A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road

Andy Tillison

There was once a country.....
Like many other countries it had a history that had seen division, strife and war. Like fewer countries it had won a lot of those wars and at a fairly notable point in its history it had been at the centre of a large and powerful empire. As time passed and with economic and world change, the might of that empire dwindled and faded away. Although life continued for the country, its people would sometimes wistfully look back on the time when their forefathers controlled and developed large parts of the world

Give us Empire!
Give us what our fathers fought for!
Give us money, give us power, give us greed!
This world is ours, we're the masters of its future
Can't share the fruits - just spit out the seeds!

Give us standing!
Lets see the other countries bow to us
On reverential knee!
We are the leaders where we go you will follow
Never tie our hands we are the "living free"
WE STAND ALONE

For generations though, successive governments and administrations continued with traditions, pomp and ceremony while the working people of that country were ignored and left to suffer. Treaties and restrictions that were imposed on the country by its neighbours became frustrating to the people and they became restless to be the controllers again, rather than the controlled

Give us Empire!
Give us Greed
Give us Power - it's what we need
Give us money, give us power, give us greed!
WE STAND ALONE

Both near and far away though, other countries were beginning to show an interest in their own national pride...

"Why should we not be who we are?"
"Why should we not fly the flag for our country
For our future, for our history
For our children, for our national pride
For our Glorious Dead, for our fathers
For our Motherland?"

Highly supported by the popular press, rank outsiders appeared in major world powers advocating populist ideas of the common people being masters of their own destiny. The country responded likewise and there rose from the rank and file a Man who offered freedom from those rules and restrictions. Who could deliver the tremendous potential of the country back into the hands of its people. In order to do this he focussed on the people he said were "bleeding the country dry."

"Give us freedom, give us control of our borders
Give us safety from invaders and from fear
Give us leaders who can harbour those emotions
Give us national pride and they'll all disappear
Eject the Mudbloods who don't have the right background
And rank people on a score of one to ten - but
Give us cheap labour to make our cities' future
And make our nation "great again"

Now as far as HE was concerned, the people who were "bleeding the country dry" - as so many people had observed before, were people who had migrated to that country. Well the hard working and forgotten population of the country looked at what he said and many agreed. Rather than looking at the way they had been overlooked and conned by the political elite, they now had someone the could REACH that they could blame. On the corners of the streets, on the train in the morning

The easily accessible targets were quickly turned into priority number one. So when the country was invited as a whole to make a huge political decision about their future, ANY WAY they could vote to rid themselves of these migrants seemed to be the very best way to progress, and regain the empire that they had lost

And it's ALL OURS! and we don't wanna share it!
It's all ours and we're taking it back!
It's all ours and you've just got to wear it!
It's time to start following those railway tracks back home....

Not worrying about the consequences, not worrying about the people, money or the future, they signed the fucking deal. And soul by soul and silently, their shining bounds increase. Their soundbites are all of gentleness, their weasel words of peace

Give me what I want! I've got no fucking time for you!
Cos I'm the one who's got the conch and so my words just must be true!
What the papers say? It's like one great "HOORAY!"
"I'm the one who saved the day, it's just so Fuckin 'A' "
Give me what I want! I've got no fucking time for you!
Cos I was born here, (my friends and all my antecedents too)
Seeing my country in this dreadful state
We need to do something and I can't wait to be the one!

Within hours of the country's decision to break the treaties, hate attacks began on those people not considered to be "true residents". Large groups of semi uniformed thugs gloated in their victory and those people from other parts of Europe were heckled, hectored and harrassed. The word "traitors" was used to describe those who had voted against the decision made

The country was....

(Putting it Mildly)

A Few Steps Down the Wrong Road

Just days after the decision was made, the new leaders of the country sat down together and began to talk about how they would make good on the pledges they had made. Within minutes, any casual observer would have realised that "These Guys Haven't Even Made A Plan". For example, it's very easy to promise that you will rid the country of a migrant problem, somewhat more difficult to actually deliver it. The new leader looked over the top of his reading glasses around the table of his new government

"I think this one is seriously important" he said at length, "And as such, I would like YOU to handle it." He looked over at Heinrich Himmler

"Jahwohl Mein Fuhrer, Leave it with me"

Well, where did you think was going with that?

Trivia about the song A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road by The Tangent

When was the song “A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road” released by The Tangent?
The song A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road was released in 2017, on the album “The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery”.
Who composed the song “A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road” by The Tangent?
The song “A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road” by The Tangent was composed by Andy Tillison.

Most popular songs of The Tangent

Other artists of Progressive rock