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Sea Green Singers - Suggested Songsheet for NHS Demo, 4 March 2017

The route is Tavistock Square, Gordon Square, Gower St, Bloomsbury St, Shaftesbury Avenue, Charing Cross Rd, Whitehall, Parliament Square. Assemble 1200 Tavistock square, short rally then move off 1pm, arriving Parliament Square about 2.30pm for a rally which should finish between 3.30pm and 4pm.
Download route:

Songs considered most popular after demo: (going through the songsheet in the order of 1-19:
1. We'll fight on (could have used the loudspeaker for the call out); 2. Bella Ciao (we even had 3 young Italians singing along enthusiastically at Westminster); 3. Wave bye-bye to PFI; 4. Tory Toffs; 5. Siya Hamba; 10. Save Our Public Services (as a round at Westminster it sounded lovely); 15. We will rise; 19. Power in the Union, No number. Internationale (if we don't have the words, I suggest we use the Billy Bragg version, known to most, as we sing it at Street Choirs Festival).
Songsheet for 4th March demo
Assemble: 12pm, Tavistock Square, London - March to Parliament

Song Start Note / Key Conductor

1 WE’LL FIGHT ON
(A call/ten, F#sop, Dalt/bass) ST conduct
2 BELLA CIAO (NHS VERSION) starts in A RV conduct
3 WAVE BYE BYE TO PFI NHS Version (Starts on C & is in key of F) Liverpool conduct
4 TORY TOFFs
(starts E) ST conduct
5 SIYA HAMBA (BassD, Tenor B, Alto/Sop D) - ST to conduct
6 TORY BOYS’ PICNIC (starts A and is in Dminor) - Liverpool conduct
7 STAND UP (round) - Lotte to conduct
8 BAMBA-LE-LA / NEVER GIVE UP
(Bass G, tenor B, sop/alto D) Lizzie or Ros conduct?
9 NOT IN MY NAME (Starts C) ST
10 SAVE OUR PUBLIC SERVICES (Starts B) Lizzie or Ros conduct?
11 SOS ? Who will conduct?
12 OH! MS THERESA
(E) CG conduct
13 NHS CONGA
(E) ST to conduct.
14 FAT CATS
(Bfl) Liverpool conduct
15 WE WILL RISE!
? Lotte to conduct
16 OH WE DO WANT TO KEEP OUR A & E
(C) ST conduct
17 I WANT TO HAVE AN NHS LIKE YOU
? Leslie conduct
18 ANTI-PRIVATISATION SONG
(D) Moira conduct
19 POWER IN THE UNION
(BassD, TenorG, AltoB, SopG) Key of G Moira conduct

1. WE’LL FIGHT ON
(A call/ten, F#sop, Dalt/bass)
We’ll fight on We will fight on against the cuts (x2)
We won’t pay We will not pay the bankers’ debts
The poorest Why should the poorest foot the bill?
The NHS We will defend the NHS (repeat Verse 1)

2 BELLA CIAO (NHS VERSION) (A)
NHS version by Raised Voices with additions
Oh we are marching, for all the nurses.
Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao.
They have worked to care for patients,
and we’ll work to save them now
Oh we are marching, for all the doctors
Oh bella ciao.....
They have fought to save their patients,
and we’ll fight to save them now
Oh we are marching for all the patients
Oh bella ciao ......
They need a good & local service0
and we’ll march to save it now
The public sector is for the people,
Oh bella ciao…
The public sector is for the people
Not for sale to profiteers.
Oh we are marching for all the workers.
Oh bella ciao ....
You are the people who keep things running,
and we’ll fight to keep you now
They cut the funding, they cut the workers,
Oh bella ciao..
They cut the funding, they cut the workers,
Ain’t no ‘Big Society’!

3 WAVE BYE BYE TO PFI NHS Version (C)
Tune Hokey Cokey (trad/Tabor)
New Words by Liverpool Socialist Singers
They take our taxes in, they pay our taxes out
They give them to the bankers and they shake them all about
They build some swanky hospitals and close the rest
That’s why we want them out! (OUT)

Chorus
Oooooh Tories are pollution
Weee’ve got a cool solution
Bring on the revolution
Wave bye bye to PFI

4 TORY TOFFS (E)
Tune: John Brown’s Body tradnl.
Young and old and white and black,
Join the march today.
We must defend our services
And make the bankers pay.
We’re fighting for our future now
And this is what we say:
No ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts!
Chorus: Tory, Tory cuts no thanks, Ma-am,
Fox and Hunt love the ban-kers
We think they’re a load of (……)Tory Toffs,
No ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts.
Our hospitals and nurseries
Are there for human need.
Our libraries and schools are there
To help our children read.
They’re not there to make profit from
Or serve the bankers’ greed.
No ifs, no buts, no NHS cuts. (Chorus)

5 SIYA HAMBA (BassD,TenB, AltD, SopD)
Tune: Trad. South African Arrangement: Niels Erlank/
John Hamilton. Words: Trad. South African (additional
Liverpool Socialist Singers)
Siya hamb’ ekameni lokolo. (x 4) (kolo)
Siya hamba, hamba, siya hamba,
hamba siya hamb’ ekameni lokolo (kolo).
1. We are singing out against the cuts...
2. We are fighting for the NHS...
3. We demand the best social care...
4. We are marching for health care for all

