Stiff Little Fingers' 1979 debut album is a blistering, emotional punk rock album packed with personal-political songs about life in the midst of the Northern Ireland conflict - especially its impact on the younger generation. Lyrics: He joined up to get a job And show he wasn't scared Swapped boy scout hat for army cap He thought he'd be prepared At the age of 17 he was forced to. Just a little punk y'know they don't care Call that justice just isn't fair. (Chorus) ROUGH TRADE(Fingers/Ogilvie) Record boss said we would be a smash Yeah, go straight to Number One He talked of hits and tours and lots of cash And all the time it wasn't on And I believed every word was true yeah I swallowed every line I believed every word he. Press Inquiries. Sign Up for SLF Email. We'll keep you posted on the new album, tour information, and more! You'll received an email with a link to confirm your subscription. Sign up Tour Dates. Stiff Little Fingers uses.
Found on more albums: All the Best
Fly the Flags
Inflammable Material
Pure Fingers Live: St. Patrix 1993
No Sleep 'til Belfast [Kaz]
And Best of All.../Hope Street
Inflammable Material [UK Bonus Tracks]
Hanx [UK Bonus Tracks]
Live Inspiration
Anthology
Complete John Peel Sessions
Greatest Hits Live
No Sleep 'til Belfast [BMG International]
From the Front Row Live
Inflammable Material [US Bonus Tracks]
Hanx [Bonus Tracks]
Wasted Life: Live
Wasted Life: Live
Live in Aberdeen (1979)
Inflammable Material [Japan Bonus Tracks]
Live and Loud/Fly the Flags
See You up There!
At The Edge: Live and Kickin'
Fly the Flags
Inflammable Material
Pure Fingers Live: St. Patrix 1993
No Sleep 'til Belfast [Kaz]
And Best of All.../Hope Street
Inflammable Material [UK Bonus Tracks]
Hanx [UK Bonus Tracks]
Live Inspiration
Anthology
Complete John Peel Sessions
Greatest Hits Live
No Sleep 'til Belfast [BMG International]
From the Front Row Live
Inflammable Material [US Bonus Tracks]
Hanx [Bonus Tracks]
Wasted Life: Live
Wasted Life: Live
Live in Aberdeen (1979)
Inflammable Material [Japan Bonus Tracks]
Live and Loud/Fly the Flags
See You up There!
At The Edge: Live and Kickin'
There's nothin' for us in Belfast
The Pound's old, and that's a pity
OK, so there's the Trident in Bangor
And then you walk back to the city
We ain't got nothin' but they don't really care
They don't even know you know
They just want money, we can take it or leave it
What we need
Is an Alternative Ulster
Grab it and change it, it's yours
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Ulster
Alter your native land
Take a look where you're livin'
You got the army on the street
And the R-U-C dog of repression
Is barking at your feet
Is this the kind of place you want to live?
Is this where you want to be?
Is this the only life we're gonna have?
What we need
Is an Alternative Ulster
Grab it and change it, it's yours
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Ulster
Alter your native land
They say they're a part of you
And that's not true, you know
They say they've got control of you
And that's a lie, you know
They say you will never
Be free, free, free
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Oh, you've done it now!
The Pound's old, and that's a pity
OK, so there's the Trident in Bangor
And then you walk back to the city
We ain't got nothin' but they don't really care
They don't even know you know
They just want money, we can take it or leave it
What we need
Is an Alternative Ulster
Grab it and change it, it's yours
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Ulster
Alter your native land
Take a look where you're livin'
You got the army on the street
And the R-U-C dog of repression
Is barking at your feet
Is this the kind of place you want to live?
Is this where you want to be?
Is this the only life we're gonna have?
What we need
Is an Alternative Ulster
Grab it and change it, it's yours
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Ulster
Alter your native land
They say they're a part of you
And that's not true, you know
They say they've got control of you
And that's a lie, you know
They say you will never
Be free, free, free
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Oh, you've done it now!
