IT'S SUCH A SHAME THE PUNKS GOT FAT WHEN THEY QUIT SPEED 
it's such a shame 
the punks got fat 
when they quit speed. 
it's such a shame 
cheapness is 
a blessing of time 
history's dead 
yet to fade 
he told us 
'our intensity' 
this not true 
rally the troops 
a romantic lie 
to burn it down 
not to cure 
not to kill 
only wound 
this isn't compromise 
this not true 
rally the troops 
a romantic lie 
to burn it down 
not to cure 
not to kill 
only wound 
this isn't compromise 
this not true 
rally the troops 
a romantic lie 
to burn it down 
this not true 
rally the troops 
a romantic lie 
to burn it down 
a romantic lie 
to burn it down 
to burn it down 
to burn it down 

The song opens with a joke, not really a joke but a put-down. It mocks 
what what has become a cultural heritage. It is the job of all upstarts to 
hate what made them. The song opens with an announcement of something 
having lost its significance. The song starts at an end. 

Punk is a cheap spark in time, come and gone so quick. At its conception 
it was due to fall, already falling, already fallen. Unlike most sparks 
it was made into memory. That memory is now carried like a proud 
millstone, but a millstone nonetheless. 

"Dada is our intensity." - Tristan Tzara 

Dada is a nonsense word, of course it's more, but it was just that. 
It's a pantomime word that can point at intensity. It's a nothing that 
leads us into revolt and uprising. Arms made of nothing raised high 
and voice made of less raised higher, "Rally the troops". And then there 
were troops. 

"No Future" is a verdict. The punks were afraid of the stillness found 
in crowds, the shortsighted long haul. As part of a death resistance 
scheme they made-visible an intensity. Attempting to wound the stillness 
in hope of lasting scars. Scars amending smooth shapes so they better 
resemble something alive. Utilizing the moment at hand to destroy the 
past and create the future. 

"F'god'sake burn it down." - Kevin Rowland 

Kevin Rowland is notoriously dishonest. Upsetting many journalists ideas 
about solid facts and straight biography, his interviews often 
contradicted one another. Kevin Rowland is a pirate, looting pop history, 
and building himself from his treasures. Whilst declaring it all a sham, 
also testifying it to be his essential language of love, desire and hope. 

Honesty is not a communication with an absence of deliberate lies. Honesty 
can be identified when something is executed with a belief in accuracy 
and no trace of disservice to the complexity or vitality of the item.