6 TORY BOYS’ PICNIC (A)
Words: Liverpool Socialist Singers
Tune:Teddy Bears’ Picnic;
Tune A:
If you go out for a walk today
You’d better not catch a cold.
You’ll end up going to hospital
And finding that it’s been sold,
The Tories have cut the National Health
And sold it off to private wealth;
Today’s the day we’re gathering for a fightback!
They’ve got our hospitals and our adult care
Our nurseries and meals on wheels, it just isn’t fair
They put them out for tender and they fell apart
That’s why we want them out! (OUT) CHORUS

7 STAND UP (round)
Stand up people make a choice
Create a world that’s fair for us all
all together we are strong
Break the austerity chain

8 BAMBA-LE-LA / NEVER GIVE UP (Bass G,
tenor B, sop/alto D) Xhosa,S.Africa: ‘Hold on’
(Call) Sizo bamba-le-la, Oh
(Tune) Bamba-le-la, bamba-le-la
Oh, bamba-le-la, bamba-le-la,
Bamba, bamba, bamba, bamba
Bamba, oo-ooh, bamba
Bamba-le-la. (Repeat verse)
(Call) You must never give up – Oh
(Tune) Never give up, never give up…etc.
(End by repeating verse 1)

9 NOT IN MY NAME (C)
Words and music Mal Finch. Updated John Hamilton
We can see the forces gathering
Like so many times before,
Working for us, they say,
As they cut more and more.
They are claiming to be standing
For democracy,
But their voices would be silenced
If democracy could speak.
CHORUS: You’re not doing it in my name x 8
Politicians from their pedestals
Talk of ‘big society’
For ‘community’ and ‘self-help’
Read ‘bonuses’ and ‘greed’
We’re the champions of justice
Of that there is no doubt.
But if justice could speak we tell you
Justice would shout! CHORUS

11 SOS
Tune: John Jordan. Words: Mavis Cook
SOS, SOS, Nurses, patients in distress.
Help to save the NHS
12 OH! MS THERESA (E)
Tune: Oh Mr.Porter
Words: Norma & Alun Parry
New version (Lotte, Cor Gobaith)
Oh, Ms Theresa, what can I do
I don’t know how it happened that I ended up with you
with Boris, Hunt and Amber messing up the land
Oh, Ms Theresa, I just don’t understand.
CHORUS (starts C#):
Oh Ms Theresa, please don't think me mean
But I really think we should bring back the guillotine
For you and Hunt and Amber & Boris Johnson too,
They're the only kind of cuts I want to see from you.
Oh Ms Theresa, you may be stinking rich
That doesn't make it fair to throw
Our healthcare in the ditch
Pawn it all for profit and it isn't hard to guess
We'll rot away if we can't pay: hands off our NHS!
CHORUS
Oh Ms Theresa, I know what I'll do
We'll have a revolution, a-and we'll get rid of you.
You and all your cronies banished from the land
We'll have the workers run the show -
Now wouldn't that be grand! CHORUS

10 SAVE OUR PUBLIC SERVICES (B)
Tune: Congolese folksong: Si Si Do-le-da
Words: Raised Voices
Save our public services This is not the only way out (x2)
Dashing hopes, crushing dreams.
This is not the only way out (x2)
Stand up and shout. This is not the only way out (x2)
2
You think you are such bright sparks
But really you’re just loan sharks!
Na na na na CH! x 2
So now you've got us in this mess
We'd better save our NHS
Na na na na CH! x 2
And then you hit tax-dodgers
like Google & McDonalds
For axing health is not the way
Perhaps you'll sell Big Ben one day
Na na na na CH! x 2
We came, we saw, we conga'd,
and we will see them conquered
Na na na na CH! x 2


13 NHS CONGA (E)
Afro-Cuban trad. tune. Words: Strawberry Thieves
They want to axe our A & E.
They've really got it in for me.
Na na na na CH! x 2
They want to steal all that’s free
to bolster private equity
Na na na na CH! x 2
When there’s need for mental care
The service is in disrepair
Na na na na CH! x 2
John Major, Tony, Tories,
you told us bedtime stories
Na na na na CH! x 2
You stitched us up with PFI
and now you want to bleed us dry
Na na na na CH! x 2
All Tory li-es leave us cold
You want us in a stranglehold
Na na na na CH! x 2
Tune A again:
All health workers who have been good
Are in for a big surprise
When every part of the NHS
Will vanish before their eyes.
They’ll have to watch their patients die,
While PFI is pie in the sky;
Today’s the day we’re gathering for a fightback!
Tune B:
Boom time now for companies,
The private sector spivs are having a lovely time today;
Public sector wages freeze
And lots of jobs for them to take away.
We won’t let our service die
You told a lie, that’s why
We’re making a lot of noise.
Your time is up, Grim Reaper is coming
To take you all away
Because you’re sick little Tory X3..... boys!

