Get all 10 Union Jack releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Classic Noise, Violence, Supersonic, Deadpan, Vaccines And Pills and remixes, Never Ending Struggle, Tales of urban freedom, A tribute to Choking Victim, and 2 more.
1. |
||||
You're just living, man. You're just there, in that moment, in that special place and time. Maybe when I get back, I can write a book about my travels.
Yeah. Why not ?
You know, about getting out of this sick society. Society !
Society ! Society !
Society, man ! You know, society ! Cause, you know what I don't understand ? I don't understand why people, why every fucking person is so bad to each other so fucking often. It doesn't make sense to me. Judgment. Control. All that, the whole spectrum. Well, it just...
What "people" we talking about ?
You know, parents, hypocrites, politicians, pricks.
|
||||
2. |
Some hope
02:57
|
|||
I shoot some hope
To forget how life is unfair, the more you're sick the more you sink, obviously
Profits lead society, we're just pawns, this game is fucked up and you have never won
Now that human life's been privatized, everything has a price
Even security is sold like merchandise
Every activity is a new source of benefit, let's create new needs and cash in on the gains
Selfishness is the rich man’s sickness
They inject billions into businesses but would not give coins to the homeless
I’m so sick of the human weakness
But some people have interests in perpetuating the distress
Profitization is the first priority / nothing's as important as the money
Your health and your well-being can be neglected / No one gives a damn about it!
Auctions raise!
Selfishness is the rich man’s sickness
They inject billions into businesses but would not give coins to the homeless
I’m so sick of the human weakness
But some people have interests in perpetuating the distress
Life is expensive, without dough you're captive / everything will collapse and then you’ll pay the price
You'll even pay once you're dead to get a nice wooden grave / that’s how life goes even at six feet under
Property & consumption, it don’t mean nothing to me
Poverty is spreading like a fucking epidemic
|
||||
3. |
Life is peachy
03:12
|
|||
Whatever happens to me, I lived my own reality
(To) reject conformity and blind morality
Go on, travel around the globe,
Meet open minded people & fuck the norms
That you've been following since the beginning
There are bunch of things to make yer life exciting
Real life's outside, go out & make it through
Go out & make it through
Whatever happens to you / Just take it easy & stop feeling blue
And make your dreams come true / No time to waste today, write a new screenplay
You'd better choose, you'd better move when everything just falls apart
It's up to you, watcha wanna do, maybe you just need a new start
Before you lose, just when you snooze, wake up and listen to your heart
It's up to you, watcha wanna do, maybe you just need a new start
Sometimes life's a struggle, a fuckin' constant battle
Left alone in that jungle, you get treated like cattle
Bungled by boredom and willing to run away,
Looking for brighter days, pissed off but not jaded
Write your own history, stay as free as you can be,
Go find as the world can be homey and this life so peachy
|
||||
4. |
The 13 ways
04:21
|
|||
You pray with blind fascination / And believe in the priest's incantations
Waiting for god’s revelation / Quietly listening to the sermon
Dreading the final destination / We're doomed and there ain't no solution
I have my own explanation / I don't need you to give me the direction
You're trying to impose your views to the whole society /
By repeating bullshit written in a book
Patriarchism, fake compassion, straight morality
Unfortunately I am not weak to agree
Spreading your vision and teaching the lesson
it’s nothing more than a sect for me
Religion's a poison, a fucked up illusion
Two Thousand years they’ve been spreading the fear
The christian nations were built on a fiction, a bible-based story of resurrection
Indoctrination of the population is the best way to control a civilization
Every morning of every day, I see you prayin and I'd like to say
Stop trusting what they claim, don’t perpetuate this wicked game
After all you have to know (that) God is just a placebo,
you’re devoted, so submissive to the oldest trick on earth
You're down on your knees now , praying among this crowd full of pricks and you hope to be saved once you're dead,
but there's no one up there, hell is on earth, god's just a statue in your church
Naive and credulous, what they sell is fabulous, they duped you unscrupulous, but you don’t feel ridiculous
One day you’ll see the light and it’s not a pretty sight, forget this shit downright, it’s time to say bye bye
Brainwashing the youth through theological education / learn well your verse to avoid the curse
Manipulating the truth to condition the opinions/ follow and pray, you’re a slave of your faith
It's a long established organisation / I can’t disregard all your very dark past
I'll never join your faction of intolerant morons / I'll never die for your religious war
|
||||
5. |
Stinky cities
04:15
|
|||
Walking around in my city today/
The buildings and people, they all look dead/
The squats are closing, now the "artists" get paid,
to pretend that there's something happening
Tell how I am supposed to survive in these dead cities?
