Prohibition

I was walking one morning when I heard somebody yelling

And saw a kid with some newspapers he was selling

Now ordinarily I would have paid him no attention

But the story in question was especially compelling

I rummaged round until I found some change that I flicked him

Picked up a copy and the headline read “Prohibition!”

And that there was a new law up and down the land

And as of now all Swing music was banned!

People were getting angry, upset and irate

But I could feel a sly grin rising on my face

Because instead of viewing it as something that was negative

I saw it as an opportunity I’d been presented with

Coz the fact is that no matter what you say

If people want something enough then they’ll always find a way

And by making it illegal then you only succeed

In creating a black market and people like me!

Oh you can’t tell us what to do

No we refuse to be controlled

We’ll just do what we want to

And that is not what we’ve been told

I started off small, bootlegging at first

Providing people with what they needed to quench their thirst

A little taste of Stelar if they wanted something light

And if they wanted something harder then some Dutty Moonshine

Since we were small time no one really seemed to mind

And if the cops did arrive, they could easily be bribed

Coz for the right price they would look the other way

A couple sleeves of Smokey Joes is all it would take

Things were going pretty well for me and my crew

Money started coming in and so our operation grew

We went from moving what other people were producing

To manufacturing our own product for distribution

People would complain that we were flooding the market

But we were just supplying what the people demanded

And since the press love a villain on which to pin things

They just blamed me and then named me ‘The Swingpin’

Oh you can’t tell us what to do

No we refuse to be controlled

We’ll just do what we want to

And that is not what we’ve been told

Now at the time we had plenty rivals in town

So I called for a meeting and we all sat down

We had the the 5 major families in one place

Swing, Hip Hop, Gypsy, Glitch even Drum n Bass

I said if we’re divided then we’re easily conquered

But if we’re all united then together we’re stronger

At first there was resistance and they felt unsure

But eventually they came around and a Syndicate was formed

Business was booming and everywhere you went

You couldn’t move for clubs putting on Swing events

Even at work do’s people were wearing fancy dress

But for that, I gotta give my man Mr Gatsby cred

Word spread, and when the powers that be learned

Just how much money in taxes could be earned

They made a U-turn and the law was amended

And that, my friend, is how Prohibition ended!

Oh you can’t tell us what to do

No we refuse to be controlled

We’ll just do what we want to

And that is not what we’ve been told