14 FAT CATS (Bfl)
Tune: Top Cat theme Hanna/Barbara/Timmins
Words: Liverpool Socialist Singers original.
FAT CAT! The indefensible FAT CAT!
The reprehensible
Leader of the Tory regime
She’s just like a cat with the cream.
FAT CAT! You know you want to just
Run him out of town
He’s unfair, He don’t care,
He’s a millionaire
He’s a Tory prat - FAT CAT!
FAT CAT! The indefensible FAT CAT!
The reprehensible
Banking bailout scandalous scheme
Treats him like the cat with the cream
FAT CAT! You know you want to just
Tax him ‘til he squeals
He’s a cad, He’s a toff
It’s the biggest rip-off
He’s a bonus brat - FAT CAT!

15 WE WILL RISE!
Dr Vole adapted the song for the times. Jan. 2017 update,
short version.
In unison, except for v. 2 & 3 with harmonies if known
Theresa’s got a brand-new plan – society should “share”.
But when it comes to sharing out, do Tories really care?
Who gets the bigger slice of cake when she has done the
sums?
The bosses and the bankers and their usual band of
chums!
Chorus:
We will rise, we will rise
We will not accept those politicians' lies
So come on get out and fight
Unite against the right
We will rise, we will rise!
The students and the workers march in solidarity
No messing with our NHS and no tuition fee.
Public sector services are everybody's right
And trying to steal our pensions
That is just an act of spite! Chorus
Chorus:
We will rise, we will rise
We will not accept those politicians' lies
So come on get out and fight
Unite against the right
We will rise, we will rise!
So come on women, workers, claimants, speak up one
and all!
We're telling Thatcher's groupies that their empire's going
to fall,
And though we may be kettled by police brutality
We won’t give up until we have a fair society! Chorus

16 OH WE DO WANT TO KEEP OUR A&E (C)
Tune: I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside by J Glover-Kind
(1907)
New words: 2017 Strawberry Thieves
Oh we do want to keep our A&E now
At a hospital down the road from you and me.
And we do want to have a lot of health, health, health
Without lining pockets with private wealth.
Oh I don’t want to go to another hospital
They should listen to the patients and the staff.
There is plenty stuff besides
Which they’re trying hard to hide
About their health plans; they’re not for me!
Oh they Trumpet their plans will make us happy,
They prom-ise our health care will be free
And they say that democracy is real, real, real,
Well we’d like to know how just how that feels!
Oh they’re lying through their teeth, don’t we know it
Cutting money doesn’t give us better care
So it’s easy to decide
We’ll be standing side by side
Against the Tories, they’re not for me!

17 I WANT TO HAVE AN NHS LIKE YOU
Leslie Barson from Red & Green NHS version
Says everyone who has a view
I want to have an NHS like you
Health for all not just the few
I want to have an NHS like you
Priceless care for you and me,
When it's needed, completely free
I want to have an NHS like you (x2)
Health for all not just the few
I want to have an NHS like you
Keeps us healthy, happy too
I want to have an NHS like you
Priceless care for one and all
Keep it free is the best call
I want to have an NHS like you (x2)
Everybody says it, too,
I want to have an NHS like you
Public health is what to do
I want to have an NHS like you
Priceless care for you and me
Where it's needed, completely free
I want to have a National Health like you x2
3

18 ANTI-PRIVATISATION SONG (D)
To the tune of ‘The Wild Rover’
Some rich politicians whose main love is wealth
Have been selling our ser-vi-ces for profit by stealth
From public control, with not one word of thanks
To com-pa-nies, shareholders, financiers and banks.
Chorus
For its no, nay, never
(1-2-3-4) No nay never, no way
Will they sell public ser-vi-ces
No never, no way!
After selling our coal, they took bids for our gas,
And power and water, and transport, en masse.
Then schools, local ser-vi-ces with job cuts apace
The-y all disappeared in the ‘sell UK’ race. CHORUS
Now it’s the turn of our dear NHS
A service for all in the public int’rest.
Selling surgeries, scans, operations for knees,
With our hospitals mortgaged to experts in sleeze.
CHORUS
The time has now come for the people to say
“No more sales, private profit, no-more-cuts any way!
“We’ll defend our own ser-vi-ces from grasping and greed
“And sell off the Tories to serve public need.” CHORUS

19 POWER IN THE UNION
(BassD, TenorG, AltoB, SopG)
Composer: Billy Bragg. Arr: Jane Edwardson
There is power in the factory
There’s power in the land (oh)
Power in the hand of the worker.
But it all amounts to nothing
If together we don’t stand
There is power in the union.
Now the lessons of the past
Were all learned with workers' blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for.
From the cities and the farmlands
To the trenches full of mud,
War has been the bosses way, sir.
Chorus 1: The union forever,
Defending our rights
Stand with the picket, all workers unite
With our sisters and our brothers
In many far off lands
There is power in the union.
Now I long for the morning
When they realize
Oppression and injustice can’t defeat us.
But who’ll defend the workers
Who cannot organize
When the bosses send their lackeys out to cheat us.
Chorus 2: Money speaks for money
The devil for his own.
Who comes to speak for the flesh and bone?
What a comfort to the widow
A light to the child
There is power in the union.
Repeat Chorus 1