The dream is so bad and the people so sad, the reasons why I never feel glad
And they're cleaning every street, destroying everything
For a brand new building
You gotta pay to eat & sleep, survival is not free
It’ll never be
Non commercial activities are banned in most of the cities/
Squatters get evicted from their home, but the flats remain empty/
It's a constant search for profit and standardized habits
The goal is the destruction of the will to live free
Every day I stray and try to do my best to live through this hell and forget all this present stress
Share my distress, all my life I feel oppressed, it’s a whole mess and I do it with success
When I see what's going on, it's hard not to feel down & out / and I feel ashamed
When I see what's going on, it's hard not to feel down & out / I feel the same
Everybody’s looking for the same thing / Less authority, more solidarity
Everybody’s looking for the same thing / Reach autonomy by any means necessary
Homeless and hopeless, I cannot call it progress / Days go by, situation gets worse, the fight is almost lost
Happiness and joy are my only quests / Will I reach them someday and feel alive for real?
Everybody’s looking for the same thing / Less authority, more solidarity
Everybody’s looking for the same thing / Reach autonomy by any means necessary
What’s the other choice? / a more violent approach?
Is there a place in the sun for everyone? / or are we doomed to a lifelong boredom?
Money bought something in the way, that’s our humanity
Surrounded but fuckin’lonely, usual urban story
From block to block, in stinky flats, freedoms are locked and rents are high
The autonomists slowly disappear, the poor and weaks live in fear
It seems like everybody's dead
Only yuppies all well fed
A strange feeling when I'm in my bed
Wish I'd never wake up again
And I’m dyin, and I’m dyin, you don’t even know
And I’m dyin, and I’m dyin, right in front of you
It seem like everybody's dead
Only yuppies all well fed
Right in front of you
|
||||
6. |
No justice / No peace
01:24
|
|||
Hold up your fist / Civil rights are threatened
You’re on their list / And soon it’ll be your turn
No justice, No peace / How long until the next crackdown?
They load the dice / Take action against them!
Restrictions on your freedom
Justified by “security” reasons
You’re regarded with suspicion,
In each one of your daily actions
One two three, dream of liberty
While they’re throwing hundreds of innocents in jail
Already guilty in your own country
And your freedom of action is now between their hands
Stand up brotha / they still rule the roost
One way powa / Gov'ment sets the rules
Avoid murda / Or they will break your soul
I've got cop’s phobia / ……if ya don't react now they'll get ya!
Terror is the easier way to
Dominate, control all what we do
Guardia, Policia & Militia, sing that shit muthafucka
Fuck the pigs!
|
||||
7. |
Back in the days
02:56
|
|||
You pushed that door now you’re trapped for sure
We sound like dopes, but with a lot of hope
Addictives tones that run through your bones
UJ without drug prescription, more explosive than a gas station
It's the soundtrack to our lives, it sounds better than The Hives
Unlike most of the bands you love, we're not wearing the shirts of the Ramones
We're spreading around, like oil on the ground,
The sky is falling down, under this wall of sound
We keep the true sound of the underground,
Along with other bands, activists and friends
This shit’s not so bad since 97’ we’ve been around
And we wanna make it last until the end
No concessions cuz we’re stimulated by true passion
Music's keeping us alive, gives us the strength to survive
Open your fuckin’ears, are you ready for your new addiction
Forget all you've heard before, sing along 1-2-3-4
All my friends and I love Rock & Roll
We’re here to blast your fuckin’ soul
We like when it sounds cynical,
Raw dirty, and a bit radical
We're the most original
We want to drive you up the wall
Thanks to the music we are eternal
& soon we will come to your town, no matter how far it's from home,
we'll come to your town, to speak up and sing these songs
We can not and we won’t stop / We've done it from scratch, we've never asked for anything
But nevermind we play sub Pop / From the start, there was no other alternative
Love it or not we pack a punch / and make you want to start an everlasting riot
Get ready for the latest crop / it's the sound that you’ve always wanted us to drop
This one’s for the family, proudly and noisy, we riprizent the BSC,
Bad Ska do you know? We created the style and you use it now
From Goober P. to Op Ivy / Bad Ska C-O-R-P, ...
