Monday, March 1, 2010

Not Now John

Not Now John 5:02

Lyrics:
. . . OK, listen, it's a . . . (laugh)

Fuck all that, we've gotta get on with these   Fuck all that! (2x)

Gotta compete with the wily Japanese
There's too many home fires burning
And not enough trees  
Fuck all that
So fuck all that, we've gotta get on with these  
Got to get on with these

Can't stop, lose job, mind gone, silicon
Stallag, what bomb?, get away,
Pay day, make hay
Break down, need fix, big six                           

Click click, hold on, oh no, bingo!   Clickity click, hold on, oh no, bingo!
Bingo!


Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry,
make 'em dance in the aisles
Make 'em play, make 'em stay
Make 'em feel okay


Not now, John
We've gotta get on with the film show  
Got to get on (2x)
Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow  
End of the rainbow
Who cares what it's about
As long as the kids go  
As long as the kids go
So not now, John
We've gotta get on with the show  
Got to get on (5x)
Hang on, John
I've gotta get on with this  
Got to get on (2x)

Don't know what it is
But it fits on here like—
Come at the end of the shift
We'll go and get pissed
But not now, John
I gotta get on with this  
Got to get on with this
                                        
Got to get on
Hold on, John
I think there's something good on
* I used to read books but now go fishing  
Kick off!

Could be the news
* Or some other amusement
Could be reusable shows


Fuck all that, we've gotta get on with these  
Yeeaaah! John!
Gotta compete with the wily Japanese  
Got to get on (2x)
No need to worry about the Vietnamese
Got to bring the Russian Bear to his knees  
Got to get on

Well, maybe not the Russian Bear
Maybe the Swedes
We showed Argentina  
(Large cheer)
Now let's go and show these  
Got to get on (2x)

Make us feel tough  
Let's show 'em!
And wouldn't Maggie be pleased


One, two, free, four  
One, two, free, four
                                   Not now John, we got to get on
S'cusi dove il bar?  
What?
                                
Got to get on
Se para collo pou eine toe bar?  
Not now John, we got to get on
S'il vous plait ou est le bar?  
Got to get on (2x)
                                                
Say it in English!
Oi, where's the fucking bar John?!  
Oh, now you're talking!
                                                           
Not now, John, we got to get on
Oh!  
Oh, Rule Britannia!
         
Britannia rules the day!
Down! 
Got to get on (2x)
            
Not now, John, we got to get on
Go, Maggie!  
Got to get on (2x)
Hammer, Hammer, Hammer, Hammer, now!  
 
                        Not now John, we got to get on
                       
Got to get on (2x)
                        Not now John, we got to get on

Was it . . .      
Got to get on (2x)

Lead vocals: Dave Gilmour (Verses 1, 4, 5) and Roger Waters (verses 2, 3, 6-end)

Roger Waters: "It's a very schizophrenic song, because there's this one character singing the verses who's irritated by all this moaning about how desperate things are, and doesn't want to hear any of it anymore. There's part of me in that. Then there's this other voice which keeps harping back to earlier songs, saying 'make them laugh, make them cry, make them dance in the aisles,' which is from One of the Few. So it's a strange song." [TAP 46]

'John' is a generic name in the UK. An asterisk above indicates a different lyric from the one printed on the lyric sheet.

TRACK LISTING
Post War Dream, The
Your Possible Pasts
Hero's Return, The
Gunner's Dream, The
Paranoid Eyes
Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert
Fletcher Memorial Home, The
Southampton Dock
Final Cut, The
Not Now John
Two Suns in the Sunset

3 comments:

  1. I wondered recently if the voice heard saying "bingo" during this track could be Ian Dury?

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  2. What about the "big six"?. I looked for it in the Internet and there are several possibilities. What do you think is the most probable?

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  3. Big Six could be a movie, hollywood is discussed in the song. Maybe a movie, likely its a British term though. Sounds like a lottery to me, but that wouldn't fit with the themes in the song. He often refers to English slang or words North America doesn't use and when I first got hooked on PF I had to look a few things up or ask someone. Like "Vera Lynn" she was a war time singer and she had a song about a doggie in the window ( from pros an cons)," the one with waggally tail?"/ And she put him to bed, between 2 bits of bread. I don't know what a bit of bread is, I assume its a slice?

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