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So up rolls a riot van
And sparks excitement in the boys
But the policemen look annoyed
Perhaps these are ones they should avoid
Got chased last night
From men with truncheons dressed in hats
We didn't do that much wrong
Still ran away though for the laugh
Just for the laugh
And please just stop talking cause they won't find us if you do
Oh those silly boys in blue
Well they won't catch me and you
Have you been drinking son, you don't look old enough to me
I'm sorry officer, is there a certain age you're supposed to be, cause nobody told me
And up rolls the riot van
And these lads just wind the coppers up
They ask why they don't catch proper crooks
They get their address and their names took
But they couldn't care less
Thrown in a riot van
And all the coppers kicked him in
And there was no way he could win
Just had to take it on the chin
And sparks excitement in the boys
But the policemen look annoyed
Perhaps these are ones they should avoid
Got chased last night
From men with truncheons dressed in hats
We didn't do that much wrong
Still ran away though for the laugh
Just for the laugh
And please just stop talking cause they won't find us if you do
Oh those silly boys in blue
Well they won't catch me and you
Have you been drinking son, you don't look old enough to me
I'm sorry officer, is there a certain age you're supposed to be, cause nobody told me
And up rolls the riot van
And these lads just wind the coppers up
They ask why they don't catch proper crooks
They get their address and their names took
But they couldn't care less
Thrown in a riot van
And all the coppers kicked him in
And there was no way he could win
Just had to take it on the chin
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'I'm sorry officer, is there a certain age you're supposed to be, cause nobody told me'. I think this line is not only taking the mick out of the officers, but saying they were never taught right from wrong. Maybe if I got the right education from society, I wouldn't be doing this. Who are you to punish me for someone else's wrong doings? Perhaps if you (the police, government etc) cared about me (w/c culture) more, you'd actually target the problem, instead of actually making it worse.
'Thrown in a riot van
And all the coppers kicked him in
And there was no way he could win
Just had to take it on the chin'
I think this bit is a mixture of the coppers literally kicking him in, but also metaphorically. Throughout society, whatever he does is never good or acceptable enough. He always gets pushed further down and down, to the point where he's given up. He's never going to win, there are too many people with much more power going against him. He just has to 'take it on the chin', ie. he has to accept that this is his life, there's not point fighting against it because nothing will ever change. The working class will always be picked on, so why should they bother playing by the rules, when society has left them with nothing else to do.
a riot van is a car that is filled with cops espacily trained for riots if you are geraman tehere the name for this cops is kapos theis trained to beat up protesters
a riot van is a car that is filled with cops espacily trained for riots if you are geraman tehere the name for this cops is kapos theis trained to beat up protesters
Got thrown in a riot van and the coppers kicked him in
And there was no way he could win
Just had to take it on the chin
They smoked a bong last night and stole somebody's telephone
He thinks it's all alright but they've left him on his own, on his own
But baby stop calling, over and over yeah
And gimme some funny cigarettes, and do what they told you, yeah
Pinched a car with one headlight and lost control the passengers were screaming
Made him shut his eyes rate tight and think of yer and hope that he was dreaming
Then up rolled a riot van and called the fire brigade
but it was already too late
and there was no arrest to make
ohh!
But baby stop calling, over and over yeah
And gimme some funny cigarettes, and do what they told you, yeah
Like... a snapshot of one of the less-than peachy aspects of the relationship between young people and the cops, which is sad, cos like... you're meant to be able to trust cops/think they're cool, but that doesn't ever really happen in real life. Not when pc plod can pull out a truncheon on ya.
I dunno. This song just feels like it perfectly illustrates the sort of thing sooo many people I know go through all the time. I don't trust cops at all. I've been brought up to think of them kind of as bad guys... anywho, the Arctic Monkeys are soooo amazing. Brit Rock is alive and well :)
its like great sex isnt it?
i know the arctic monkey's well and they individually told me that exact meaning!
Richie richardson has had previous scuffles and caffules with the police for being a 'p3dow'.