the damage and despair
They're sipping on Dom Perignon in gated communities
While the peasants are perishing getting no opportunities
There's children with nothing and people living on the street
Whole families going hungry cos they can't afford to eat
No wonder so many people are at the end of their tether
When they're living in awful conditions
Without two pennies to rub together
What's happening is criminal, provision is minimal
It's hard to be happy or anything other than cynical
We're on a course for collision and it's creating division
And the only thing that makes sense is to
Keep on trying to breathe and do your best
In a world you know is rotten to the core
Just keep on, trying to breathe and do your best
In a world you know is rotten to the core
So who do they blame?
They blame the poor
The people that have cracked cos they couldn't take it anymore
The addicts the prostitutes, the dealers the sharks
The disabled alcoholics sleeping on benches in the parks
The people stuck on benefits, unable to graft
The refugees and immigrants in terrible predicaments
That are fleeing on their own
From war torn zones and trying to
Cross the English channel on a makeshift raft
The unemployed people praying for skills
The people pushed to the precipice
By the pressure of paying their bills
But do you contemplate what drove them there
And all the structural negligence that has froze them there
You've conjured up billions by getting people into debt
And now Universal is the only credit that they'll ever get
People are drowning when they used to be paddling
Suicides are rising and the numbers are staggering
There's seven million carers getting thanks not finance
We're failing the frail and feeding families from food banks
There's real life zombies battling crippling addictions
And instead of getting help with it
They're picking up convictions
It's a messed up sandwich from the top to the bottom
The bread is lost and forgotten
And now the filling is rotten
We're going downhill faster than a toboggan
And the only thing that makes sense is to
Keep on trying to breathe and do your best
In a world you know is rotten to the core
Just keep on, trying to breathe and do your best
In a world you know is rotten to the core
So when I think of all the money getting frittered like litter
I get a little bit bitter and I don't know what to say
We've gotta look out for each other
We've gotta be sisters and brothers
If we're united then there's nothing that can get in our way
But when you hit rock bottom and you're down on your luck
You always feel like you're stuck
And you've stopped giving a chuff, it's rough
But anything that you can do is enough
Gotta keep your pecker and you're chin up
When the going gets tough
Whoever you are there's gonna be people that love you
That can help you with the problems that are lurking above you
Reach out, speak up, for the people that need you
Put your energy and effort into something that feeds you
Make sure that it's yourself that you're doing it for
And don't settle for less when you're entitled to more
You've gotta do what you can to get back up off the floor
I know I've said it before
But just
Keep on trying to breathe and do your best
In a world you know is rotten to the core
Just keep on, trying to breathe and do your best
In a world you know is rotten to the core