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