The King Blues - What if Punk Never Happened lyrics

[Verse 1: Itch] When on a cold Tuesday morning I was walking in the town I had my headphones blaring, I didn't notice what was around I crossed the road, a car swerved, nearly ran me down I looked in the driver's seat, I swear to God it was Doc Brown He said, “are you Michael J Fox?” I said, “no, I'm Johnny Fox” He said, “yeah, that's close enough, you best get inside Cause I'm taking you with me to see another time A place you could only have dreamed of in your mind It's an alternative reality situated just outside of Clapham So strap yourself in cause where we're going you don't need roads To get to where punk never happened” We landed in a concrete desert, rubble as far as the eye could see I says to Doc, “where we going?”, Doc says he's following me We found the only building in the city that was left standing It was my local venue, I know cause I recognized the landing And there's a gig on tonight, this town ain't so bad I got everything I need right here in this pad So I pulled out a bottle and took a heroic swig Made myself comfortable and got ready for the gig Well, an hour after doors and there was still no-one there The sound man was on acid, the f**ing long hair And the bands never showed cause they didn't see the point When all the kids are at home still smoking a joint They won't go out and do nothing, man, not on your nelly They're just watching the telly and then their feeding their belly Their parents listen to The Beatles while they listen to Nirvana Green Day and The Pistols, well, they never heard either They got long sleeve T-shirts , they never shower Man, they still believe in flower power Yeah, the hippy dream's faded, but they got nothing new So they wear flares and slippers and burn incense sticks too The kids would rather skate than go out and smash the state While their parents sit still and meditate Man, action's at a low when people just don't care They zoned out to their surroundings, the anger's not there And I'm stuck in this hippy, grunge reality Where the buildings are crumbling down from apathy Yeah they grab you at school when you've just turned 13 And show you your brand new, life long routine You can sleep and work, and work and sleep So you can save up the money to buy a new Jeep So you can sleep and work, and work and sleep Then sleep then work then work then sleep I pulled a fanzine out my back pocket, held it in my hands And watched the colors slowly fade away The words bled right off of the pages til it had nothing left to say I banged on the jukebox but it was useless It had no good records on Not even something weak like ‘The Best Punk Album In The World Ever Volume 1' And outside the windows, I saw the excavators coming to tear the place down No-one stopped them, for there is no community left in this town There's no-one around to fight Margaret Thatcher The power of the flower just couldn't match her Too strong was the will of Parliament to cause damage That with no punk rock everything went unchallenged Land got knocked down to build more land That got knocked down again for a couple more grand With no punk the protests were full of throwbacks calling each other comrade Of course the young folks' attendance started to fade So it was easy for the police to move in, they were trusted And that's when the whole damn town got busted They moved CCTV cameras in everywhere But the people were too apathetic to care They made them carry ID cards to state where they're from As if by being born they had done something wrong They shipped all the poor folk to live out in the edges So the rich folk could move in and peer over their hedges “But before you leave, you'd better build our homes There, we've done you a favor, now you're on your own This ain't your home no more, go find somewhere new I know you ain't got the money cause it's me who employs you I know everything about you, what you eat, how you dress Your hobbies, your turn-ons, and your email address While I had you working in the dark, you didn't realize That I completely stopped your ability to organize I didn't let you have a reason to communicate I banned punk rock knowing you hippies would seal your own fate I controlled everything you wrote, everything you created I distracted you with advertisements so you forgot what you hated I fed your dark side, kept you consuming and competing And like a dog that doesn't know when to stop eating You took it all, oh, and long was it my intention You could have beat me if punk rock was your invention” Instead the city will be sold to the highest bids If only Sham 69 had of united the kids [Verse 2] If only the 4 Skins had told us ACAB If only The Ramones had let us know we were a happy family If only The Buzzco*ks had shown us how to do it ourself If only Cra** had shown us there are things more important than wealth If only The Vandals had shown us it was OK to smile If only The Dead Kennedys had helped us put our government on trial If only Rancid had played live, and brought with them that vibe If we had Sick Of It All and Madball we could put them all on the frontline If we had GG Allin we'd have learned it's OK to be hated If we'd have had The Refused then we could have innovated If we'd had Poison Idea then they couldn't push us over If we'd had Minor Threat then we could have done it sober If we'd have had Against Me we could have done it unplugged If we'd had Operation Ivy we could have done it then f**ed off If we had The Blitz, The Clash, Disorder, Propagandhi The Exploited, NOFX and anyone that's handy There's a lesson to be learned, one that I will take home When I return to my normal reality zone Punk rock has the power to change the world It lies in every single punk rock boy and girl So don't let anyone tell you you're not worth the earth These streets are your streets, this turf is your turf Don't let anyone tell you that you've got to give in Cause you can make a difference, you can change everything Let your dreams be your pilot, your imagination your fuel Tear up the book and write your own damn rules Use all that heart, hope and soul that you've got And the love and the rage that you feel in your gut And realize that the other world that you're always looking for Lies right here in front of us, just outside the door And it's up to you to go out there and paint the canvas After all, you were put on the earth to do this So shine your light so bright that all can see Take pride in being whoever the f** you want to be Throw your fist in the air in solidarity And shout, “viva la punk, just one life, anarchy”