{"id":7,"date":"2016-10-05T12:08:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T11:08:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-11-13T05:04:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T05:04:17","slug":"streetbattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/2016\/10\/05\/streetbattle\/","title":{"rendered":"Streetbattle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nSTREETBATTLE<\/span><\/b>
\n\u00a9Trev Teasdel Coventry January 1980<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nDivert the traffic, clear the streets.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe slogan\u2019s written, the plan\u2019s complete.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nPlacards painted, the people out,<\/span><\/div>\n
\nWith raging passions to chant and shout.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nClear the streets, move that car.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBoard the windows of shop and bar.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHeed the word, heed the call<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNo one\u2019s safe around here at all.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nPolice on horseback, truncheon toting<\/span><\/div>\n
\nStreets are hunched in mute foreboding.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHelicopters circle low, co-ordinate via radio.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nEscorts ready, formations planned,<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHandcuffs and batons close to hand.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHeed the word, heed the call<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNo one\u2019s safe around here at all.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA route-march chosen, a street plan open<\/span><\/div>\n
\nSpearhead banners, poison poking.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAn immigrant area – it goes unspoken.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nCorner shop window will soon be broken.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHymns to Hitler, dreams of greatness<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA ghost of the past that will not rest.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHeed the word, heed the call<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNo one\u2019s safe around here at all.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA shield of police encircle marchers,<\/span>
\nA sudden left turn at the railway arches.<\/span>
\nCounter demo led long another route<\/span>
\nbut soon get wise then off they shoot.<\/span>
\nA sudden shower, sticks and stones hurled<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\nCops \u2018neath viziers quickly curled.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBurning issues of the age<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNominate the street their stage.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA confrontation, quick the cameras,<\/span><\/div>\n
\nInform headquarters, fetch the ambulance<\/span><\/div>\n
\nEffect plan b, put in operation<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u2018If this thing spreads, god help the nation<\/i>\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
\nRelease the gas, fire the blanks<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u2018Action, action, disperse their ranks<\/i>\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHeed the word, heed the call,<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNo one\u2019s safe around here at all.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNow the cameras pan, the chanters all join hands<\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe battle in the streets obeyed no-one\u2019s plans.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAn ambulance left, a police car burned<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAll agreed there were lessons’ to be learnt<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBlood in puddles, mud in wounds,<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA peak-capped man cried \u2018Damn them goons<\/i>\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBurning issues of the age<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNominate the street their stage.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nClear the debris in the streets<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAssess the damage done to property<\/span><\/div>\n
\nCompile statistics on loss of trade<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u2018Stop press, fresh outbreak, city arcade<\/i>\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
\nCamera crews, trigger happy<\/span><\/div>\n
\nEdit that newsreel, make it snappy.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nDivert attention from real issues<\/span><\/div>\n
\nPackage \u2018specially for the news.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nHeed the word, heed the call<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

Jackboot\u2019s marching on us all.<\/span>
\n
<\/span>
\n……………<\/span>
\nWritten in Coventry 1980 after witnessing an anti National Front rally and watching a documentary on it. I was writing it while watching the documentary playing a run down of minor chords. I’ve used this as a performance poem over the years and it appeared in my first poetry chapbook The Escaped Poet<\/i> in 1984.<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Streetbattle by Trev Teasdel – cassette demo 1980.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Same version but on Soundclick <\/span>https:\/\/soundclick.com\/share.cfm?id=14669453<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STREETBATTLE \u00a9Trev Teasdel Coventry January 1980 Divert the traffic, clear the streets. The slogan\u2019s written, the plan\u2019s complete. Placards painted, the people out, With raging passions to chant and shout. Clear the streets, move that car. Board the windows of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions\/169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/trevteasdellyrics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}