Socialist Chameleon
Inspired by Karma Chameleon – Culture Club, Space Oddity – David Bowie, The World Is Planned – Galaxia/Red Day and An Innocent Man – Billy Joel
Written by Steve Wallis, 16/5/2007
Dedicated to Joanne Simpson
I am a man with a mission
I’m not a man without a soul
I am a man who has conviction
I won’t submit to mind control
Thought Control to Private Jo:
Have you done what I said?
Private Jo to Thought Control:
Not yesterday or today, not when up or when in bed
Thought Control to Private Jo:
Will you do what I say?
Private Jo to Thought Control:
Not tomorrow or today
Thought Control to Private Jo:
Are you worried that you I may slay?
Private Jo to Socialist Steve:
Please make the voices go away!
Socialist Steve to Private Jo:
Can you play an instrument or sing
So that you can be in my band that will be very left-wing?
Private Jo to Socialist Steve:
I can sing and play a guitar or keyboard
Can you save me while on this psychiatric ward?
Socialist Steve to Private Jo:
I’ll publicise you being a member of my band
And you will be saved by the invisible hand
That I’ll mention in my song “The World Is Planned”
There is a demo in Glasgow against Trident and war
We may have to go AWOL because our politics, they don’t ignore
Private Jo to Socialist Steve:
I will certainly think about it
My consultant, Dr Michael Taylor, is a nasty fascist shit!
Socialist Steve to Private Jo:
Will you discuss it with me in the hospital grounds?
Otherwise we’ll have to talk when alone on the ward or hardly making a sound
Private Jo to Socialist Steve:
I don’t feel like it today
“Maybe later,” Jo would always say
Socialist Steve to Private Jo:
You have helped improve my document on the mind
And though you say you are gay and don’t love me, you are very kind
It was time to carry out my mission
To lead the masses is my role
Trident needs nuclear fission
From power stations
– nuclear not coal
I am quite a comedian
Jo, you are a chameleon
Karma, karma, karma chameleon
I had to go, I had to go
Karma, karma, karma chameleon
I told you so, I told you so
You said you may come with me but had fallen asleep
I tried to wake you but your sleep seemed very deep
I went in a different direction but an entrance to the grounds I had to pass
A nurse was waiting for me, not a strong man or young lass
That middle aged woman told me to stop but I ran off to the station
I produced a leaflet for the demo against war on foreign nations
It was the first newsletter for socialism with proportional representation
To link conspirators around the world like Asimov’s Foundations
The demo finished in George Square
The police knew I would be there
After handing out many leaflets, I used my mobile phone
To phone Jo and my mum, and not in a police-free zone
If I had to get picked up somewhere, that was the best place
For being a political prisoner, I have a very strong case
And I argued with the police for ages before they carried me into the van
Hundreds of protestors were there to witness the struggle of this innocent man
I a-a-a-a-am an innocent man, that’s what I am
You-ou-ou-ou-ou are innocent too
– I thought that was true
Later I thought you had informed on me
But there are many mind readers, and they could have worked out what I was planning very easily
Or my actions could have been modelled on a machine
Using info from CCTV cameras from which I was seen
Or perhaps they had merely heard that there would be an important demo in Glasgow that day
And they predicted that I would try to get to it rather than stay away
At your tender age your experiences seemed too good to be true
I still think they were, but maybe I should give the benefit of the doubt to you
If you will visit me or speak to me on the phone
In the struggle for socialism, I’ll be less alone
Maybe exposing your possible role has improved your politics
And you will help me overcome big business’s dirty tricks
So I am inviting you again to join my band
But to do that you may have to move from Scotland
If bands become successful, their members usually become well off
I must try to ensure none of us sell out, becoming toffs
So we won’t get more than average workers’ wages
I won’t become rich either from my book with many pages
We’ll put everything on the internet, downloadable for free
But we may make some money from the odd gig or CD
The Foundation will distribute such funds democratically
To left-wing parties and campaigns, and perhaps the odd charity
The band will play a leading role in the world socialist revolution
Which will put an end to poverty, war and nuclear pollution!
We have not yet recorded this song, but you will be able to download it free of charge from this website soon after we do so.