From Choking V. to Beastie B. / Bad Ska C-O-R-P, ...
From Hüsker D. to MDC / Bad Ska C-O-R-P, ...
From Johnny C. to Social D. / Bad Ska C-O-R-P, ...
|
||||
8. |
Anti specism
02:52
|
|||
Hey, you seem to know everything on everything
But your lack of knowledge makes you a fuckin’upstart
Damn, you are so close minded, a stupid redneck kid,
The ideas you convey are nothing but clichés,
Intolerance & ignorance are leading your sad existence
Let’s try to live in peace together / it would make things much easier
Always learn and become clever / knowledge's in books, not blockbusters
Give to the others a little of your time / and share with them, it'd be just fine
Let's make our world a better place to die / Open up & swallow your pride
Why are you afraid of everything that seems just different?
What are your reasons for feeling superior above the disabled?
Didn’t your mama teach you how to show some respect?
Nothing is worse than your constant disdain
Discrimination among the population / Fuck able-bodied pride
Based on handicap, health reasons and eugenism / Just open up your mind
I’d like to dedicate this one to the deaf, dumb and the blind
Forgotten in our society, the ones that the life punished cruelly
People should be more altruistic, humanistic less individualistic
We need to harmonize, To act rather than to promise
I wish a world accessible to all, France is late, so hear this call
Stop all kinds of discrimination and restore real communication
People can change this world, spread the word, we can afford it
Try to live in a Wheelchair and understand how life can be unfair
When all eyes are on just on you. One day this person may be you
|
||||
9. |
Non commercial activity
03:37
|
|||
Fuck mainstream, we’re out the commercial scheme
Your music industry has never interested me
Indoctrination and standardisation
Bad Ska resistance for only subsistence
Corporate Medias define the tastes of the Mass,
Mediocrity gets sold at a very high price
There's no content, but the package is nice,
Lobotomized again, they'll even buy things twice!
Passive audience / a lovely bunch of naive students
Absolute obedience / they keep repeating the artist's statements
Swindle evidence / Greedy promoters and shitty bands
For your empty existence / none of this makes any sense!
Tic Tac Toe, the devil plays the game
Nothing's exciting, everything's boring, the songs he sings are all the same
You can run, you can hide, but you’re always running dry
Keep music outside of this whole business, Not for sale/Not to buy
Broken bones and broken voice, my heart and my brain are full of rage
D.I.Y. my only choice to spread my ideas, my message
All these shits make me ill and never gave me a thrill
These tunes always get played on the TV in exchange for a lucrative deal
Music has to remain a way to change the world
It ain't no product, or a TV add support
Majors, you’re choking with all the lives you wasted
So many artists that you've never supported
Authenticity is the thing you can’t afford
Cause you’re only choosing those that follow all the trends
We gonna teach you what’s the real underground
and you'll discover the values that we want to defend
There is no chance for originality,
They traded art for rentability
You just can’t stay
You have to pay
Gotta pay to play...
|
||||
10. |
And the angels sink
02:27
|
|||
I was told that nothing was planned / and that the future was unwritten
Carpe diem, heaven is a dreamland / enjoy life, as long as you're not rotten
Don’t wait to be saved by the bell / or you'll miss your chance again
And realize your life was a hell / like if you had been locked in jail
Forget all your fears and
Follow your instinct, but
Spend some of your time
To take care of your friends
Tomorrow they may be dead..
Some left us too fuckin’ early / going through all this loss ain't easy
They still live through my memory / and their ghosts haunt my life daily
Sometimes death comes very quickly / only the good die young, it is true, can't you see?
But music’s for eternity / it'll help you to forget all your fears..
...and follow your instinct
Take care of your friends
Tomorrow they may be dead..
Oh oh
I know that we will meet again, dear friend,
the world is small if you keep your mind open
I’m glad to rub shoulders with you, but I must say that I fuckin’miss you
You will always mean a lot to me, in my heart & part of my history
You were, will always, be my bro
|
||||
11. |
Take action !
