Billy Bragg
Lyric guide

Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards

Read Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards lyrics by Billy Bragg on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.

Billy Bragg visibility2 visits Video on page
person Curated by Ethan Walker LyroVerse team
Reference snapshot

The page facts to cite before the commentary

Use this page for the lyric text, linked artist context, and any LyroVerse editor's note attached to the song. Listener comments remain user-generated and should not be treated as the primary source.

Page type: lyric reference Artist: Billy Bragg Canonical path: /billy-bragg/waiting-for-the-great-leap-forwards Related lyric paths: 6 Video embedded: yes
Lyrics

Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards

The lyric stays readable and compact here; the note and related paths sit nearby so you do not lose the song while looking for context.

It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline

But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline

Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying

Over luxury's disappointment

So he walks over and he's trying

To sympathise with her but he thinks that he should warn her

That the Third World is just around the corner

In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded

By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded

That Dr Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell

At the first hurdle

In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear

Is the sound of someone stacking chairs

And mopping up spilt beer

And someone asking questions and basking in the light

Of the fifteen fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer

Mixing Pop and Politics he asks me what the use is

I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses

While looking down the corridor

Out to where the van is waiting

I'm looking for the Great Leap Forwards

Jumble sales are organised and pamphlets have been posted

Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted

You can be active with the activists

Or sleep in with the sleepers

While you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards

One leap forward, two leaps back

Will politics get me the sack?

here comes the future and you can't run from it

If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it

It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll

From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole

If no one seems to understand

Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman

In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune

But this is reality so give me some room

So join the struggle while you may

The Revolution is just a T-shirt away

Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards

Quick answers

What this page can answer fast

Who performs "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards"?

Billy Bragg performs "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards", and this lyric page sits inside the Billy Bragg catalog on LyroVerse.

Are there related songs to explore after "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards"?

Yes. The related section below points to Blood Of The Lamb and California Starts with a short reason for opening each page next.

Where can I find more songs by Billy Bragg?

Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Billy Bragg's lyric pages.

Song Room

Interpretations, questions, and corrections for this song

Interpretations, questions, memories, and correction notes live together here. The room stays noindex while the best insights are reviewed.

Open Song Room
0 followers Selected insights only surface after moderation
Listener comments

What people are saying

0 comments
Add a short interpretation or memory

A strong comment here is specific: the phrase you keep hearing, the mood you come back for, or the reason this song stays in rotation.

Sign in to post the first listener note. Reporting stays open to everyone.

No listener comments on Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards yet.