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Smash the Social Contract

by Cornelius Cardew

on Eat Your Dreams (2020), Cornelius Cardew Memorial Concert (1985)

For the ruling class and Labour government
The situation is getting worse and worse
Everything they try is bound to fail
Because they labour under history's inescapable curse

From crisis to crisis, they lurch and they sway
They scratch their heads to find a new devious way
They hope the social contract is for the country's health
What they mean is healthy profits for ruling class wealth

So smash, smash, smash the social contract
It's the cry of workers all over the land
No to class collaboration
We've sorted out your lies and deception

You always call for sacrifice
And for sacrifice we're ready, but not
To save the system
But for the victory of our class

Liberal, Labour, Tory, all the same
They play the part of monopoly capitalist hacks
No matter if they call us brothers
They want the price of the crisis to be laid on our backs

Give up this
Give up that
Take the cuts
And tighten your belts

They say
The social contract
Is for the country's health
What they mean is healthy profits for ruling class wealth

So smash, smash, smash the social contract
It's the cry of workers all over the land
No to class collaboration
We've sorted out your lies and deception

You always call for sacrifice
And for sacrifice we're ready, but not
To save the system
But for the victory of our class

So smash, smash, smash the social contract
It's the cry of workers all over the land
No to class collaboration
We've sorted out your lies and deception

You always call for sacrifice
And for sacrifice we're ready, but not
To save the system
But for the victory of our class

Now at Leyland, Ford and other factories
Class-conscious workers are shouting "No, no, no"
Dockers and sailors on the seas
And other workers join the battle and the tide is in flood

As the masses struggle, the mask is ripped away
The brutal reality is plain to see
The real social contract
We see it plain as glass
Between the labour aristocracy and the ruling class

So smash, smash, smash the social contract
It's the cry of workers all over the land
No to class collaboration
We've sorted out your lies and deception

You always call for sacrifice
And for sacrifice we're ready, but not
To save the system
But for the victory of our class

In the fight to smash the social contract
We see the need for revolution
Grasp it firmly, as we organise
The seizure of power is the path ahead

The proletarian party, RCPB and us
Leading and guiding the working class
Unite to smash the contract

It's part of our task
Which is to fight and overthrow the ruling class

So smash, smash, smash the social contract
It's the cry of workers all over the land
No to class collaboration
We've sorted out your lies and deception

You always call for sacrifice
And for sacrifice we're ready, but not
To save the system
But for the victory of our class