04:19
|
|||
Any of your actions has its own repercussions
The car you drive, the food you eat, the garbage you throw on the street
The consequences of your daily selfish behaviour
will be endangering the planet's ecosystem
Everything I know is that we should change all what we do
Our consumer habits are criminal and you know that it’s true
Everything on earth has been over-exploited by men,
They will rape and rob again and again until the end
Soon you'll be turning in circles, realizing the damage's done
We have reached the point of no return
Making the same mistakes as the previous generations
Are you waiting for the next caution? It's time to take action
They couldn't care less about the Earth or about us
They wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice people's health.
Every lobby manages the world / as if it was theirs and nobody cares
Even Nature can be sold / a brand new market to fill in their pockets
Everything we do has an unsuspected impact, sign the suicide pact, every resource has been attacked
Monsento controls the fields for more more yields, increased profit for deceased life, your kids are gonna pay the bill
So start thinking, about the way you're living, the pollution you're creating and the waste you are producing
You are part of this destructive chain, implied by this whole system, can you tell me who's to blame?
Why is the environment not a priority for the government?/
How can they consider this subject is not important?
Globalization encourages overproduction/
We should participate in reducing our consumption
And we suffocate again /This shit's making us insane
They manipulate our brain / With chemical aliments
It’s all about responsibility / and making the right choices /
If it were up to me / I'd opt for many changes
I dreamt a thousand times ‘bout a new world, new world
Without any pollution, any humans, any wars
I dreamt a thousand times of saving the world, saving the world
Eh man now choose your team, you are the gleam of hope
Soon you'll be turning in circles, realizing the damage's done
We shall have reached this point of no return
Making the same mistakes as the previous generations
|
||||
12. |
Wounds and Scars
02:52
|
|||
Love is such a pain, all these feelings are my bane
Only tears remain, and I know I should refrain
It’s hard to feel so high and realize promise was a lie
Harder to say goodbye, everything has gone awry
Life brought me disappointments, I never found the good treatments
Pronouncements and engagements, girls always need more statements
Things have been pretty bad lately,
For now I am trying hard not to expect anything from anybody
Trapped into deception, false hopes and illusions,
I am annoyed by this fucked up situation
Scars remain as inked pains, it's inside you until the end
Mixed feelings of love & hate, can't get rid of this ball & chain
Time has not erased my wounds, love haunts me like all these songs
The sad feeling of being left alone invades me strongly and it brings me down
Every dug up memory comes back as a ghost to haunt me
This story was / so destructive / as magnetic as hopeless
Heartbreak
I took the wrong way, right now I'm gonna pay
Now I pay, I pay
I'm sad & broke now, waiting for better days.
|
||||
13. |
Black cat
09:46
|
|||
Ups and downs, that’s just how my life goes, depression and sorrow I’ve overdosed
Now I hope that the worst is behind me, I weathered the storm and no-one ever helped me
Nothing has ever been easy or free, middle class whitey with not much money
I was often on the rocks, But I’ve lived through it and have always heard this little vox
that was telling me never to give up cuz the best would was coming up
I’ve always been wild but lonely, like a stray cat in a city
All these past years I bit the dust, the lust for life as a co-pilot
But now I always land on my feet, even when streets are badly lit
Don’t try to stand in my way, if I were you I’d keep away
Every night I sharpen my claws, the cats obey their own laws
Engaged in a fight for independence, don't mess with me or I will make you shit your pants
Don't lock me up inside or I'll kick you out, I get nervous when I feel trapped like a rat
This cat’s life doesn’t have a place for mistakes, if you fuck up, there’s no beefsteaks
Tomorrow may never come, I’m not waitin for any angels, just a phone call from my mom
Many times I wonder if it'll get better/ sometimes freedom let me feel a little bitter
My loneliness grows & my sorrow's stronger/ I gets me down but I get by without downer
There is not much to expect from this life on earth / I’ve reached the abyss, there is no bliss
The game is over when you know you're cursed/ I’ve reached the abyss, there is no bliss
|
Union Jack Paris, France
Angry, raw and percussive, UxJ have been spreading their punk, rock & roll, hardcore and ska influences since 1997. This singular combination, refined along the years, results in the trio’s unique and original sound. The french combo, avid followers of the DIY, friendship and mutual aid ethics, have already released many records and played extensive amounts of shows all across Europe and Canada. ... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like Union Jack, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp