The Ghosts Of Cable Street

The Men They Couldn't Hang

England, 1936.

The grip of the Sabbath day

In London town the only sound

Is a whisper in an alleyway

Men put on their gloves and boots

Have a smoke before they go

From the west there is a warning of

A wind about to blow



Like Caesar marching to the East

Marches Mosley with his men

Dressed in their clothes of deepest black

Like a gathering hurricane

This is the British Union

With its flag of black and red

A flag that casts a shadow in

Berlin and in Madrid



So listen to the sound of marching feet

And the voices of the ghosts of Cable Street

Fists and stones and batons and the gun

With courage we shall beat those blackshirts down



So mile by mile they come on down

To a place called Cable Street

And other men are waiting there

Preparations are complete

Mosley comes so close

They now can see his outstretched arm

A hand raised up that way

Never took the future in its palm



Listen to the sound of marching feet

And the voices of the ghosts of Cable Street

Fists and stones and batons and the gun

With courage we shall beat those blackshirts down



The battle broke as the fists and the batons fell

Through the barricades came the sound of the wounded yells

Jack Spot burst through with a chair leg made of lead

Brought down a crashing blow on Mosley's head



And so we learn from history generations have to fight

And those who crave for mastery

Must be faced down on sight

And if that means by words, by fists, by stones or by the gun



Remember those who stood up for

Their daughters and their sons



Listen to the sound of marching feet

And the voices of the ghosts of Cable Street

Fists and stones and batons and the gun

With courage we shall beat those blackshirts down



Listen to the sound of marching feet

And the voices of the ghosts of Cable Street

Fists and stones and batons and the gun

With courage we shall beat those blacksh