Tramp the Dirt Down. Finally.

[amberdreams]

Do not rest in peace, Thatcher. Not while the damage you did lives on.

I saw a newspaper picture from the political
campaign
A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously
in pain
She spills with compassion, as that young child's
face in her hands she grips
Can you imagine all that greed and avarice
coming down on that child's lips
Well I hope I don't die too soon
I pray the Lord my soul to save
Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave
Because there's one thing I know, I'd like to live
long enough to savour
That's when they finally put you in the ground
I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down

When England was the whore of the world
Margeret [sic] was her madam
And the future looked as bright and as clear as
the black tarmacadam
Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't
haunted by every tiny detail
'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands
all she thought of was betrayal

And now the cynical ones say that it all ends
the same in the long run
Try telling that to the desperate father who just
squeezed the life from his only son
And how it's only voices in your head and
dreams you never dreamt
Try telling him the subtle difference between
justice and contempt
Try telling me she isn't angry with this pitiful
discontent
When they flaunt it in your face as you line up
for punishment
And then expect you to say "Thank you"
straighten up, look proud and pleased
Because you've only got the symptoms, you
haven't got the whole disease
Just like a schoolboy, whose head's like a tin-can
filled up with dreams then poured down
the drain
Try telling that to the boys on both sides, being
blown to bits or beaten and maimed
Who takes all the glory and none of the shame

Well I hope you live long now, I pray the Lord
your soul to keep
I think I'll be going before we fold our arms
and start to weep
I never thought for a moment that human life
could be so cheap
'Cos when they finally put you in the ground
They'll stand there laughing and tramp the
dirt down

Comments

[tryfanstone.livejournal.com]

Perfect choice. Perfect.

The first champagne I ever drank was when she resigned: if it wasn't for ten years without alcohol and work tomorrow, I'd be opening a magnum tonight.

[amber1960.livejournal.com]

I hear the Daily Mirror is shocked that someone has already announced a street party with the theme Ding Dong the Witch is Dead. I want to get an invite!

[tryfanstone.livejournal.com]

There's going to be a major party tonight for my work colleagues - I don't even need to call to know. I just need to find out where it is! And, honestly, I think there's going to have to be an armed guard over her grave.

- actually, that's not a bad thought: I wonder if my tenement's up for a street party? It's more than likely. Enquiries will need to be made!

[http://users.livejournal.com/tesserae_/]

Tramp the dirt down indeed. I was thinking about you this morning; there have been several eloquent posts on my flist about the damage she did (and one wondering if she was being criticized because she was a woman; no, the progressive left in the US says the same things about Reagan.) Most of the coverage here has at least acknowledge that she wasn't universally loved, and CNN carried Gerry Adams' statement, which I give them (and him!) props for.

[reapertownusa.livejournal.com]

I was unsettled when I heard a bit on the news this evening about you all celebrating someone's death. Maybe it's a cultural thing, and embarrassingly I have essentially no clue as to who Margaret Thatcher was beyond her job title, but couldn't imagine that reaction to anyone regardless of what they had done in life.

I was quite confused and here you kindly gave me a chance to ask someone who'd know! So if you don't mind filling in an ignorant American, what exactly triggered this particular reaction?

[amber1960.livejournal.com]

I have yet to hear any commentary mention the fact that she called Mandela a terrorist and her best buddy was General Pinochet...

[amber1960.livejournal.com]

I'm not celebrating because her death means she will never acknowledge the damage that she did to our society. It's hard to explain briefly, but when she came into power in 1979, there were things wrong with our society, the Trade Unions were over mighty and probably something needed to be done. However, Thatcher was one of those people who was always right, she pushed her solution to our 'problems' and in doing so she crippled our sense of compassion for other people. Whole generations have grown up (not just in the UK but elsewhere) thinking that only their own needs matter, and to hell with anyone less well off than themselves.
Much of the current banking crisis can be put down to the culture that Thatcherism encouraged. The fact that our welfare system is still being whittled away and that the majority of people think that is okay because "I'm alright, Jack" is down to her policies.

At the time, especially in the northern counties, her policies crippled entire communities when she started privatising national industries and closing the mines - people rioted and died then and the North has not forgotten.

I've never really hated any person in my life but I do hate her and all she stood (and stands) for. Politics with total conviction and no compassion is a VERY dangerous thing.

[jackfan2.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad someone else asked. I admit, I too read your post when it first hit and I was terribly confused as well. I was too young to know Thatcher and as a yank, whatever her polices, they didn't touch me directly. But the poem completely befuddled me.

I thought then of Job (old testament) and how he railed against God in his trials. Is that where you were coming from perhaps?

I find it terribly ironic that your sentiment, especially your line about 'politics with total conviction and no compassion' I thought about our 'dear leader' Obama. Many here in the US see him in much the same light. But I pray for him all the time, and I pray for me and that I'll forgive him always. *sigh* Forgiving is hard, I'll give you that.

On a different note, what was it about the coal mines that she disliked and that caused her to close them?

[reapertownusa.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the explanation. Certainly sounds like horrid policies, rather similar to those instituted by some politicians here over the last several decades. Still can't comprehend the reactions I've heard regarding her death, but the fellows on the news here were scratching their heads as well so I'm figuring it must be a cultural difference.

One thing I do, however, find very agreeable is Elvis Costello. That man is a musical delight!

[amber1960.livejournal.com]

Mr Costello is most excellent. Emotions run high here about Thatcher. The damage she did far outweighs any benefits her policies might have brought. The public services that were privatised, the jobs that were lost, the lives and communities that were torn apart... however much things might have needed to have been changed, the manner in which she pushed them through was brutal. And she never understood that she might have been wrong, about anything. Her Cabinet were terrified of her.

I think your nearest equivalent from discussions with tesserae and others is Ronald Reagan. And the two of them were very much supporters of each other at the time.

If you want to read a more balanced summary, try this short BBC article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22076886

[amber1960.livejournal.com]

It's interesting that you see Obama that way - from the outside, that is not the impression I have. More the opposite actually, given that his policies seem aimed at helping the poorer people in your society - they appear to be both compassionate and even, dare I say it, Christian views.

However, that is nothing to do with Thatcher. If you are interested, there is a really good little piece here which gives a more balanced view than I am capable of!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22076886

[jackfan2.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that link Amber! it was a fascinating read. Admittedly, I've no idea what a poll tax is/was, and what of her policies remain to cause so much damage so long after her leaving office.

I appreciate the more balanced look at her time in office as Prime and of all that, the comment from the author that struck me most was this:

"Even if she had never been prime minister, many of the changes she came to represent, would almost certainly have happened anyway”

It does make one wonder. And since I'm unfamiliar with politics there, I'll let it go at that.

Have a great day!