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
'Alternative Ulster' as written by Gordon Ogilvie Jake Burns
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Stiff Little Fingers Lyrics At The Edge
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During the first wave of U.K. punk rock, plenty of bands sang about a world full of violence and chaos, but Stiff Little Fingers didn't have to imagine a dystopian world -- living in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the height of 'The Troubles,' police brutality and terrorist violence were simply a part of daily life, and the band's music was a powerful response to what they saw, raw-boned rock & roll that balanced rage at a world gone mad against hope for a better day. Stiff Little Fingers were formed in 1977 by singer and guitarist Jake Burns, guitarist Henry Cluney, bassist Ali McMordie, and drummer Brian Faloon. Burns, Cluney, and Faloon had previously been in a cover band called Highway Star, but when Cluney became a convert to punk rock, Burns and Faloon followed suit, and after recruiting McMordie, they took the name Stiff Little Fingers from a song by the Vibrators.
Shortly after the band started playing out, Burns struck up a correspondence with reporter Gordon Ogilvie, who urged Burns to use his own experiences of Belfast life in his songs; Ogilvie began collaborating with Burns as a songwriter, and Ogilvie and music writer Colin McClelland agreed to manage the band. McClelland booked time for the band at a studio in a local radio station usually used to record commercial jingles; the band cut raw versions of 'Suspect Device' and 'Wasted Life,' two anthemic tunes that became SLF's first single, released on their own Rigid Digits label in early 1978. The influential BBC disc jockey John Peel started spinning 'Suspect Device' on his show, and soon the indie label Rough Trade struck a distribution deal with Rigid Digits; in 1979, Rough Trade released Stiff Little Fingers' brilliant first album, Inflammable Material, and it became one of the first independent punk albums to chart in the U.K., rising to 14 on the British sales surveys.
With their new success in England, Stiff Little Fingers relocated to London, which led to drummer Brian Faloon leaving the group (as did co-manager McClelland). Jim Reilly signed on as drummer in time for the sessions for SLF's second album, 1980's Nobody's Heroes, their first LP in a new distribution deal with Chrysalis Records. The album fared well, as did the 1980 live set Hanx! and 1981's polished but effective Go for It. However, Reilly quit the band after the release of Go for It, and Dolphin Taylor, formerly of the Tom Robinson Band, took over behind the drums. Released in 1982, Now Then... was a more pop-oriented effort that didn't please fans and made no great impression on the charts; as ticket sales began to lag, acrimony rose within the group, and in early 1983, Jake Burns announced Stiff Little Fingers had broken up.
Stiff Little Fingers Lyrics Vibrators
Little was heard from the members of Stiff Little Fingers (though Burns released a few singles with his group Jake Burns & the Big Wheel) until 1987, when Burns and Ali McMordie got together for a few pints and decided it was time to give SLF another try. With Henry Cluney and Dolphin Taylor returning to the lineup, Stiff Little Fingers launched a successful tour of the U.K. and Europe, and the group opted to make the reunion an ongoing concern. In 1991, the band began work on a new album, but McMordie bowed out of SLF, saying he was unable to commit to their increasingly busy schedule, and the group recruited a new member, former Jam bassist Bruce Foxton. Issued in 1991, Flags & Emblems became the first new Stiff Little Fingers album since their reunion, but by the time they released Get a Life in 1994, Henry Cluney was out of the group, with Burns handling all guitar work in the studio and Dave Sharp (formerly of the Alarm) or Ian McCallum joining SLF for live dates, depending on availability. In 1998, McCallum was officially named Stiff Little Fingers' full-time guitarist, while drummer Steve Grantley had taken over for Dolphin Taylor, who left to spend more time with his family.
Stiff Little Fingers toured frequently and continued to record, releasing Tinderbox in 1997, Hope Street in 1999, and Guitar and Drum in 2003, and after Foxton left to join the group From the Jam in 2006, Ali McMordie returned to the lineup. However, by his own admission, Burns was unhappy with his own songwriting, feeling he was writing because he had to and not because he wanted to, and in 2008, after turning 50 years old, he decided to scrap an SLF album in progress as he felt his material was subpar. However, several years later, when news broke of the pedophilia scandal in Ireland's Catholic Church and how it affected men of his generation, Burns was inspired to once again write songs that dealt with injustice and how it ravaged the lives of ordinary people. In 2013, Stiff Little Fingers eagerly began work on a new album, financed by their fans through a crowdfunding campaign, and in 2014, No Going Back was released. In 2017, Stiff Little Fingers offered evidence of their continued strength as a live act with Best Served Loud, recorded during a 2016 St. Patrick's Day show at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland.
Mark Deming
AllMusic.com
AllMusic.com